Information Technology Project Intake and Governance Process

Here are the steps the request will follow before it becomes an official project.

Meet with IT Representative – During this initial meeting, the requester and an IT representative will discuss the business need and the proposal’s high-level requirements. The documented information will become the concept proposal.

Requester Follows-up with Sponsor – After meeting with the IT Representative, the requester’s next step is to inform the sponsor about the concept proposal in order to assist with funding sources and championing the request, and to notify him or her to expect to receive a document through DocuSign for sponsorship.

3. Sponsor Signature – Once the requester confirms the concept proposal’s accuracy and rates the request for its impact on USF’s strategic goals, it is sent to the sponsor for signature to ensure the proposal aligns with his or her department, college, or unit priorities and strategy.

IT Solution Architecture Review – The IT Solution Architecture Workgroup (SAWG) reviews the concept proposal and determines whether there is an available solution to the problem, if it is small enough in scope to be placed on a team’s agile backlog, or if it requires more analysis and should proceed to a governance committee to request approval to proceed with a Business Case or Investment Proposal. Document about governance groups and thresholds used by SAWG.

5. Governance Committee Meeting – If the proposal proceeds to governance, the sponsor and/or requester will be invited to a governance committee meeting where they will give an overview of the project request. The governance team will recommend whether the project proceeds in the process and with what priority.

6. Concept Proposal Approved – An IT representative will notify both the requester(s) and sponsor(s). Once IT resources are available, a representative will proceed to schedule meetings to initiate the Business Case and/or Investment Proposal phase.

Note: If not approved, an IT Representative will review the primary definition of the project with the requester based on feedback from the governance workgroup, and resubmit to Solution Architecture if appropriate.

7a. Business Case – When there are multiple options to solve the business need, a team is formed with both functional and technical personnel to determine the high level requirements of the business need and review the pros and cons of the various options. This will help define which option meets the client’s needs and complies with USF standards as well as identifying costs, funding sources, software, hardware and personnel costs required to implement each solution.

7b. Investment Proposal – If there is only one option available, a team of functional and technical personnel will work to detail the cost involved with the implementation and on-going support of the recommended solution, including funding sources, software, hardware, maintenance, and personnel costs.

8. IT Solution Architecture Review - When the Business Case and/or Investment Proposal is complete, it is submitted to the IT Solution Architecture Workgroup for review. If it is approved, the document will move forward to the governance committee meeting previous defined in step 4.

9. Business Case/Investment Proposal Presentation – When the Business Case/Investment Proposal is presented to governance, the sponsor and requester will be invited to the meeting to present the Business Case/Investment Proposal, answer questions and receive feedback from committee members. The committee will determine if to approve as an official project.

10. Project Evaluation – The IT Leadership team will evaluate approved projects to determine how to prioritize and plan resourcing for the project start, including consideration of projects already underway and in queue.

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