# *OPERATIONS PHASE*

# 7.1 Introduction

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## 7.1.1 Purpose

The purposes of the Operations Phase are to:

a.  Operate, maintain, and enhance the AIS,

b.  As required, certify that the AIS or infrastructure system can
    process sensitive information in accordance with appropriate
    regulations,

c.  Conduct periodic AIS or infrastructure system assessments to ensure
    the functional requirements are being satisfied, performance
    measures identified in the system boundary are achieved, and

d.  Determine when the AIS or infrastructure system should be
    modernized, replaced, or retired.

Production Managers are encouraged to work closely with end users,
System Maintenance Managers, and AIS and infrastructure support groups
to continually investigate ways to improve AIS functionality, and ensure
that the AIS continues to address current business needs.

## 7.1.2 Overview

The AIS or infrastructure system is operated, maintained, and enhanced
as appropriate to support the intended business function.

## 7.1.3 Tasks

The tasks to be performed during this phase are:

a.  Operate the AIS or infrastructure system.

b.  Conduct a Post Installation Review when requested.

c.  Control all changes and maintain the AIS or infrastructure system,
    as required, during its remaining life.

d.  Ensure the availability of resources in the budget for AIS or
    infrastructure system operation, maintenance, and modernization.

e.  Ensure continued enforcement of installed system security
    safeguards.

f.  Review and revalidate the functional utility of the AIS or
    infrastructure system and the adequacy of the technical design.

g.  Collect reports of problems and ensure appropriate corrective action
    is taken.

h.  Collect and respond to requests for new or changed AIS or
    infrastructure system functionality.

i.  Coordinate AIS or infrastructure system modifications with changes
    to business processes.

j.  Evaluate whether new information technology can be cost-effectively
    applied to improve AIS or infrastructure system performance and
    capacity.

k.  Periodically test the effectiveness of disaster recovery procedures
    and test to ensure the recoverability of the AIS or infrastructure
    system within service commitments.

l.  Measure and monitor the system's effectiveness in achieving
    performance objectives identified in the Service Level Agreement.

m.  Maintain each reusable component stored in the USPTO Enterprise
    Repository.

n.  Perform data quality monitoring to ensure data integrity.

This phase is complete when the system is retired or replaced.

## 7.1.4 Activities and Documentation

Operation Phase activities and documentation requirements as summarized
in the following table must conform to the indicated Technical Standard
and Guidelines or other standards as noted. Published standards and
guidelines may be augmented with Tailoring Agreements.

+----------------------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+------+
| Work Product         | TSG   | Who's  | Mu | Sh | Mu | B  | Must |
|                      |       |        | st | ou | st | as |      |
|                      | /     | Respo  |    | ld |    | e- | Comp |
|                      | Sta   | nsible | Cr |    | Up | li | lete |
|                      | ndard |        | ea | Up | da | ne |      |
|                      |       |        | te | da | te |    |      |
|                      |       |        |    | te |    |    |      |
+----------------------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+------+
| ### Up               |       |        |    | X  |    |    |      |
| date earlier documen |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| ts. Documents develo |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| ped during the proje |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| ct life cycle may ne |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| ed revision due to r |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| equirements changes, |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
|  new technology, or  |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| other reasons. Becau |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| se each phase of the |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
|  life cycle builds u |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| pon the earlier phas |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| es, updates to earli |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| er approved document |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
|  may be required to  |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
| support the process. |       |        |    |    |    |    |      |
+----------------------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+------+
| ### Update Oper      | I     | System |    |    | X  |    |      |
| ational Support Plan | T-212 | Devel  |    |    |    |    |      |
|                      | .5-01 | opment |    |    |    |    |      |
|                      |       | M      |    |    |    |    |      |
|                      |       | anager |    |    |    |    |      |
+----------------------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+------+

**Table 7.1.4 Operation Phase Activities and Documentation
Requirements**

Any plan or work product could be impacted as a result of an AIS or
infrastructure system modification. Even though these modifications may
occur in the Operation Phase, it is critically important from
maintenance, operation, and support perspectives that the AIS or
infrastructure system structure, procedures, configuration information,
and training documentation be kept current and complete. The Technical
Standards and Guidelines governing the content and form of plans and
work products during the Initiation, Concept, Detailed Analysis and
Design, or Development Phases will continue to apply throughout the
Operations Phase.

# 7.2 Post Installation Review

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A Post Installation Review (PIR) should be conducted when there are
remaining discrepancy reports, deferred requirements for future
maintenance release, or any issues related to the system operation. The
TRB or Project Manager may request that a PIR be conducted. An
independent Operational Assessment, coordinated by the Office of System
Product Assurance, may also be conducted in the Operations Phase.
Independent testing, performed as part of the Post Installation Review
or Operational Assessment, will be conducted independently o the
development organization. Defects uncovered by this testing may lead to
change in the work products created in then previous phases. The
technical standard and guidelines for those phases apply, as needed,
during the Operations Phase.

The Production Manager will select the Post Installation Review Team
from within the end user community. The Production Manager will also set
the schedule for the Post Installation Review and will determine the
scope and duration of this review. The Post Installation Review Team may
conduct testing of the AIS or infrastructure system. The Post
Installation Review Team is strongly encouraged to examine user training
courses and materials, user manuals and guides, as well as error
messages, help message and prompts from the perspective of usability,
completeness, accuracy, and ease of comprehension.

# 7.3 AIS or Infrastructure System Operational Support

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# Operational Services

Critical information contained in the OSP must be described, such as the
hours of availability, performance objectives, system backup, disaster
recovery, security auditing, and preventive maintenance services as
outlined in the Service Category Forms provided in the Operational
Support TSG.

## Problem Reporting and the Help Desk

Users experiencing difficulties with the AIS or infrastructure system
should phone the Help Desk (703-305-9000). The user reporting a problem
should describe the nature, urgency, and severity of the problem. To
facilitate future handling of the problem report, the user reporting a
problem is strongly encouraged to record the problem number provided by
the Help Desk. The Help Desk will first attempt to verify that the AIS
or infrastructure system is actually not functioning as intended.
Problem resolution responsibilities are defined in the Operational
Support Plans of each system. Additional guidance on problem reporting
and Help Desk support can be found in the *Help Desk Services Guide*.

# 7.4 Meetings to Obtain User Feedback

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User Feedback Meetings will be conducted by the Production Manager and
supported by the Office of the Chief Information Officer as needed. The
first User Feedback Meeting should be held no later than six months
after the AIS or infrastructure system (or a major subsystem of the AIS)
has been deployed. The User Feedback Meeting should:

a.  Identify AIS or infrastructure system modifications needed to
    support the current business process.

b.  Determine the effectiveness of the AIS or infrastructure system in
    meeting customer expectations.

c.  Confirm that the AIS or infrastructure system meets the performance
    measures stated in the system boundary or Requirements
    Specification.

d.  Verify that AIS or infrastructure system capacity and performance,
    including hardware, software, and telecommunication, are adequate to
    support the current business process and anticipated growth.

e.  Evaluate the opportunity to apply new information technology to meet
    the business need or to improve system performance.

f.  Verify that operational support of the AIS or infrastructure system
    is acceptable.

g.  Determine the effectiveness of training, operations, maintenance,
    facilities, continuity of operations, and supporting documentation.

h.  Evaluate the effectiveness of the life cycle management processes
    and gather information that can be used to improve those processes.

The results of the User Feedback Meeting must be documented in
memorandum form and submitted to the Program Sponsor and the CIO for
review.

# 7.5 Maintenance and Modification

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## 7.5.1 Determination of Requirements

Modification actions can result from a problem report, a request for new
or changed functionality, an Operational Assessment, and new release of
a COTS product, or a User Feedback Meeting. The Production Manager and
System Maintenance Manager examine change requests and problem reports
to identify new AIS or infrastructure system requirements, determine
approaches to provide corrections to existing functionality, and
establish priority for AIS or infrastructure system modifications.

It is very important that changes be restricted in scope and level of
effort. This will significantly reduce the risk that implementing the
AIS or infrastructure system change will result in disruption in
services or business operations. If the requested change appears to
involve significant changes to the existing System Boundary,
Requirements Specification, or High Level Architecture, then the Program
Sponsor should establish a new AIS project to manage the change.

Because there is no easy way to distinguish between system performance
issues, modifications, and enhancements, management always determines
the classification of a change. For this reason users and operators
should work with their respective Production and System Maintenance
Managers to determine an approach for implementing changes to software.

## 7.5.2 Change Requests

Information regarding change requests can be found in the *EAMS User's
Guide*. Change requests will contain the following information:

a.  A description of the modification.

b.  The reason the modification is required and the impact on the user
    community if the modification is not performed.

c.  The input and data that will be affected by the proposed
    modification.

d.  The output (reports) that will be affected by the proposed
    modification.

e.  Priority of the modification.

f.  Proposed date and time of modification implementation.

g.  Back out procedures.

h.  Testing procedures and results.

i.  Customer notification plans.

j.  Description as to how the modification will impact the users, both
    during implementation and after implementation.

## 7.5.3 AIS or Infrastructure System Modification Releases

Because modifications often have an impact on more than one portion of a
system, the System Maintenance Manager must implement release procedures
for managing AIS or infrastructure system modifications. A release is a
well-defined, carefully selected grouping of modifications and
non-emergency problem fixes that are evaluated, developed, tested, and
implemented at the same time. The Production Manager and the System
Maintenance Manager specify the procedures for managing releases in the
project's Configuration Management Plan (see Configuration Management
TSG, IT-212.2-06).

## 7.5.4 Processing Change Requests

The System Maintenance Manager serves as the focal point for processing
change requests and may either initiate changes, or receives, review,
and forward requests for change from the Production Manager.

a.  The System Maintenance Manager will review the change requests,
    analyze the resource requirements, and provide an impact statement
    in accordance with paragraph 7.5.5.

b.  The Production Manager and the System Maintenance Manager jointly
    define the content of releases.

c.  The System Maintenance Manager performs the Detailed Analysis and
    Development activities necessary to modify the AIS or infrastructure
    system as requested. Documentation needed to perform, support, and
    use the modification will be updated in accordance with
    configuration management policies and procedures.

d.  Modifications will be thoroughly tested as specified in the Testing
    Technical Standard and Guideline, IT-212.3-01, before being placed
    in production. The Production Manager will ensure that users are
    aware of AIS or infrastructure system modifications and understand
    how they are used. The System Maintenance Manager will ensure that
    all requirements, analysis, design, development, and testing
    documents have been revised according to the applicable Technical
    Standards and Guidelines, and that help desk and operations
    personnel have been trained on the changes.

e.  All modifications will be placed into production in accordance with
    configuration management procedures after successful testing and
    acceptance. The Production Manager and the System Maintenance
    Manager establish the delivery schedule and priority of release
    components. Documentation revisions will be included with the
    release. Emergencies will be handled according to section 7.5.6 of
    this document.

## 7.5.5 Estimating Change Resources and Impact

For maintenance of existing AIS's or infrastructure systems, once the
Production Manager and the System Maintenance Manager determine change
requirements, the System Maintenance Manager:

a.  Maintains accurate and complete records of the AIS or infrastructure
    system change activity, and ensure that these records are traceable
    to the initial change request or problem report(s).

b.  Meets with system analysts and programmers to analyze the needed
    change or problem, and develop an approach.

c.  Estimates the skills, staff, and time needed to make the change and
    deploy the modification.

d.  Analyzes the modification to determine technical requirements and
    available computing resources such as:

-   Processing load the AIS modification is expected to have on existing
    hardware, system software, and telecommunications.

-   Available processing capacity of existing hardware, system software,
    and telecommunications.

-   Needed changes to data structures or data definitions.

-   Technical mechanisms needed to ensure protection of sensitive or
    classified information.

-   Needed changes to ensure that the modified AIS Security is certified
    and AIS security documentation is current.

## 7.5.6 Prioritizing Change Requests

The Production Manager, System Maintenance Manager, AIS or
infrastructure system maintenance organization, and the test team must
work closely together in determining the priority and delivery schedule
for change requests. The Program Sponsor must determine the priority of
the modification requested. The System Maintenance Manager and test team
will make exceptions to this rule if there is an emergency.

## 7.5.7 Change Request Procedures

In response to a request to modify or repair an AIS or infrastructure
system, the Office of System and Network Management, the Office of Data
Management, the System Maintenance Manager, and the test team will:

a.  Perform the change activities necessary to repair or modify the AIS
    or infrastructure system to a fully operational status based on the
    agreed priority.

b.  Test changes to the AIS or infrastructure system based on the
    severity of the problem or the extent of changes required according
    to the respective Test Plan (see Testing TSG, IT-212.3-01).

c.  Provide updated AIS or infrastructure system modification or problem
    resolution status to the Production Manager according to the
    Operation Support Plan (see the Operational Support TSG,
    IT-212.5-01).

d.  Develop, test, and deploy changes to the AIS or infrastructure
    system as specified in the respective Configuration Management Plan
    (see the Configuration Management TSG, IT-212.2-06).

The problem solving approach applied in implementing AIS or
infrastructure system change is essentially the same as that taken for
the development of a new AIS or infrastructure system. The primary
difference is that the level of effort and risk associated with a
modification or maintenance task is generally much smaller than that for
developing a complete AIS or infrastructure system. As a result AIS or
infrastructure system modifications and maintenance activities require
much less review and approval. However, it is still important to ensure
that all support groups, analysts, and future maintenance programmers
are aware of their responsibilities. It is also extremely important to
keep all requirements, design, and development documentation current and
complete. This will help ensure that analysts and developers can
continue to maintain and modify the AIS or infrastructure system as
required.

The System Maintenance Manager will notify the System Development
Manager regarding known defects in a deployed subsystem of an AIS or
infrastructure system that is under development. The System Development
Manager will ensure that the development team corrects these defects in
the development environment. This will prevent these defects from
reoccurring in a future release of the subsystem.

## 7.5.8 AIS Change Documentation

Documents needed to specify, design, develop, implement, or test an AIS
or infrastructure system modification will be updated. Each
documentation change should be identified and referenced to the change
request under which the modification is being performed. Specifically,
it may be necessary to the revise existing documentation as a result of
implementing a modification to an AIS or infrastructure system.

# 7.6 AIS or Infrastructure System Security

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Many security activities take place during the Operations Phase. In
general, these activities fall into three areas: security operations and
administration, operational assurance, and periodic re-analysis of AIS
or infrastructure system security. The Automated Information System
Security Controls Manual, IT-212.2-15 provides additional information on
managing AIS security during the Operations Phase.

The Information Technology Security Officer will work closely with the
Production Manager, the System Maintenance Manager, and the CIO to
update security documentation, certification, and accreditation as
required. The Test Team is responsible for reviewing test specifications
and procedures, and for performing Acceptance Testing.

## 7.6.1 Security Operations and Administration

Security operations and administration must be performed continually
during AIS or infrastructure system operation. Examples of security
operation and administration activities include performing AIS or
infrastructure system information and system backup, holding security
awareness training classes, managing passwords and cryptographic keys,
maintaining user access privileges and access rights, and updating
security software controls. Security operations and administration
touches on virtually every aspect of the LCM and requires support from
numerous OCIO organizations. The System Maintenance Manager must ensure
that the AIS or infrastructure system documentation remains current and
reflects appropriate levels of security operations and administration.

## 7.6.2 Operational Assurance

Operational assurance is the process of reviewing an operational AIS or
infrastructure system to ensure that security controls, both automated
and manual, are functioning correctly and effectively over time. To
maintain operational assurance, security analysts can perform security
audits and security monitoring as a way to ensure that security controls
continue to be effective[^1].

## 7.6.3 Periodic Re-Analysis of AIS or Infrastructure System Security

Periodically, it is useful to formally re-examine AIS or infrastructure
system security from a broad perspective. This analysis may lead to a
re-accreditation should help ensure that AIS or infrastructure system
security is still sufficient, and should help identify the need for
major security changes or enhancement (either automated or manual).

This analysis should address both the high level security and management
concerns of senior management as well as the implementation of security
controls. It is not always necessary to perform a security risk
assessment or certification in conjunction with this activity, but these
activities do share many common characteristics and it is frequently
cost effective to perform both concurrently. Naturally, if there have
been significant and extensive changes to the AIS or infrastructure
system since the last security analysis, additional effort should be
expended to fully evaluate the operational effectiveness of related
security controls. System security testing must be performed on any AIS
or infrastructure system changes that are implemented in software as a
result of a periodic security analysis. As in a security accreditation,
the CIO and the Program Sponsor should issue a memorandum accrediting
security and explicitly accepting risk, or reissue a interim authority
to operate. Section 6.3 of this Manual provides additional guidance on
the accreditation process.

# 7.7 AIS or Infrastructure System Retirement

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An AIS or infrastructure system that no longer serves a valid business
need, has been included or incorporated into another AIS or
infrastructure system, or has been replaced by a more effective or
efficient solution (either technical or procedural) should be removed
from the workplace and from the operational environment. Even though
there may no longer be a business need for an AIS or infrastructure
system, there may continue to be a significant need to protect sensitive
information previously managed by that AIS or infrastructure system. The
Information Technology Security Officer will provide consultation and
support to the Production Manager and the System Maintenance Manager to
prevent the unauthorized destruction, disclosure, or modification of
this data. On retirement, documentation will be updated accordingly.

Either the Program Sponsor or the Senior Executive within the business
area supported by the obsolete AIS or infrastructure system may
officially retire that AIS or infrastructure system with a brief
memorandum to the CIO.

[^1]: A *security audit* is generally a one-time or periodic event to
    evaluate security, whereas *security monitoring* is an on-going
    activity that examines either the AIS, or business and operational
    practices.