Juggling Act: Re-Planning and Building on Observatory...Simultaneously!

Abstract

SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is a major SMD program that has been required to meet several requirements and implement major planning and business initiatives overthe past 1 1/2 years, in the midst of system development and flight test phases. The program was required to implementing JCL and EVM simultaneously, as well as undergo a major replan and Standing Review Board - and all without impacting technical schedule progress. The team developed innovative processes that met all the requirements, and improved Program Management process toolsets. The SOFIA team, being subject to all the typical budget constraints, found ways to leverage existing roles in new ways to meet the requirements without creating unmanageable overhead. The team developed strategies and value added processes - such as improved risk identification, structured reserves management, cost/risk integration - so that the effort expended resulted in a positive return to the program.