Policies and Procedures on the Validation of Enhancement Deliverables under the BIR Tax Computerization Project (TCP) and the Designation of Signatories of Enhancement Documents

August 11, 1997 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 50-97 TO : All Enhancement Project Managers, BIR Project Management Office (BIR - PMO), and Other Internal Revenue Officers and Employees Concerned SUBJECT : Policies and Procedures on the Validation of Enhancement Deliverables under the BIR Tax Computerization Project (TCP) and the Designation of Signatories of Enhancement Documents I. Objectives/Scope : In line with the BIR-Philippine Tax Computerization Project (PTCP), popularly known as Systems for Philippine Internal Revenue Information Technology (SPIRIT), this Revenue Memorandum Order is issued to achieve the following objectives: (a). to ensure that enhancement deliverables are validated uniformly across the BIR; (b). to ensure that enhancement deliverables conform to an acceptable standard and meet the Bureau's requirements and relevant User Validation Criteria; (c). to provide policy guidelines and procedures in processing all pending and future enhancement deliverables; (d). to designate revenue officials and personnel to validate enhancement deliverables and sign User Validation documents. II. Roles and Responsibilities : A. Project Manager 1. The Project Manager has primary management and staffing responsibility for the conduct of the Quality Test. 2. The Project Manager is responsible for monitoring the overall status of the deliverable and ensuring that all issues raised are properly addressed. 3. The Project Manager, together with the Expert User, shall notify the Receiving User when an enhancement is ready for review. 4. In connection with No. 3, the Project Manager shall prepare the User Validation Certificate and transmit it together with all supporting documents (Acceptance Checklist, conditions list, letters, memos, etc.) to the Receiving User. B. Enhancement Team ( Project Manager, ISG, Expert User ) 1. The Enhancement Team shall perform Quality Testing on the enhancement deliverable. 2. The Enhancement Team shall gather/log all issues/conditions pertaining to the enhancement under review. 3. The Enhancement Team shall resolve issues/conditions raised on the deliverable. 4. The Enhancement Team shall provide the Receiving User the environment required to re-execute tests. 5. If so requested, the Enhancement Team shall assist the Receiving User in the performance of User Validation tests. III. Guidelines and Procedures : A. Policy/Guidelines for Validation of Enhancements : 1. All enhancements to the Integrated Tax System (ITS) that a. involve a change in functionality, b. have an impact on other applications, c. materially change the user interface, or d. add a new module require a completely signed User Validation Certificate before migration to production. 2. The Bureau can use enhancements in production only when there are no outstanding major issues or when remaining outstanding issues are minor. Nevertheless, the Bureau strongly discourages the use in production of enhancements with outstanding issues, regardless of severity. The Enhancement Team is enjoined to exert all necessary efforts to resolve all issues before issuance of a User Validation Certificate. 3. Procedures for User Validation, including the classification of issues into Major/Minor are prescribed in Attachment A, "User Validation Procedure." 4. A completely signed User Validation Certificate allows for migration of an enhancement to production. B. The following documents are attached for the guidance of all concerned : 1. Acceptance Checklist (Annex A) 2. List of all Issues/Conditions raised on the deliverable (Annex B) 3. Classification of Issues by Severity (Major/Minor) (Annex C) 4. User Validation Certificate for enhancement deliverables with no outstanding conditions (Annex D) C. Expert User In addition to the functions the Expert User will perform as a member of the Enhancement Team, 1. The Expert User shall initial each page of the Acceptance Checklist once all items are fulfilled. 2. The Expert User, together with the Project Manager, shall notify the Receiving User when an enhancement is ready for review. D. Receiving User 1. The Receiving User shall determine whether the enhancement developed by the Enhancement Team satisfied the Bureau's requirements, performing hands-on tests as deemed necessary. 2. The Receiving User shall inform the Project Manager of additional issues that require resolution. 3. The Receiving User is responsible for the issuance of a completely signed User Validation Certificate, providing one set of the User Validation documents to the following: Project Manager of the relevant enhancement (original copy) Project Director Project Management Office (PMO) 4. The Receiving User shall keep one set of the User Validation documents on file. E. Project Management Office ( PMO ) 1. The Project Management Office shall keep on file User Validation documents received from the receiving User. 5. n User Validation Certificate for enhancement deliverables with outstanding minor conditions (Annex E) 6. User Validation Procedure Flowchart (Annex F) This Order takes effect immediately. LIWAYWAY VINZONS-CHATO Commissioner of Internal Revenue n Note from the Publisher: Items 2, 3 and 4 not found in the official copy.