GCDO report rating system
The following guidance is for agencies and/or third party assurance providers who do not have their own report rating system. It is not a requirement to use the GCDO’s report rating system. However, it is expected that independent assurance reviews will include an overall assessment of delivery confidence and prioritised recommendations.
Delivery confidence rating
Independent assurance reports should provide an overall assessment of delivery confidence.
The report does this by:
- showing what phase the project or programme is in
- assessing the answers to questions that make sure it is well placed to progress to the next phase
- giving a delivery-confidence rating
- highlighting any risks that need to be addressed.
This means readers of the report can quickly determing the level of confidence to successfully deliver the next phase of the project or programme.
A standardised rating system also assists the GCDO in gaining a system-wide view of delivery confidence for digital investments.
The GCDO’s delivery confidence ratings align with the OGC Gateway© Delivery Confidence Assessment standard, a recognised good practice standard.
| Delivery Confidence Rating | Description |
|---|---|
| Highly Likely | Successful delivery of the change appears highly likely and there are no major outstanding issues that significantly threaten achievement of the next key milestone. |
| Likely | Successful delivery of the change appears likely. Attention will be needed to ensure that risks do not materialise into issues threatening achievement of the next key milestone. |
| Possible | Successful delivery of the change appears possible. However, issues exist in key areas that require management attention in order to achieve the next key milestone. Issues appear to be resolvable at this stage if addressed promptly. |
| Unlikely | Successful delivery of the change appears unlikely with major risks or issues in key areas that require urgent management attention. Achievement of the next key milestone is in doubt. |
| Highly Unlikely | Successful delivery of the change appears to be highly unlikely due to significant issues which do not appear to be resolvable at this stage. The schedule may need to be re-baselined or overall viability of the investment re-assessed. |
Lead Reviewers are expected to assess delivery confidence based on:
- Review of project/programme documentation
- Interviews with delivery teams and stakeholders
- Experience with similar change initiatives
- Comparison with good practice guidelines.
The assessment of delivery confidence will also need to be in the context of the objectives and scope of the independent assurance review being undertaken. For example, if the review is an assessment of the technical design, then the assessment of delivery confidence will be based on the level of confidence that the technical design is fit-for-purpose.
Priority rating
Priority ratings enable readers of assurance reports to quickly prioritise recommendations to address risks and issues identified by the review team. A standardised rating system also assists the GCDO in gaining a system-wide view of common issues and their potential significance.
| Priority Rating | Description |
|---|---|
| High | Issue is having or could have a significant impact on the achievement of the next key milestone. Action should be taken immediately and the impact on the next decision gate should be formally assessed by the governance body if the recommendation is not implemented within the assigned due date. |
| Medium | Issue is having or could have a moderate impact on the achievement of the next key milestone. Action should be taken be taken at the earliest reasonable opportunity but be completed by the assigned due date. |
| Low | Issue is having or could have a minor impact on the achievement of the next key milestone. If addressed, it will improve the overall project / programme management control environment and/or efficiency and effectiveness. Implementation is recommended. |
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