What are Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) ratings and how are they used?
Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) ratings result from independent assurance activities that agencies conduct to assess the confidence level of the project delivering successfully.
Assurance activities are defined as independent and objective assessments and evaluations undertaken by people and entities separate to the delivery team and the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO). While not every assurance activity will produce a DCA rating, every DCA rating will have an associated assurance activity that informs the rating.
The Assurance Framework for Digital and ICT Investments requires that regular assurance activities are conducted to produce a DCA. These ratings are crucial to provide an indication of an investment’s overall trajectory to deliver on intended outcomes and benefits.
- The DTA draws heavily on assurance information to inform and focus its oversight and engagement across the portfolio of in-flight digital and ICT investments. These ratings also form a key input to the DTA’s advice and reporting to government.
- Consistency in how DCAs are defined is critical to the effectiveness of key decisions by project governance forums and to the DTA’s oversight and advice.
Assurance activities that require the inclusion of a DCA rating in reports provided to the DTA must use the agreed ratings below, as seen in the Assurance Framework. They should also instil confidence the DCA rating being awarded is unbiased, rigorous and evidence based.
DCA rating
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Successful delivery of the investment to time, cost, quality standards and benefits realisation appears highly likely and there are no major outstanding issues that at this stage appear to threaten delivery significantly
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Successful delivery of the investment to time, cost, quality standards and benefits realisation appears probable however constant attention will be needed to ensure risks do not become major issues threatening delivery.
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Successful delivery of the investment against budget, schedule, scope and benefits, appears feasible but significant issues already exist, requiring management attention. These appear resolvable at this stage and, if addressed promptly, should not present a cost/schedule overrun or loss/delay of benefits.
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Successful delivery of the investment requires urgent action to address major risks or issues in a number of key areas. Changes to budget, schedule, scope or benefits may be necessary if the investment is to be delivered successfully.
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Successful delivery of the investment requires changes to budget, schedule, scope or benefits. There are major issues with investment definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which don't appear to be manageable or resolvable without such changes being made.