OUTPUT REPORTS

Output reports can be broken into two major categories-management and customer/user reports.

Management Reports

Management reports are usually a consolidation of information prepared for presentations and briefings. These reports sometimes require a cover letter or your comments as to the content. You will need to review the data contained in the reports to make sure it is valid. You will also be responsible for ensuring that the reports are complete and presentable. When we say presentable, we mean readable-all the characters are there and can be read. It would be unprofessional to submit these reports in less than perfect condition.

Customer/User Reports

Being involved in a customer-oriented service, you have overall responsibility for ensuring the quality of all the products prepared in the AIS facility. The main complaints from users are poor print quality, missing pages, and poor alignment of the printing. Remember, this checking applies to all reports that leave the AIS facility. Be sure your operators, production coordinators, and I/O control clerks know the standards of quality expected. Ensure they are checking the products during processing and before sending them to the customer/users.

AUTOMATED INFORMATION SYSTEM (AIS) REPORTS

You will be expected to prepare a variety of reports. It will be your responsibility as a technical AIS manager to report to upper management on the status, performance, equipment inventory, and requirements of the AIS facility. At a minimum, you should include information concerning your areas of responsibility including user-related information. The form of these reports is the responsibility of each parent command's upper management. We can only provide examples and general suggestions, not authoritative guidance.

Reports should be regular, concise, and graphical, if possible. The amount of information you report should not exceed upper-management's requirements. "Too much, too often" is a problem common to many performance reporting schemes. Information should be easy to understand, but sufficient to support the decision-making process. The reports should compare the facility's current level of performance against a set of predefined performance goals.

Examples of reports needed for management of an AIS facility include the following:

l Hardware and software projection reports;

l Application software performance reports;

l System utilization reports; and

l Operating system software reports.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PROJECTION REPORTS

Along with life-cycle management, you will be required to prepare reports to project what hardware and software will be needed to meet the command's future missions. It is important to keep this in mind as you submit the Abbreviated System Decision Paper (ASDP), as required by Life Cycle Management Policy and Approval Requirements for Information System Projects, SECNAVINST 5231.1. The following is a brief overview of a portion of what is required in the ASDP:

^{1 .} Outline the need for automation as it relates to specific elements of the command's mission. Summarize the fictional requirements and information-dependent tasks.

^{2 .} Summarize the selected Federal Information Processing (FIP) resource solution (functional requirements of the hardware and software) intended to satisfy the information processing need. Explain the acquisition strategy, indicating whether acquisitions will be competitive or noncompetitive and from what source the hardware and software may be acquired.

^{3 .} Summarize the projected costs (personnel, hardware, software, security mechanisms, and facilities) associated with developing an operational system.

^{4 .} Include any additional information that will facilitate understanding and evaluating the information system proposal. Training, security, privacy, maintenance, mobility, and site preparation should be addressed.

You will be expected to have the insight to predict the future, since the users will not always know what they will need later.