United States Department of Veterans Affairs

One-VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) v13.3

TRM LogoRelease/Forecast Help File

Technology/Standard Release Information

The Release Information section provides a table that lists all the known releases for the targeted technology/standard. This information is obtained from the technology/standard vendor. The release information table contains the following information:

Column Name Description
Version Lists the version number of the technology/standard (e.g. Release major.minor)
Release Identifies the release date of the specific version of the technology/standard
End of Life Date Identifies the end of life date of the specific version of the technology/standard. End of life is when the vendor is no longer making any changes to the technology/standard
Vender De-support Date Identifies when the vendor will no longer support the specific version of the technology [Applies only to Technology entries]
Standard Retract Date Identifies when the Standards Body will no longer support the specific version of the standard [Applies only to Standard entries]

Technology/Standard Forecast Information

The Technology/Standard Forecast Information section presents a table which forecasts the VA IT position regarding different releases of the technology/standard as shown in Figure 1.

The forecast for each version of a technology/standard involves four phases as well as a possible status of Prohibiting the use of a version:
  • Planning Phase - The period of time the VA is likely to start planning for a particular version of the technology.
  • Evaluation Phase - The period of time the VA is likely to start evaluating a particular version of the technology.
  • Supported Phase - The period of time over which the VA is anticipated to use a particular version of the technology.
  • Deprecated Phase - The period of time when the VA is forecast to stop using a particular version of the technology. Deprecated versions of a technology may be supported in production, but require a premium cost.
  • Prohbited - The period of time over which the VA prohbits the use a particular version of the technology.
Forecast Table Example
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Figure 1: Forecast Table Example


The Forecast Table is divided into three sections as shown in Figure 2.

The three Forecast Table Sections are: releases (the vertical axis), a 3-year window (the horizontal axis) which is divided into quarterly intervals, and forecast information which indicates the state for a release in a specific quarter.
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Figure 2: Forecast Table Sections


How to Use the Forecast Table
Using your planned development window, you can determine which release of the technology/standard to use. For example, if your development is scheduled to begin in Q4 of the 2010 calendar year and last for 6 months, there are three versions that are supported in this time frame; 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 (see Figure 3). In cases where there are multiple version supported in your release timeline, you are to utilize the latest version that is supported.
Forecast Table Usage Example
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Figure 3: Forecast Table Usage Example