Welcome to the Requirements Document Wizard (RDW)!

You are working on an Information Systems Initial Capabilities Document (IS-ICD) relevant to the 2021 version of the Joint Capabilities Development and Integration System (JCIDS) Manual.

The purpose of the IS-ICD is to provide an agile and responsive capability requirements process for the rapid development of Information System (IS) capabilities​, through the delegation of oversight and formats for follow-on requirements documents, where traditional JCIDS processes and proscriptive document formats are not supportive of the rapid pace of development necessary with IS systems/capabilities.

Use of the IS-ICD is appropriate:

1. To document capability requirements when a Capabilities-Based Assessment (CBA) or other study results clearly state that an Information System solution is the only viable materiel approach to be considered​

2. To facilitate the procurement and/or modification of Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) or Government off the Shelf (GOTS) IS products (from DoD, allied, partner-nation, or other U.S. Government agency), including of ​the procurement/modification of COTS/GOTS hardware (when necessary), as a proposed solution to an identified capability gap

3. When the proposed solution involves research and development and/or acquisition of applications systems software where the projected life-cycle costs exceed $15 million​

*Note: An IS-ICD can advocate and plan for COTS/GOTS hardware refresh over time due to anticipated obsolescence, including modification(s) required for integration, or enhancements necessary to meet the specifications of the IS-ICD.

The IS-ICD is not appropriate:

1. If the software requires a host platform, such as a manned or unmanned vehicle, which does not yet have a validated capability requirement document

2. If the software requirements have already been validated as part of a separate, materiel capability solution​ (e.g. ICD)

3. For hardware development efforts or capturing capability requirements which span a broad scope of combined hardware, software, and/or DOTmLPF-P efforts

4. To propose increases in quantities of previously fielded IS without modification, which are not addressed by an IT Box—such increased quantities should be addressed using a DOTmLPF-P Change Recommendation (DCR)

5. ​To document capability requirements for Defense Business System (DBS) capabilities

Gather the following documents for your basic IS-ICD reference library:

• Capabilities Based Assessment (CBA) Report (if available).

• Other study results (if available).

• Check with your Service/Agency gatekeeper for any artifacts or reports you should leverage

• A review of KM/DS might also be helpful. If needed, contact the JS/J8 gatekeeper for assistance with a data pull from KM/DS historical studies repository.

• Lastly, look at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for any information that Congress may have on your capability.

• Current Concepts of Operations (CONOPs) or Concepts of Employment (CONEMP) and Threat Assessment (while the CONOPs/CONEMPs and threat assessment supporting your CBA or other study may be sufficient, confirm their currency).

• Command guidance or approval to proceed with your IS-ICD.

• JCIDS Manual. (The manual in its entirety is available through the "Show Help" section and the portions relevant to the sections you'll be writing are available by clicking on the blue "J" buttons throughout this Wizard.)

• Handbooks/guidebooks or other instructions from your department or agency on how to develop an IS-ICD.

General guidance on using the RDW includes:

• The sections and sub-sections in the RDW are laid out sequentially according to the elements that the JCIDS Manual requires within your document.

• Most are MANDATORY and will show an error in RED FONT if you do not address them.

• If you don't believe a mandatory element is applicable to your document, simply enter, "XXX is not applicable because....," or similar verbiage.

• If you choose to address a mandatory required element within another sub-section (perhaps in conjunction with another element), you may skip over (leave blank) these mandatory sections, just bypass the error message. Just make sure you address each requirement somewhere in the relevant section.

• Some sub-sections are marked "Optional." These can be skipped (left blank) without showing an error. HOWEVER, if the element is applicable to your document, ensure to address it SOMEWHERE in your document.

• You are able to use rich text (e.g. bold, italicize, underline, red or black font, etc.) within many of the writing sections (not all). Some are constrained due to the requirements in the JCIDS Manual.

• If you choose to cut and paste text from another source, make sure you convert it to the font you are using throughout the document. According to the JCIDS Manual, for the body of the document you have two choices: 1. Times New Roman, Regular, and size 12, or; 2. Bookman Old Style, Regular, and size 12. These are the only fonts (and sizes) allowed by the JCIDS Manual for the body of the document.

• The default font used in the document body sections of the RDW is Times New Roman, Regular, size 12.

• For content within tables, please ensure the font is consistent and either Arial or Calibri, size 10, per the JCIDS Manual.

• The default font used in the tables within the RDW is Arial, size 10.

• Please refer to the "RDW post-export to MS Word Actions" section of the Desk Reference, available through the website (https://content1.dau.edu/rdw) for additional formatting required to be performed once you've exported your RDW Document to MS Word.