C

C2C

Center to Center

C2F

Center To Field

CAIV

Cost As an Independent Variable

Capability Level

Achievement of process improvement within an individual process area. A capability level is defined by appropriate specific and generic practices for a process area.

CCTV

Closed-Circuit Television

CDR

Critical Design Review

CE

Concept Exploration

CEA

Consumer Electronics Association

Certification

A process, which may be incremental, by which a contractor provides evidence to the acquirer that a product meets contractual or otherwise specified requirements.

CFR

Code of Federal Regulations

CG

Control Gate

CI

Configuration Item

CM

Configuration Management

CMM

Capability Maturity Model

CMMI

Capabilities Maturity Model Integrated

CMS

Changeable Message Sign

COCOMO

Constructive Cost Model

Commercial off the shelf

see COTS

Commercial off-the-shelf software

Commercially available applications sold by vendors through public catalogue listings, not intended to be customized or enhanced. [Contract-negotiated software developed for a specific application is not COTS software.]

Components

Components are the named "pieces" of design and/or actual entities [sub-systems, hardware units, software units] of the system/sub-system. In system/sub-system architectures, components consist of sub-systems [or other variations], hardware units, software units, and manual operations.

Computer database

see database.

Computer hardware

Devices capable of accepting and storing computer data, executing a systematic sequence of operations on computer data, or producing control outputs. Such devices can perform substantial interpretation, computation, communication, control, or other logical functions.

Computer program

A combination of computer instructions and data definitions that enable computer hardware to perform computational or control functions.

Computer software

See software.

Concept [project concept]

A high-level conceptual project description, including services provided and the operational structure.

Concept exploration

The process of developing and comparing alternative conceptual approaches to meeting the needs that drive the project.

Concept of Operations

A document that defines the way the system is envisioned to work from multiple stakeholder viewpoints [Users including operators, maintenance, management].

Configuration item

A product such as a document or a unit of software or hardware that performs a complete function and has been chosen to be placed under change control. That means that any changes that are to be made must go through a change management process. A baseline is a configuration item.

Configuration management

A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of Configuration Items [CI’s]; audit the CI’s to verify conformance to specifications, manage interface control documents and other contract requirements control changes to CI’s and their related documentation; and record and report information needed to manage CI’s effectively, including the status of proposed changes and the implementation status of approved changes.

Configuration Management Plan

A plan defining the implementation [including policies and methods] of configuration management on a particular program/project.

ConOps

Concept of Operations

Contract

A mutually binding legal relationship obligating a seller to furnish the supplies or services [including construction] and a buyer to accept and pay for them. It includes all types of commitments, in writing, that obligate the buyer to an expenditure of appropriate funds. In addition to bilateral agreements, contracts include, but are not limited to, awards and notices of awards; job orders or task letters issued under purchase orders under which the contract becomes effective by written acceptance or performance; and bilateral modifications.

Contractor

An individual, partnership, company, corporation, association or other service, having a contract with a buyer for the design, development, manufacture, maintenance, modification, or supply of items under the terms of a contract.

Control gates

Formal decision points along the life cycle that are used by the system’s owner and stakeholders to determine if the current phase of work has been completed and that the team is ready to move into the next phase of the life cycle.

CORBA

Common Object Request Broker Architecture

COTS

Commercial Off-The-Shelf

CR

Change Request

Cross-cutting activities

Enabling activities used to support one or more of the life cycle process steps.