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The following Y2K material has been kept available by MITRE for historical purposes only and has not been updated unless noted.

Guidelines for Writing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

The MOA outline below is adapted from Appendix D of U. S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) Project Year 2000 Action Plan.

SUBJECT: Interface Agreement for Year 2000 Changes

1. PURPOSE.

This paragraph defines, in as few words as possible, the purpose of the agreement. It could be as simple as

"This memorandum of agreement describes the activities and responsibilities of [list all parties] associated with the modifications necessary to make [list interface name] Year 2000 (Y2K) compliant."

2. REFERENCE.

This paragraph will list references that are directly related to the agreement. Specifically, the Interface Control Document that defines the interface (revised to reflect any necessary Y2K changes) should be referenced.

3. PROBLEM.

This paragraph contains a clear, concise statement of the problem, including background information sufficient for the reader to put the problem in context. Briefly describe that nature of the date data interchange: pass-through, date dependent calculations on one or both sides of the interface, etc.

4. SCOPE.

This paragraph contains a succinct statement specifying the area of the agreement.

5. UNDERSTANDINGS, AGREEMENTS, SUPPORT, AND RESOURCE NEEDS.

This paragraph lists understandings and agreements, support and resource needs, and the responsibilities of and between each of the parties or agencies involved in the agreement. This is the meat of the agreement and should discuss:

• Understandings and agreements
  • The nature of the changes to be made (field expansion, windowing, whatever) on both sides of the interface
  • The specific algorithms to be implemented
  • Any changes to the relevant ICDs, with a level of detail consistent with those ICDs
  • The schedule of the modifications at each end of the interface
  • Testing that will be done internally at both ends of the interface
  • Testing to be done across the interface involving the systems at each end
  
  
• Support and resource needs
  • Support and resources required from each end of the interface to support testing at the other end
  • Support and resources required from both ends of the interface to support end-to-end testing of the modification

6. EFFECTIVE DATE/AMENDMENT.

This paragraph defines the effective date of the agreement and describes the means, if any, to modify the agreement.

SIGNATURE BLOCK

PARTY A

SIGNATURE BLOCK

PARTY B

[additional signature blocks, as required]