ADG Mission-Critical Applications: It All Starts with Documentation

In Aerospace, Defense, and Government (ADG) projects, reliability isn't just a goal—it's a requirement. These high-stakes missions leave no room for error. As the old adage goes, “A failure to plan is a plan to fail,” and at DMC, we believe that plan starts with documentation.

From the earliest phases of a project, clear and persistent documentation lays the groundwork for alignment, accountability, and compliance. That's why one of the first software engineering requirements in NASA's NPR 7150.2, SWE-013, emphasizes documentation. It ensures that critical decisions and plans are recorded in a referenceable, auditable format—independent of human memory and resilient across the full lifecycle of a project.

Documentation is the backbone of DMC's A.R.T.ful Engineering philosophy, which focuses on Accountability, Reliability, and Traceability. It helps teams coordinate effectively, supports rigorous traceability, and creates a lasting record that enables better decisions at every stage.

The Right Tools for the Job

Good documentation isn't just about writing things down—it's about using the right tools to manage evolving information. Documentation tools must be thoughtfully selected and integrated to meet the unique demands of ADG applications. The best tools combine a wide range of capabilities, including:

However, functionality is only part of the equation—tools must also be user-friendly for authors, reviewers, and administrators.

Managing Diverse Information Types

ADG projects rely on a broad spectrum of documentation. Examples include:

• Requirements Traceability Matrices
• Risk Assessments & Mitigation Plans
• System & Software Designs
• Configuration Items & Change Requests
• Test Plans & Results
• User Manuals & SOPs
• Budgets, Staffing Plans & Gantt Charts
• Internal and External Communications
• Meeting Notes & Developer Tasks

Each type of information has a unique structure, workflow, and lifecycle. This variety often leads organizations to use multiple tools—each one suited to a specific task. While specialization is helpful, a proliferation of tools can silo data, hinder collaboration, and obscure the bigger picture.

DMC's Approach: Integration and Insight

At DMC, we specialize in breaking down these silos. We help our clients:

• Evaluate the best tools for their documentation needs
• Integrate multiple platforms into a unified, seamless ecosystem
• Build custom solutions that align with their business requirements

Internally, DMC uses a blend of industry-standard COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) tools and custom-built integrations to manage all aspects of our projects. Our toolset includes:

• Atlassian Confluence – For collaborative, structured documentation, and planning
• Monday.com – For workflow management, communication, and traceability
• GitLab – For source code control, code reviews, change tracking, and continuous integration / continuous delivery (CI/CD)
• Microsoft SharePoint – For enterprise file storage and access management

What makes our ecosystem powerful is the integration between these tools. For example, a requirement originating from a SharePoint file is translated to Monday.com and then directly linked to a Confluence page describing the design that satisfies the requirement. Source code implementing the design and managed in GitLab is then linked to the Monday.com requirement. Finally, test plans and results stored in Monday.com are linked to the requirements. This creates a living, traceable thread across the entire project, from origin to artifact.

Transforming Documentation into a Strategic Asset

With the right tools and processes, documentation becomes more than just a compliance task—it becomes a strategic advantage:

• Enabling reliable, traceable decision-making
• Keeping internal and external stakeholders aligned
• Supporting compliance with standards like NASA 7150.2
• Facilitating faster onboarding, reviews, and audits
• Evolving with the project to remain current and actionable

DMC's expertise lies in creating documentation environments that do all this and more. Whether it's helping you select a platform, integrating your existing tools, or developing a custom solution from scratch, we ensure your documentation works as hard as your team does.

In mission-critical environments, success starts with the plan, and the plan begins with documentation.

Learn more about DMC's Test & Measurement Automation Solutions and contact us for your next project.

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Explore our other key topics in NPR 7150.2 compliance through the remainder of our ADG Mission-Critical Applications series:

• Building the Right Way with ARTful Design – Understand NASA NPR 7150.2 standards and their use for mission-critical ADG systems. We demonstrate how using A.R.T.ful design, COTS tools, and robust documentation strategies helps to meet and exceed those requirements.
• Entrusting Your Mission's Objectives to a Partner – Communication is the first step in traceability. Learn how DMC captures client intent from day one, linking early conversations and contract documents into Requirement Traceability Matrices using Monday.com. This aligns directly with SWE-050 and SWE-052.
• Seeing Your Vision Take Shape Through Designs – Your vision must translate into tangible designs. Learn about how DMC maps requirements to designs using Confluence and custom integrations, generating a live Requirements Coverage Table and validating coverage bidirectionally per 7150.2.
• The Plan Is the Plan Until the Plan Changes – Change happens. Learn how DMC's configuration and change management systems allow us to adapt while preserving traceability and alignment with SWE-079.
• Turning Your Vision into Reality – Design becomes code. Learn how DMC's traceability extends into source code across multiple platforms (NI LabVIEW, Python, NI VeriStand), and how we maintain this alignment without overburdening developers.
• Quality Matters – Close the loop with testing and assurance. Learn how DMC utilizes technology such as GitLab, automated testing frameworks, and custom tooling to perform code reviews, trace test results to requirements, and verify quality compliance with NASA-STD-8739.8.