Step 1: Determine the project's hierarchy

As a project manager, you are responsible for generating and updating the hierarchy of the project to accommodate project requirements. This step helps you plan the project hierarchy. When you have completed this step, you should have a diagram of the hierarchy with all the groups labeled, as well as an understanding of how each group is used.

It is usually easier to draw a diagram of your hierarchy, to help you visualize what the hierarchy looks like. The following rules govern the creation of hierarchies:

Each group can have no more than one parent.
Each group can have multiple groups promoting into it.
There is no restriction on the total number of groups a hierarchy can have.
A hierarchical view can contain no more than 123 groups. This is because MVS™ has a limit of 123 extents for a concatenated partitioned data set.
Each hierarchy has one root group, the topmost group.
It is possible to have more than one hierarchy defined for one project.
Defining no more than four layers makes it easier to use ISPF tools on the SCLM-controlled members.

The following two figures show two examples of hierarchies. These hierarchies are set up based on the development phases potential projects might use. You can create hierarchies other than those presented here. As a project evolves, the requirements that the project has on the hierarchy will change. With SCLM, you can change the hierarchy to meet the needs of the project.

The reasoning behind the hierarchy shown in Figure 1 follows:

The development groups (USER1, USER2, and USER3) are where all modifications to SCLM-controlled members are made.
The INT group is for integrating (combining) all the SCLM-controlled members from the development groups.
The TEST group is the group where system or function testing of the application will take place.
The RELEASE group will contain the final version of the application being developed. It is from this group that the application could be put into production.

Figure 1. Example of SCLM Hierarchies

This hierarchy has four levels. There is one group on each of the first three levels, RELEASE, TEST, and INT. The bottom level has three groups, USER1, USER2, and USER3.

The second hierarchy, shown in Figure 2, is different. This hierarchy has two separate legs. Each leg of the hierarchy contains a separate subsystem of the application being developed. The stage groups (STAGE1 and STAGE2) in each hierarchy leg are used for integrating and unit testing the subsystems within each hierarchy leg. The SYSTEST group is used to combine the subsystems from both legs of the hierarchy for delivery to a system test organization.

Figure 2. Example of SCLM Hierarchies

This hierarchy has three levels. Each level has double the number of groups as the previous level. The top level has one group, SYSTEST. The second level has STAGE1 and STAGE2. The third level has USER1 and USER2 subordinate to STAGE1, and USER3 and USER4 subordinate to STAGE2.

Use the preceding rules and the requirements of your project to draw your hierarchy and label each group.