Project Management Lifecycle Development Standard

Project Management Life Cycle

The Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) addresses the project management needs for all systems
development projects. It is applicable to new system development projects and to maintenance projects
for eisting systems.
What is a Project Management Life Cycle?
! system development project is a set of activities that starts and ends at identifiable points in time and
that prod"ces #"antifiable and #"alifiable deliverables. Projects are staffed by people "sing processes and
technology to design$ develop and deliver a prod"ct pac%age. People$ processes and technology all have
to be managed d"ring the life of a project.
Project Management is the process by which a project is initiated$ planned$ controlled$ and bro"ght to a
concl"sion to s"pport the accomplishment of b"siness and system objectives.
&ince a project has a defined beginning and end$ with n"mero"s activities and deliverables that have to be
managed$ we are calling the aggregation of these management methods a Project Management Life Cycle
(PMLC).
'ot all projects are the same. &o$ to develop a set of r"les (methods) for project management$ we m"st
reali(e that these r"les m"st be adaptable for all types of projects and for all types of system developers
and prod"ct gro"ps. !dditionally$ different system development techni#"es will sometimes re#"ire
different sets of r"les for managing the res"lting development activities. )or eample$ a standalone* PC
application prod"ct re#"ires less detailed management control than a wor%station prod"ct integrating
other applications and r"nning in a large networ%ed environment. It is important to note that the PMLC
and Prod"ct +evelopment Life Cycle (P+LC) can be considered repositories of re"sable methods that
can be selected and integrated to meet the demands of projects varying in si(e and compleity.
Relationship of PMLC to the Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC
The scope of project management is not the technical wor% which prepares the information technology
based prod"cts. ,ather$ the domain of project management is the management of all the factors which
s"rro"nd and enable the technical development wor% to be accomplished. These factors incl"de project
reso"rces$ time$ cost$ sched"le and #"ality. Project s"ccess is often defined as meeting the project cost$
sched"le and #"ality constraints.
The scope of the Prod"ct +evelopment Life Cycle (P+LC) is all of the project technical f"nctions that
have to be performed to prod"ce$ maintain and s"pport the epected prod"ct deliverables. These
f"nctions incl"de b"siness analysis$ f"nctional and technical re#"irements definition$ system design$
constr"ction$ rollo"t-release and maintenance.
+"ring the formation and eec"tion of a project$ the activities in the PMLC and P+LC are integrated$
i.e.$ all technical activities are planned ("sing the P+LC as a so"rce of technical activities to be
performed) and eec"ted "sing the planning$ eec"tion and control methods defined in the PMLC.
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Project Management Lifecycle Development Standard
If PMLC and P+LC activities are integrated d"ring a project$ why are they separated in the
methodology. They are separated in order to/
,ecogni(e the nat"ral separation of project wor% between technical and project management
activities. !nd to facilitate the training and "se of these activities by the project members
responsible for them.
,ecogni(e the importance of both the technical and management wor%. !nd ens"re that project
management activities are clearly identified and performed. Too often the technical wor% is
stressed and the project management wor% is 0forgotten0. Thro"gh practical project eperience$
the implementation of systems engineering standards$ and development of systems engineering
theory$ the software ind"stry has recogni(ed the importance of project management.
)acilitate the effective maintenance (improvement) of both life cycles. If they are %ept separate in
the methodology$ the changes in one life cycle are m"ch less li%ely to affect the other.
Relationship of PMLC to Supporting Processes
The PMLC doc"ments project management phases$ tas%s$ activities$ epected inp"ts and o"tp"ts
(deliverables) and organi(ational participation in these. The PMLC does not contain the detailed
description of every method "sed within the life cycle. These detailed method descriptions are contained
in the &"pporting Processes section of the methodology. 1hen needed$ the PMLC references these
&"pporting processes. Methods s"ch as project planning$ project estimation$ project sched"ling$ ris%
management$ reso"rce management$ cost management$ time management$ project reporting$
config"ration management$ incident reporting$ trac%ing and resol"tion$ etc. are part of the &"pporting
Processes.
What )eeds to *e Managed?
Projects are organi(ed and staffed by people of varying s%ills$ responsibilities and roles. In order to
perform their wor%$ these people "se processes (ad hoc or standardi(ed) and tools.
Projects are constrained by many factors. The common ones are time$ cost$ reso"rces$ prod"ct
re#"irements and #"ality. The "ltimate goal of a project team is to deliver a prod"ct on time$ within
b"dget$ that meets the prod"ct re#"irement and #"ality constraints. To achieve this goal the team m"st
"se effective methods to manage the people$ processes and tools "sed for the project. The following need
to be considered for each/
People
Identification of roles$ responsibilities$ and s%ills needed for the project.
Identification of types and n"mbers of people reso"rces needed to meet project roles$
responsibilities and s%ill re#"irements* technical development (architects$ analysts$ programmers$
etc.)$ managerial (senior management$ project management)$ #"ality ass"rance$ prod"ct
mar%eting$ operations$ etc.
Identification of staffing so"rces * "se of eisting organi(ational reso"rces$ contractors$ new hires
2rgani(ation of people reso"rces into effective teams with the necessary comm"nication
interfaces.
Comm"nication of project mission and individ"al team assignments
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Comm"nication of project val"es-epectations * #"ality$ #"antity of wor%$ comm"nication$
teamwor%$ etc.
Training on project methods (management and technical)$ comm"nication s%ills$ technology and
tools
Comm"nication on project stat"s$ iss"es$ problems and changes. 3ffective comm"nication to all
project team members.
Comm"nication on effectiveness of project methods$ tools and wor% environments.
Implementation of methods$ tools and wor% environment improvements
Meas"rement of team and individ"al performance (based on project val"es-epectations)4
implementation of performance improvements.
Monitoring of project staffing-s%ill needs4 maintaining necessary staffing levels and-or re*assigning
roles and responsibilities
Processes
+efinition of the management and technical methods needed for the project
&election of the appropriate management and technical methods from the organi(ational Prod"ct
+evelopment Process
!c#"isition and-or development of project specific methods not available in the organi(ational
Prod"ct +evelopment process
Implementation of process effectiveness meas"rements
Monitoring of process effectiveness$ implementation of process improvements
Tools
3val"ation of project tools re#"ired to s"pport chosen management and technical methods
&election$ implementation and administration of project tools. Tools to be considered incl"de/
Process Management
3stimating
,is% Management
Project Management
Prototyping
,e#"irements +efinition
Technical !nalysis and +esign
Code 5eneration
Code Library 5eneration and Maintenance
+ata 6ase Managers
7! (Test Management$ ,eviews$ Inspections$ !"dits)
Config"ration Management
+oc"ment Control
Incident ,eporting$ Trac%ing and ,esol"tion
Prod"ct Installation
Phases of Project Management
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Project Management Lifecycle Development Standard
The Project Management Life Cycle nat"rally brea%s into three major phases * Project Planning and
Initiation$ Project 3ec"tion and Control$ and Project Clos"re. These are described briefly below.
Project Planning and ,nitiation
This phase incl"des important planning$ organi(ation and administration tas%s.
The phase begins when a"thori(ation is given by management to formally start a new project. In order to
start this phase$ the necessary "p*front b"siness planning and cost j"stification analysis that occ"rs in the
6"siness !nalysis Phase of the Prod"ct +evelopment Life Cycle (P+LC) sho"ld have ta%en place and
been approved by management. The %ey deliverables from the 6"siness !nalysis Phase * the beginning
Project Charter and prod"ct f"nctional re#"irements * sho"ld be available as inp"t into this phase.
The %ey to project s"ccess is the ade#"ate planning of the project. The planning tas%s incl"de the
definition of project scope$ deliverables and constraints (what will be done)$ the selection of management
and technical methods that will be "sed (how it will be done)$ the definition and organi(ation of the
project team (who will do it)$ the estimation of effort and reso"rces re#"ired (how m"ch it will cost)$ and
the determination of project milestones and sched"les (when it will be done). This project planning
fo"ndation has to be laid to ens"re the s"ccess of the project eec"tion. The planning information will be
doc"mented in the %ey deliverable of this phase * the Project Charter. The Project Charter is reviewed
and approved by the designated participants before the project team is formed and the project is initiated.
!fter approval of the Project Charter$ the project team is formed and the project is initiated.
Project -.ecution and Control
This phase is primarily foc"sed on carrying o"t the project plans doc"mented in the Project Charter. !ll
of the wor% re#"ired to define$ design$ constr"ct$ test and deploy the prod"ct is done d"ring this PMLC
phase. &"ccessf"l project eec"tion will re#"ire the "se of the management and control methods
identified in this phase.
The primary p"rpose of project management d"ring this phase is to monitor$ eval"ate and comm"nicate
project progress and to define and implement corrective meas"res if progress does not meet the
epectations defined in the Project Charter. These incl"de epectations for prod"ct f"nctionality$
performance$ #"ality$ cost of development$ and development-deployment sched"les. Project iss"es$
problems and change re#"ests have to be identified$ eval"ated and resolved. These have to be
comm"nicated to all project team members (organi(ational technical and management$ and contractors)
involved in eval"ating and resolving them. Improvement meas"res may be applicable to individ"al project
teams$ wor%ing environments$ processes and tools.
2rgani(ational Prod"ct +evelopment Process methods employed d"ring this phase incl"de those for
Project reporting$ 8erification and 8alidation$ ,is% Management$ Config"ration Management$ +oc"ment
Control$ Project and Prod"ct metrics$ Contractor Management$ Project 3stimation$ Project &ched"ling$
Tools 3val"ation and !c#"isition$ peer ,eviews$ !"dits$ Incident Trac%ing$ ,eporting and ,esol"tion$
Time Management$ and Cost Management.
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The Project Charter contin"es to serve as the primary comm"nication vehicle for project plans and
progress. It is a dynamic doc"ment d"ring this phase and is "pdated when necessary to reflect changes in
project scope$ constraints$ deliverables$ and progress.
Project Closure
The primary p"rpose of this phase is to administratively close down the project and to eval"ate how
effective the project eec"tion was.
!dministrative clos"re incl"des the "pdating of project metrics$ clean"p and archiving of all project
doc"mentation$ libraries and repositories$ and the release of project reso"rces.
3val"ation of project effectiveness incl"des a Project Post*Mortem eval"ation. The p"rpose of the
eval"ation is to determine 0what went right0 (and to carry this forward to other projects)$ 0what went
wrong0 (and to %eep it from happening again)$ and what was prod"ced that may be re"sable by other
projects. This eval"ation serves as a primary improvement vehicle for all organi(ational projects. !
Project Post*Mortem ,eport is generated that contains eval"ation findings and recommended actions.
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