Task: Lifecycle Milestone Review |
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This task describes how to review the state of the project at the end of a phase and determine whether the project should proceed to the next phase. |
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Relationships
Roles | Primary:
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| Assisting:
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Inputs | Mandatory:
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| External:
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Outputs |
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Main Description
The end of a phase represents a point of synchronization (of technical and management expectations) and closure for a
project, and it coincides (more or less) with the end of an iteration. However, unlike other iterations, the iteration
that terminates a phase should leave few loose ends and issues to be carried forward into the next iteration (which
will be in the next phase). Indeed, phase ends mark a point at which it is possible to consider re-scoping and even
re-contracting a project. For example, the inception phase is exploratory and may be appropriately performed under a
time-and-materials or cost-plus type of contract. The elaboration phase could be done as a fixed-price or cost-plus
contract, depending on the degree of novelty of the development. Enough is known about the system by the construction
and transition phases that fixed-price contracts are more appealing to acquirer and vendor.
The phase end is marked by a major milestone, at which a Lifecycle Milestone Review is conducted. This is intended to achieve
concurrence among all stakeholders on the current state of the project. These reviews are usually formal and are
conducted with some ceremony, to demonstrate to all stakeholders that the aims of the phase were achieved. The end of
the transition phase is marked by the Product Release Milestone. Also Project Acceptance Review.
The Project Manager will have planned, going into the final iteration of the phase, to have all required work products
ready for the Lifecycle Milestone Review. However, assess the iteration before the Lifecycle Milestone Review is held.
If the iteration has gone well, there will be little to do to prepare for phase close-out other than distributing
phase-end work products to stakeholders. The project manager may decide that certain issues arising from the Iteration
Assessment or issues remaining in the Issues List need to be addressed before the Lifecycle Milestone
review, and cannot be carried over into the next phase. This means that, in effect, a micro-iteration will occur, in
which selected problems will be fixed and issues resolved, although in terms of workflow, this can be considered an
extension of the final iteration.
A Lifecycle Milestone Review is held at the conclusion of each phase to determine, following the completion of the
final iteration of the phase, whether the project should be allowed to proceed to the next phase. It marks a point at
which management and technical expectations should be resynchronized, but the issues to be considered should relate
mainly to the management of the project - major technical issues should have been resolved with the final iteration (of
the phase).
A review is held at each of the major milestones, in particular at:
Issues for Consideration
The issues to be considered are, by default, those canvassed in the Status Assessment, e.g.:
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has the project made adequate progress (in delivering capability, quality and planned work products) across the
phase?
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is the project's risk profile acceptable to enter the next phase?
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is the project's scope well-understood and acceptable to all stakeholders?
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are the project's baselines in a known state according to configuration audits?
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has the project performed acceptable on cost and schedule?
The Business Case, which was previously updated to take account of any
changes to scope and risk, may also be examined, to revalidate its assumptions and conclusions, in the light of any
changes in the business or overall systems context for the project.
Financial considerations will be particularly important if the phase end also marks the end of a contract.
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Steps
Check Status of Required Work Products
The Project Manager will check each of the work products required for the phase end, using information from the latest
Iteration Assessment and Status Assessment. Where there are open issues or problems that the Project Manager believes
would prevent a successful Lifecycle Milestone Review, work is initiated to resolve them, before the work products are
distributed to the stakeholders.
Work Products Required
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Schedule Configuration Audits
If required, the Project Manager arranges for functional and physical configuration audits to be conducted.
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Conduct a Phase Post-Mortem Review
Once any tasks triggered by Check Status of Required Work Products have been completed, the Iteration Assessment can be
amended to reflect the improved state. A post-mortem review is then held to determine whether the project is ready for
the Lifecycle Milestone Review. The Iteration Assessment for the previous iteration, and the Issues List are again
examined to make sure any residual issues are understood and it will be acceptable to the stakeholders to carry them
forward. If any product was delivered to the customer for operational use in the current phase, then ensure that any
required installation, training and transition tasks have progressed acceptably.
If the phase end is also the end of the current contract (with the intent to re-contract for the next phase), the
Project Manager will settle the project's finances, making sure all payments have been received and all suppliers and
subcontractors paid. Organizational policy or other regulatory requirement may also require a more formal audit process
at contract termination, covering the project's finances, budgeting process, and assets.
The Project Manager produces a Status Assessment that captures the results of the phase post-mortem
review and the configuration audits, in preparation for the Lifecycle Milestone Review.
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Distribute Work Products to Stakeholders
Some time before the Lifecycle Milestone Review is to scheduled to be held, the Project Manager provides all
stakeholders with copies of the work products which are to be considered at the Lifecycle Milestone Review. In a very
formal contractual environment, the delivery of work products may well be contractually required to occur some weeks
before the review. However, the Rational Unified Process recommends that the stakeholders be involved and engaged in
the project to such a degree (in joint technical and management reviews, for example) that these deliveries should not
be controversial; the stakeholders would already be familiar with the delivered material. They will have visibility of
the evolution of the work products through the project's iterations. Even so, given the formal nature of these
deliveries, deployment activities will ensure that proper regard is given to packaging, labeling,
installation, transition, and so on.
Work Products Required
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Conduct Lifecycle Milestone Review Meeting
During the meeting, the attendees will be mainly concerned with the Status Assessment and the Business Case. See the Issues for Consideration.
At the end of the meeting, the reviewers should make the decision to approve or not. If the remaining issues are few
and relatively minor, the customer may decide to accept the product conditionally upon certain corrective actions being
taken. In this situation the Project Manager may choose to initiate a new iteration to deal with the issues arising,
depending on their significance, or simply deal with issues as an extension of the final iteration, the difference
being in the amount of planning needed. If the results of the phase are found to be unacceptable, the Project Manager
may be obliged to initiate another iteration, or perhaps the resolution of the problem is taken out of the Project
Manager's hands, and left to the customer and the Project Review Authority.
The result of the Lifecycle Milestone Review Meeting can be one of the following:
Phase Accepted
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The customer representative agrees that the project has met expectations for the phase, and can proceed to
the next phase.
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Conditional Acceptance
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The customer representative agrees that the project may proceed to the next phase, subject to the
completion of specified corrective actions.
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Phase Not Accepted
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The project has failed to achieve the expectations for the phase: either a further iteration is scheduled,
or the various stakeholders have recourse to the contract, to re-scope or terminate the project.
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Complete Lifecycle Milestone Review Action Items
There may be some remaining actions following the Lifecycle Milestone Review, and sanction to begin the next phase may
be conditional upon these. The Project Manager initiates work to resolve these items.
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Properties
Multiple Occurrences |  |
Event Driven |  |
Ongoing |  |
Optional |  |
Planned |  |
Repeatable |  |
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