Project Management Life Cycle

*A common misconception among project stakeholders is the erroneous belief that the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a project management methodology. There are even some who believe the inverse, that the SDLC is contained within traditional project management methodologies. In truth, neither is quite correct, and it's more than just semantics. Here's why:

The Software/Systems Development Life Cycle is a methodology that forms the framework for planning and controlling the creation, testing, and delivery of an information system. More specifically, the SDLC process is composed of a number of clearly defined and distinct work phases that are used by information technology resources, such as systems engineers and systems developers, to plan for, design, build, test, and deliver information systems. The SDLC is about quality, consistency, and product delivery in the realization of a product's requirements. In recent years, SDLC methodology has been modified to become more streamlined and less "waterfall" based, with the popular Agile approach being one example.

Project Management Methodology, on the other hand, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet project requirements through planning, organizing, measuring, controlling, and reporting upon resources (human, financial, and time). Best practices within traditional project management disciplines list five main phases or "process groups" that include Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing. The management of a project includes identification of requirements; balancing stakeholder needs/expectations/concerns; and balancing competing constraints (scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources, and risk). Within each phase, tasks are defined to move from one phase to another until the project is closed.

The important distinction between the two is that the SDLC is completely focused on the phases, tasks, resources, and plans needed to deliver information systems. Project management methodology is more agnostic; its process set and approach can be applied to any temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end, whether it's a construction project, a school research project, planning a move from one city to another, or even an IT infrastructure upgrade project.

* "The SDLC is *NOT* a Project Management Methodology" by Paul R. Williams

The guidance that follows is organized by the Project Management Life Cycle processes; the SDLC process steps are mapped to each at the point when they're performed, specifically in the Planning (Business Requirements), Execution, and Monitoring & Controlling processes.

A project is formally started, named, and defined at a broad level during this phase. Project sponsors and other important stakeholders perform their due diligence and decide whether to commit to the project. At a minimum, high-level business requirements-gathering is required in this phase. Other activities can include concept development, requests for proposals (RFP), fit-gap analyses, cost-benefit analyses, feasibility studies, and risk management planning— all of which culminate in a Statement of Work (optional) and Project Charter (required).

A project management plan is developed comprehensively of individual plans for cost, scope, duration, quality, communication, risk, and resources. Some of the important activities that mark this phase are completion of the Project Initiation Checklist (strongly recommended) and creation of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS— optional foundation of a project plan). A project plan, which estimates and reserves resources, plans dates and modes of communication with stakeholders based on milestones, deadlines, and important deliveries, is required. This phase is also marked by the creation of a Business Requirements Document (BRD). A plan for managing identified and unidentified risks is determined, as this may later affect aspects of a project. Risk management planning includes risk identification and analysis, risk mitigation approaches, and risk response planning.

This phase is where the actual implementation/execution work takes place to realize the stated project objectives and scope defined in the project charter. Project tasks and deliverables are completed, adhering to the project plan, starting with a project kickoff meeting. By this point, the planning (or at least a significant portion of it) has been completed so that there is a first set of baseline requirements and planning documents to begin project execution (UIT uses the term "Implementation"). There are six significant Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) task groupings that take place during this phase:

• Functional Design
• Technical Design
• Development and/or Integration
• Systems Integration Testing (SIT)
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Implementation and Change Management

Expect that everything will not go as planned during project implementation/execution. There will be normal variances that pop up over the course of project implementation/execution, which might require updates to planning documents, requirements, risk registers, quality assurance procedures, communication strategies, etc.

Occurring at the same time as the implementation phase (although some monitoring and controlling activities will start as early as the initiation phase), this phase mostly deals with measuring the project performance and progression in accordance with the project plan. Scope verification and control occur to check and monitor for scope creep, as well as change control to track and manage changes to project requirements. Calculating key performance indicators for cost and time are done to measure the degree of variation, if any, and in which case corrective measures are determined and suggested to keep a project on track.

The practice of project closeout finalizes all project activities completed across all phases or the project to formally close the project and transfer the completed or cancelled project as appropriate. The purpose of project closeout is to assess the project, ensure completion, and derive and lessons learned and best practices to be applied to future projects. Project closeout should be anticipated and planned as early as possible in the project life cycle even though it is often the last major process of a project's life. At a high level, the key elements of project closeout are:

• Verify acceptance of final project deliverables
• Conduct post-project assessment and lessons learned (Project Retrospective)
• Recognize and celebrate outstanding project work
• Disburse project resources— staff, facilities, systems, etc.
• Complete and archive final product records
• Ensure transfer of knowledge