Summary

Establish and maintain the project’s defined process from project startup through the life of the project.

Description

Refer to the Organizational Process Definition (OPD) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets and establishing the organization’s measurement repository.


Refer to the Organizational Process Focus (OPF) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about deploying organizational process assets and deploying standard processes.


The project’s defined process consists of defined processes that form an integrated, coherent lifecycle for the project.

The project’s defined process should satisfy the project’s contractual requirements, operational needs, opportunities, and constraints. It is designed to provide a best fit for project needs.

A project’s defined process is based on the following factors:
  • Stakeholder requirements
  • Commitments
  • Organizational process needs and objectives
  • The organization’s set of standard processes and tailoring guidelines
  • The operational environment
  • The business environment


Establishing the project’s defined process at project startup helps to ensure that project staff and relevant stakeholders implement a set of activities needed to efficiently establish an initial set of requirements and plans for the project. As the project progresses, the description of the project’s defined process is elaborated and revised to better meet project requirements and the organization’s process needs and objectives. Also, as the organization’s set of standard processes changes, the project’s defined process may need to be revised.

Example Work Products



  1. The project’s defined process


Subpractices



1. Select a lifecycle model from the ones available in organizational process assets.

 

Examples of project characteristics that could affect the selection of lifecycle models include the following:
  • Size or complexity of the project
  • Project strategy
  • Experience and familiarity of staff with implementing the process
  • Constraints such as cycle time and acceptable defect levels
  • Availability of customers to answer questions and provide feedback on increments
  • Clarity of requirements
  • Customer expectations



2. Select standard processes from the organization’s set of standard processes that best fit the needs of the project.

3. Tailor the organization’s set of standard processes and other organizational process assets according to tailoring guidelines to produce the project’s defined process.

Sometimes the available lifecycle models and standard processes are inadequate to meet project needs. In such circumstances, the project should seek approval to deviate from what is required by the organization. Waivers are provided for this purpose.

Tailoring can include adapting the organization’s common measures and specifying additional measures to meet the information needs of the project.



4. Use other artifacts from the organization’s process asset library as appropriate.

 

Other artifacts can include the following:
  • Lessons learned documents
  • Templates
  • Example documents
  • Estimating models



5. Document the project’s defined process.

The project’s defined process covers all of the activities for the project and its interfaces to relevant stakeholders.

 

Examples of project activities include the following:
  • Project planning
  • Project monitoring
  • Supplier management
  • Quality assurance
  • Risk management
  • Decision analysis and resolution
  • Requirements development
  • Requirements management
  • Configuration management
  • Product development and support
  • Code review
  • Solicitation



6. Conduct peer reviews of the project’s defined process.

Refer to the Verification (VER) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about performing peer reviews.



7. Revise the project's defined process as necessary.