Summary

Define lifecycle phases on which to scope the planning effort.

Description

The determination of lifecycle phases provides for planned periods of evaluation and decision making. These periods are normally defined to support logical decision points at which the appropriateness of continued reliance on the work plan and strategy is determined and significant commitments are made concerning resources. Such points provide planned events at which course corrections and determinations of future scope and cost can be made.

Understanding the lifecycle is crucial in determining the scope of the planning effort and the timing of initial planning, as well as the timing and criteria (critical milestones) for replanning.

The selection of a lifecycle for development and delivery of services will depend on the characteristics of the services and their environment. Some service providers will define phases based on their standard service definitions. Depending on the nature of the service, explicit phases for “startup” and “close-out” can be included.

Refer to the Strategic Service Management (STSM) (CMMI-SVC) process area for more information about establishing standard services.


Often, individual services have implicit lifecycles associated with them that involve points of communication, evaluation, and decision and should be considered when estimating what is required to support delivery of such a service.

Example Work Products



  1. Lifecycle phases