Objectives of the Inception Phase

Inception is the first of the four lifecycle phases in the RUP. It is really all about understanding the project scope and objectives and getting enough information to confirm that you should proceed ”or perhaps convince you that you shouldn't. The five basic objectives of the Inception phase are

1. Understand what to build . Determine the vision, the scope of the system, and its boundaries, that is, what is inside the system and what is outside. Identify who wants this system and what it is worth to them.

2. Identify key system functionality. Decide which use cases (which ways of using the system) are most critical.

3. Determine at least one possible solution. Identify at least one candidate architecture.

4. Understand the costs, schedule, and risks associated with the project.

5. Decide what process to follow and what tools to use.

Note that the numbering of the objectives does not indicate priority, nor that they be addressed in any specific order. Quite the opposite : You will address all the objectives in parallel. In this chapter we will describe how to proceed to achieve each of these five objectives.