Operations and Support

Unlike the Guide to the PMBOK 's Closing process group , where you close out the project and anything new is considered a brand-new project, in the Operations and Support phase you actually work on enhancements, training, and support. The idea behind the Operations and Support phase is solid-you've just deployed a system and now a group of people must actively support it. Whether you train new people or you've been asked to add some enhancements, or you need to pull routine maintenance (such as backups or security patches), all of these elements fall into the Operations and Support phase.

Elements of Operations and Support, such as help-desk operations, clearly fall into the Guide to the PMBOK 's Closing process group. In the Closing process group, you would've written and made available help-desk documentation for the new system but that's where you stop. In the SDLC, you go beyond that and see ongoing help-desk operations as a part of the system. We need to reiterate that when you've concluded the Closing process, the project's over

and enhancements or additions are considered to be a new project. The Guide to the PMBOK doesn't talk about maintenance or enhancements. As far as A Guide to the PMBOK is concerned , technically, you would turn the project over to a support group. Remember that the definition of a project is an endeavor designed to produce a unique product or service and that has a definite beginning and end. However, SDLC accounts for this as the fifth phase of the life cycle and requires that you make accommodation.

Getting Your Hands Dirty with SDLC-Operations and Support

Several months into your new landscaping project, your sprinkler system clock goes out. Fortunately it's under warranty, but you have to make temporary provisions for it while you send the old one off to the factory for a replacement. You wind up purchasing a cheap little clock that doesn't have as many zones as you require, but at least enough to keep watering the grass. You simply go into the old drag-the-hose routine to make sure the flower beds are watered until you get the replacement clock.

Also, you discover that some of the pavers in the walkway have sunk a half-inch or so and look unsightly. You have to pull them up, add some more sand, tamp it down thoroughly, and then reset the pavers.

Additionally, you had one plant die (you wondered about it when you bought it at the garden supply store) and so you had to replace it.

You've got a problem with an unusual new bug. You drive over to the local university extension office to ask them about it and get some helpful advice. Turns out the bug isn't harmful ; in fact it's quite useful as it loves to eat aphids. However, this discovery points to the fact that the new trees you planted are loved by aphids-so much so that you've got to do something about it- they'll devour the tree bark in no time!

 

This is a subtle differentiation to make. Good project managers would, of course, realize that a new system requires ongoing maintenance and caretaking and see to it that steps were taken to accommodate the need. However, the project plan itself does not have any provision for this post-project work.