Project Review: Lifecycle Objective Milestone

At the end of the Inception phase is the first major project milestone, called Lifecycle Objective Milestone. At this point, you examine the lifecycle objectives of the project. The project should be aborted or reconsidered if it fails to reach this milestone. If your project is doomed to fail, it is better to realize this early than late, and the iterative approach combined with this milestone may force such an early epiphany.

The Lifecycle Objective Milestone review includes the following evaluation criteria:

• Stakeholder concurrence on scope definition and an initial cost/schedule estimate (which will be refined in later phases)

• Agreement that the right set of requirements has been captured and that there is a shared understanding of these requirements

• Agreement that the cost/schedule estimate, priorities, risks, and development process are appropriate

• Agreement that initial risks have been identified and a mitigation strategy exists for each

The project may be aborted or reconsidered if it fails to reach this milestone.