| Each of the four phases (Inception, Elaboration, Construction, and Transition) of the RUP software development lifecycle has distinct milestones and objectives that mark their endpoints. Objectives for each milestone should be met as a way of mitigating risk before moving on to the following phase (see Figure A.7). Figure A.7. Each phase has objectives  Goals of Inception The objectives of the Lifecycle Objectives (LCO) milestone at the end of the Inception Phase are as follows : -
The people who will use the final product, and the buyers , developers, and project managers (the stakeholders) have "bought into" the project. All stakeholders understand and agree about what needs to be done (scope), how long it will probably take (high-level schedule), and what it will probably cost (budget). -
The stakeholders agree that their expectations and priorities (requirements) for the product are correctly captured and understood by the others. -
Everyone has had the opportunity to flag perceived concerns (risks) and has devised a way to handle each of them should they arise (mitigation strategy). The artifacts developed to support the LCO review are: -
The Vision ” "What are we trying to accomplish?" -
Business Case ” "What is this going to cost, and is it worth the effort?" -
Risk List ” "What could derail us, and how are we going to stay on track?" -
Software Development Plan, Tools, Templates and Environment ” "What do we need, and when, to get the product built and rolled out?" -
Iteration Plan ” "What are our immediate development goals?" -
Product Acceptance Plan ” "How do we know we built the right product?" -
Use-Case Model ” "How will users interact with our product to get something useful out of it?" -
Glossary ” "What are the objects in our domain?" Goals of Elaboration The objectives of the Lifecycle Architecture (LCA) milestone at the end of the Elaboration phase are as follows: -
We know exactly what we're going to build (stable architecture), and end users agree that it will support their needs (stable requirements). -
We have described the key scenarios that the product needs to support to be considered successful, and we have proved through a series of executable prototypes that we have made the right tradeoffs, and can meet the "success criteria" (mitigated architectural risks). -
Our overall and iteration plans for the Construction phase are realistic enough for work to begin (stable plans). -
Our budget "burn rate" to date has been realistic. -
We have established a suitable supporting environment and infrastructure to develop the product. The artifacts developed to support the LCA review "now that we know better" are: -
Updated Vision Document. -
Updated Risk List. -
Updated Software Development Plan. -
Updated Iteration Plan. -
Updated Use-Case Model. -
Supplementary Specifications ” These capture the nonfunctional requirements (performance, reliability, "we want it in pink polka dot," and so on). -
Prototypes ” Quickly slapped together experimental executables used to explore software ideas (exploratory) on what parts are going to hang together (structural), or demonstrate specific behavior (behavioral), or even parts that may be scaled up into production code (evolutionary). Usually this is throwaway code. -
Software Architecture Document ” This describes the key design elements and mechanisms (Logical View) needed to support the functional requirements (Use-Case View), and how the components will work together (Process View) and execute on their target platform (Deployment View). -
Design Model ” This captures the product design, ensuring that the design meets user requirements and that the path to implementation is clear. -
Implementation Model ” An organized collection of components, data, and subsystems that express the product design. -
Project Specific Templates and Tools to support product development. Goals of Construction The objectives of the "Initial Operational Capability (IOC) Milestone" at the end of the Construction phase are as follows: -
Produce an Alpha version of the product that is sufficiently mature to be released to "first-adopter" users. -
Ensure that users are ready to test and use the product. -
Validate that there is sufficient budget to complete the project. The artifacts developed to support the IOC review are: -
Updated and expanded Implementation Model. -
Updated Design Model based on new design elements identified during the Construction phase. -
Test Model including test designs and harnesses required to validate the executable. -
Deployment Plan describing the tasks and resources required to install and test the developed product so that it can be effectively transferred to the user community. -
Preliminary draft of "use-case based" user manuals and training materials. Goals of Transition The objective of the Product Release Milestone (PRM) at the end of the Transition phase is as follows: To support that objective, activities such as the following need to have been completed: -
The users have validated and accepted the product, and are on their way to supporting the product in-house. -
The users are trained and know how to make the transition from their legacy system to the new one. -
The product is packaged for pricing and promotion rollout to the marketing, distribution, and sales forces. -
The product has been handed over to support engineering, which has been trained for tuning, bug fixing, and enhancing the product. -
The team has met the Vision and the acceptance criteria for the product. The artifacts developed to support the PRM review are:  |
