When developing in established technologies, a more traditional project management approach can be used. This phased approach with feedback cycles focusses the team on product development. This style of organization tends to be very predictive in understanding the relationships and elapsed time between the various tasks. Tasks tend to be organized in a linear dependency based approach. As each phase progresses, the team works towards answering a few key questions in the business and technical domain.
|
Phase |
Key Developments |
Key Questions to Proceed |
|
Idea |
Describe the concept in enough detail to engage customers |
Is the idea in line with the company's overall strategies? Are the market/technology conditions and trends ready for this product? Is there evidence of strategic value and financial return at an acceptable level of market and technology risk?
|
|
Concept |
Engage early adopter customers to gauge their interest. Assess technology risks and development needs |
Are the underlying conditions and trends in addressable markets well defined and understood? Are the target market/customers inherently attractive? Can we serve their needs and sustain a competitive advantage? |
|
Plan |
Plan all details of implementation and deployment |
Have we selected a solution that provides superior customer value and differentiation versus our strongest competitors? Do we have an integrated business and project plan that will meet the business and customer expectations? |
|
Develop |
Develop the solution through internal trials |
Does the solution meet the standards set for customer release? Are our business processes ready to deliver the solution to initial trial customers? Are these customers ready to validate our solution? |
|
Deploy |
Deliver the product to initial customers |
Are our updated business processes and solution compliant with field feedback? Are target customers ready to accept the final solution and receive volume shipments? |
|
Life Cycle |
Manage the production and eventual discontinuation of the solution |
Why do we want to remove the product from the market at this time? Have we notified all customers and are close-out plans in place? |
These phases end with a decision meeting where key questions are discussed and a recommendation from the project team is tabled. The key stakeholders, usually executive management, will evaluate the recommendation and make a go / no-go decision regarding proceeding to the next phase of the project.