CHAPTER 9: STRATEGY AND PLANNING
The PDLC in our Ten-Step approach has seven phases, not including continual improvement:
1. Strategy
2. Planning
3. Logical Design
4. Physical Design
5. Build and Test
6. Deployment
7. Operation & Sustainment.
Let’s take a moment to briefly explore each phase.
Strategy
The theme of assessing and aligning strategy is carried forward in the PDLC. Although the project has already been defined, the stakeholders identified and engaged, and Process Owners assigned, there are still other aspects to consider.
At this point, the rank-ordered list of capabilities has been agreed upon by all stakeholders. While items in the list probably won’t shift up or down based on criticality and importance, the project manager should analyze each capability, and assess whether two or more items can leverage the same resource, and, as a consequence, reduce the overall time to market. This may be especially true when considering two or more capabilities that may utilize the same set of tools or resources. During the testing and validation phase of the lifecycle, it makes sense to combine those common elements into the same set of testing parameters, rather than test them individually.
In addition, you and the project manager want to validate the scope of each capability. For the initial deliverable, it may be enough to deliver a basic capability, without adding expensive “nice to have” features. The old adage of “good, fast or cheap; pick two” will certainly apply at this point. Balancing what is possible versus what is affordable is a key factor in your strategic analysis.
Reviewable deliverables:
• Updated and validated strategic plan
• Updated and validated tactical plan
• Scope of each required capability
• Business sponsor approval.
Planning
The Planning phase of the PDLC takes into account the current environment, the resources allocated to the development effort, and the timeframe in which the improvement initiative is to be delivered. Your project manager will take these variables into account, and, given the constraints for each one, create a reasonable plan. This initial draft, of course, is subject to change. When reviewing with the Business Sponsor, you may be told that priorities have shifted, or that market circumstances necessitate the completion of one capability rather than another. A recent real-world example of how priorities may change can be seen in the advent of tablet computing. Seeing an opportunity to claim significant market share, your organization may decide to shift its strategic focus and make developing applications for this new platform its highest priority. The Planning phase is where you validate and “right-size” your assumptions and constraints, before moving on to the next phase of the PDLC.
Reviewable deliverables:
• Updated assumptions and constraints
• Updated estimates
• Working project plan with milestones and agreed-upon deliverables.
In summary, the actions you want to take in this phase are:
1. Assess the planned capability development and prioritization.
2. Update previous assumptions and constraints.
3. Validate the scope of each planned capability.
4. Review and validate stipulated timelines.
5. Combine development activities, where applicable.
6. Create working project plan with milestones and agreed-upon deliverables.
7. Ensure proper allocation and utilization of planned resources.
8. Build a fullyloaded operational project plan.