Milestone

Definition

Milestone

a Stage Without Duration modeling a major scheduled point in time during the delivery process by which a cohesive set of significant objectives (e.g., set of tasks completed, set of work products delivered) is to be achieved.

Classification

As illustrated in the preceding figures, milestones are part of the following inheritance hierarchy:

• Type: Concrete
• Superclass: Stage Without Duration
• Subclasses: None
• Instances:
  • Business Strategy Phase Milestones:
    1. Project Mobilized
    2. Analyses Complete
    3. Business Vision Complete
    4. Strategies Complete
    5. Business Architecture Complete
    6. Business Strategy Phase Complete
  • Business Optimization Phase Milestones:
    1. Data Center Established
    2. Contact Center Established
    3. Brand Communicated
    4. Reengineered Business Communicated
  • Initiation Phase Milestones:
    1. Project Mobilized
    2. Significant Requirements Specified
    3. InitialArchitecturesDocumented
    4. End-To-End Prototype Validated
    5. Following Phases Planned
    6. Initiation Phase Complete
  • Construction Phase Milestones:
    1. Requirements and Architecture Frozen
    2. Application Implemented
    3. Construction Phase Complete
  • Delivery Phase Milestones:
    1. Production Environment Established
    2. Application Deployed
    3. Delivery Phase Documentation Delivered
    4. Customer User Training Delivered
    5. Alpha Tests Passed
    6. Beta Tests Passed
    7. Acceptance Tests Passed
    8. Delivery Phase Complete

Responsibilities

The typical objectives of a milestone are to:

• Define a significant scheduled point in time during a phase.
• Define the corresponding objectives to be achieved by that point in time.

Guidelines

• General Guidelines:
  • Because activities and tasks are performed incrementally, iteratively, and in parallel, the ordering of milestones within a phase is often only partial.
• Usage Guidelines for using the OPEN Process Framework (OPF) to produce a process containing project-specific milestones:
  • Creation Guidelines for creating a project-specific process from the OPF:
    • Because OPF is a general (and therefore relatively complete) framework, its class repository contains a relatively complete number of milestones.
    • Choose the reusable milestones in the repository to instantiate based on the type and duration of the project and its phases.
    • Document the selection of milestones in the description of the project-specific process.
  • Extension Guidelines for extending the repository with a new milestone:
    • Because the construction phase is the longest phases on large complex projects, additional milestones may be appropriate on such projects.
    • Ensure that each new type of milestone is cohesive in terms of its definition and objectives.
    • Ensure that each new milestone is internally consistent:
      • The milestone's tasks are consistent with the milestone's name.
      • The milestone's work products are consistent with the milestone's tasks.
    • Ensure that each new milestone is externally consistent in that its tasks do not inadvertantly overlap the tasks of existing milestones.
    • Ensure that each new type of milestone is adequately documented using the standard topics.
  • Tailoring Guidelines for modifying a selected milestone to meet the specific needs of a project:
    • Tailoring can happen at any time during the project:
      • At the beginning of the project when the project-specific process is produced.
      • During the process as situations change and lessons are learned.
    • Modify the definition as appropriate.
    • Add, modify, or delete tasks as appropriate.
    • Add, modify, or delete work products as appropriate.
    • Document your tailoring decisions in the description of the project-specific process.