Ciclo de vida de los proyectos

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An Introduction to PMI’s Project Life Cycle

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An Introduction to PMI’s Project Life Cycle
Brian Denis Egan, Global Knowledge Instructor, PMP

Introduction
This paper provides a review of the steps and stages associated with project management according to the Project Management Institute® (PMI). It is aprimer for anyone new to the Project Management Body of Knowledge® (PMBOK®) and who is preparing to take the PMP exam. In order to understand how the PMI recommends that projects be run it is necessary to understand the project life cycle (PLC). The PLC is the framework around which project management activities are structured. It is a key concept in formal project management according to PMI. Inthis paper the structure and function of the PLC is introduced along with a number of related terms that are commonly confused.

What Is a Life Cycle?
The term ”life cycle” implies two things: that a process is perpetual and that the sequence of events is obligatory or uni-directional. A typical life cycle is depicted below. There is no beginning or end to a life cycle and the sequence of eventscannot change. A seed cannot go directly to being a mature plant nor revert back to the blossom stage.

Seeds

Blossoms

Seedling

Mature plant
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The Project Life Cycle
The term “project life cycle” is misleading,because it is neither a perpetual circle of events nor the sequence of events rigidly fixed. There are five stages to the project life cycle:

The five stages usually occur in sequence. If the project is relatively simple and there is no need to rethink or re-plan the project, the sequence of stages may be as simple as that depicted above. If there are problems with the original project plan, thenthe controlling function leads back to planning. Execution may be delayed while additional planning takes place or may continue during re-planning. The new or modified project plan is then executed. During execution controlling processes are undertaken to ensure that the correct work results are being achieved. Below is a project life cycle that has been forced by problems to return to planning.During large complex projects it is often necessary to return to planning several times. In this case, the project life cycle can become very complex with multiple repeats of planning and even initiating processes. The following is an illustration of a complex project life cycle involving multiple returns to the drawing board.

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Project Life Cycle vs. Project Management Life Cycle
The ”project management life cycle” is different from the project life cycle. But the terms are often confused. The project management life cycle refers to the development phases that a project can go through. For example: • Evaluate – Design – Build – Test – Launch • Design – Code – Test – Train – Release The phases that aproject goes through are determined by the nature of the project. The project management life cycle is tailored to suit individual project needs. In contrast, the project life cycle stays the same for all projects.

Relationship of Project Life Cycle to Phases of the Project Management Life Cycle
This is where things can become confusing. Each phase of the project management life cycle (such asDesign or Code) can go through the entire project life cycle. In other words, each phase can be thought of as an independent project that has its own complete project life cycle. Stages of the project life cycle, for the design phase of the project management life cycle, are illustrated below. The design phase is essentially an independent project that produces a deliverable. This deliverable...