Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), as shown here, defines three gateways:
- Start Development Gate, which is the starting point for the product and allocates necessary resources to convert the initial concepts and designs into a working product, and to develop it
- Enter Production Gate, which is the core gate in the process, which allows for operationalizing the product and developing services based on it
- End of Life Gate, which allows for retiring the product by decommissioning all services that rely on it.
Below, we summarize the proposed assignment of Common Best Practices to facilitate passing specific gates:
Start Development Gate
| Item | Guidance | Practices |
| Problem statement and objectives | A clear description of the nature of the problem or opportunity the product/service is trying to address and the objectives of the project in addressing it. |
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| Users | Who are the users of this service? | |
| Benefits | What are the benefits for the user in using the service? Why would a user use the service? | N/A - business-oriented |
| Service description | A functional description of what the service is. | |
| Market analysis | Define how the proposed product/service differs from other offerings that are available (if any). | N/A - business-oriented |
| Costs | A specification of costs. Depending on the scale and cost of the development, a detailed business case estimation of the costs and (if applicable) revenues should be produced based on the available template. | N/A - non-software-related management |
| Funding | The project should demonstrate that funding is available to cover the foreseen costs or estimate any additional funding required. | N/A - non-software-related management |
| Roadmap | A high-level roadmap showing the key functional and non-functional developments during the project. | ADD |
| Planning | A plan showing the overall timescale with effort requirements and milestones for the whole project. | ADD |
| Resources | The necessary resources should have been identified and be available to allow development to begin. |
Enter Production Gate
| Item | Guidance | Practices |
| Service definition | This point covers documentation across the development: everything from marketing materials, service descriptions and operational support arrangements. | N/A |
| Code quality | Security and quality code audits must be successfully completed (e.g., specialist software support resources) in order for a service/product to qualify for production. | |
| Marketing and visibility | This includes marketing content and a plan to promote the new service to increase uptake and explain how marketing activities will help in this increase. Also, investigate ways to make it easier for potential users to test or trial your service. | |
| Service policy | Who can use the service and what, if any, are the costs? This could involve governance outside of the PMO, e.g., the Cost Sharing Committee. | N/A |
| IPR | A check of the code to estimate any risks if a public release is planned. | |
| GDPR | Even a website needs a privacy statement, further work is required if the service requires personal information. | ADD |
| Operational support | This point covers items such as:
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| Roadmap | Is there a roadmap for the next 12 months? | ADD? |
| KPIs | What key performance indicators have been defined, and what are their expected values for which period of time (for example service uptake)? For software-only services include how you plan to measure usage. | ADD? |
End of Life Gate
| Item | Guidance | Practices |
| User uptake | Are the number of users of the offering flat or declining? What are the likely future trends? | |
| MarketlLandscape | Has the market landscape changed such that the offering has less relevance? Has new regulation been introduced that the offering now needs to comply with? | |
| Competitors | Are there similar offerings that are gaining popularity at the expense of this offering? | |
| Business model | Is the business model still sustainable? Would the continued operation result in unacceptable costs and could those costs be better applied elsewhere? | |
| Financial impact | Are there any financial or strategic impacts of discontinuing the offering? The contracts should be reviewed to verify if there is any financial liability for withdrawing the offering. In addition, the user base should be reviewed for strategic impact. Are any other offerings dependent on this? | |
| User impact | How many parties will be impacted by discontinuing the offering? Consider which internal groups, third parties, or users will be affected. | |
| Alternatives | Consider if there are alternatives to the EoL. For example, handing over the offering to a third party to operate, or to key beneficiaries. | |
| Support | What is the current support burden for the offering? Can this be sustained? | |
| Technical | Are there technical risks in continuing to provide the offering? Is there third-party technology that is used by the offering that is being phased out or no longer available? | |
| EoL timeline | Has an announcement plan for users been defined? Define any steps in the EoL plan that need to be communicated, e.g., warning, final orders, final maintenance, and end of support. |