The Microsoft Solutions
Framework consists of 5 phases:
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The Envisioning
Phase addresses one of
the most fundamental requirements
for project success—unification
of the project team behind a common
vision. The project team is made
up of members from the customer’s
organization as well as members
from the vendor’s organization.
The team must have a clear vision
of what it wants to accomplish and
be able to state it in terms that
will motivate the entire team. Envisioning,
by creating a high-level view of
the project’s goals and constraints,
can serve as an early form of planning;
it sets the stage for the more formal
planning process that will take
place during the project’s
planning phase.
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The
Planning Phase culminates
in the project plan approved
milestone. This second milestone
is the point at which the
project team and key project
stakeholders agree on what
the project will deliver and
design a solution. It also
provides an opportunity to
establish priorities and set
expectations. The project
plan approved milestone is
essentially the contract to
proceed with the project. |
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The Developing
Phase culminates in the scope
complete/first use milestone.
At this milestone, all features
are complete and the product
is ready for external testing
and stabilization. This milestone
is the opportunity for the
customer’s end users,
operations and support personnel,
and key project stakeholders
to evaluate the product and
identify any remaining issues
they need to address before
it ships. |
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The Stabilizing
Phase conducts testing on a solution whose
features are complete. Testing during
this phase emphasizes usage and operation
under realistic environmental conditions.
The team focuses on resolving and triaging
(prioritizing) bugs and preparing the
solution for release. The stabilizing
phase culminates in the release readiness
milestone. Once reviewed and approved,
the solution is ready for full deployment
to the live production environment. |
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The Deployment Phase is
where the release milestone occurs once
the team addresses all outstanding issues
and ships the product or places it in
service. At the release milestone, responsibility
for ongoing management and support of
the product officially transfers from
the project team to operations and support. |
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