Topics: 

SM-10-008 Performance Lifecycle Stage Gate 

Issue Date:  9/05/2009

Revision Effective Date:  5/01/2011 

PURPOSE

Use of the Enterprise Performance Lifecycle is intended to reduce risk of IT investments.  Industry best practices in IT project management include periodic reviews by stakeholders to ensure that the cost, schedule or performance requirements can be and are being met.  A review at the end of each stage which determines whether or not the investment advances to the next phase or stage is referred to as a Stage Gate Review.

STANDARD

An agency which initiates an information technology project to support a business process (an IT investment project) shall review project status in accordance with the Enterprise IT Performance Lifecycle Management (SM-10-007), as follows:

  1. A Stage Gate Review shall provide a confirmation by project Key Stakeholders of:
    1. The successful accomplishment of Lifecycle stage objectives.
    2. The plans for the next Lifecycle stage.
    3. The risks associated with moving into the next Lifecycle stage.
    4. The availability of resources to execute subsequent Lifecycle stages.
  2. The Program (or Project) Manager shall schedule a Stage Gate Review whose responsibilities in this activity include:
    1. Organizing stage deliverables for a Review,
    2. Notifying the Business Owner, members of any IT governing body and Key Stakeholders of the date and time of a Review.
  3. The Business Owner may be the Chairman of a Review, or the role may be fulfilled as designated by the Business Owner.  The Chairman shall prepare the agenda for a Stage Gate Review and shall lead the Key Stakeholders in formulation of recommendations to the IT governing body regarding quality of work performed, any unresolved issues, and the project’s readiness to advance to the next lifecycle stage.  The Chairman shall forward the results of a Review, as appropriate, to the Business Owner and to members of any IT governing body.  Results for projects designated for enterprise level review shall also be forwarded to GTAs Enterprise Project Management Office.
  4. The Business Owner in conjunction with any IT governing body shall decide the future project approach and issue one of the following decisions:
    1. To require additional work to meet stage exit criteria prior to advancement to the next project stage,
    2. To change project cost, schedule or performance baselines in response to changing Enterprise and/or Agency mission priorities,
    3. To cease activity on the project,
    4. To accept presented risks if all exit criteria are not met and approve advancement to the next stage under conditions that the criteria be met at a later date, or
    5. To approve unconditional advancement to the next stage.

TERMS and DEFINITIONS

Business Owner - The person who serves as the primary stakeholder and advocate for a technology investment.  The Business Owner is responsible and accountable for ensuring the technology investment meets the business and regulatory requirements.  The Stage Gate Review process is the Business Owner’s mechanism to ensure the viability of the investment and the compliance with agency, state and federal laws and regulations.

IT Governing Body - The term is relative to the risk, complexity and cost of an investment.  For major State investments and critical projects, the IT governing body will be the State Critical Project Panel.  For delegated projects, a IT governing body organization may be designated by the Business Owner.

Stage Gate Reviews - A formal review held at the end of a project lifecycle stage by Key Stakeholders to ensure that the project has produced all the required deliverables and adequately met all exit criteria for the stage. 

IT Investment - The term “investment” as used herein is meant to be all inclusive of information technology solution in that it can consist of a single project, or of several logically related projects. 

Program - A Program is an investment composed of multiple projects in an ongoing implementation.  It may apply to new solutions, major enhancements to existing solutions, high-priority, fast track projects, commercial off the shelf (COTS) products acquisitions, major telecommunications projects and infrastructure projects.

Key Stakeholders - Stakeholders are individuals with vested interests in the success of the technology investment. Certain stakeholders are considered Key Stakeholders or critical partners because of their expertise and/or roles in the reviews and governance of the investment.  Their purpose is to ensure compliance with policies, standards, practices, legislative requirements and environmental limitations. Their contributions are on behalf of and at the request of the Business Owner, as needed and based on their respective areas of expertise.  Because organizational structures vary in the Agencies, the expertise for these roles may be fulfilled from a mixture of organizations, as appropriate. Key Stakeholder roles include:

  • Strategic Planner
  • Technology Architect
  • Information Security Officer
  • Procurement Officer
  • Budget/Finance Officer
  • Workforce/HR, and
  • Representatives of non-agency groups such as federal authorities or Georgia’s Office of Planning & Budget, Georgia Technology Authority, Department of Administrative Services, State Personnel Administration, and State Accounting Office.

REFERENCES

  1. Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) Methodology, “Project Manager's Project Guide - Helping the PM and the Project Succeed”,  (http://gta.georgia.gov/00/channel_title/0,2094,1070969_63101296,00.html)
  2. “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)” Dennis Bolles and Steve Fahrenkrog. 2004. Third Edition. Newtown Square, PA., Project Management Institute. (ISBN: 1-930699-45-X), (http://www.pmi.org)
  3.  “ Stage Gate Reviews” Template, published and maintained by GTA’s Enterprise Project Management Office

RELATED ENTERPRISE POLICIES, STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

System Development Lifecycle (SM-10-005)

Enterprise Performance Framework (SM-10-006)

Enterprise Performance Management (SM-10-007)

Enterprise Performance Life Cycle Management (GM-11-001)