Navigating the waters to a successful project completion can be a treacherous task. It takes sound, systematic, industry approaches flexible enough to change to ensure project success. These approaches embody the very ethic and long-time tradition of successful project execution at Burns & McDonnell.

While smaller projects can be successfully executed with less structure, it takes good planning and organization to achieve the desired results for medium to large scale projects. The phased approach that we use provides that structure for planning and organization while being flexible enough to handle the changes that are inevitable during the life of a project. As a result, our project lifecycle consists of two distinct phases; the planning phase and the implementation phase.

Planning Phase
The planning phase of the project is further subdivided into initial planning, requirements development and management; system architecture and detailed design; system test development and quality assurance.

During the initial planning phase of the project, meetings are held with project stakeholders to define the overall vision of the project and to establish the metrics by which the success of the project will be measured. Subsequent meetings and discussions are then held with appropriate stakeholders to gather project requirements. As soon as the degree of change in the requirements gathering and development begins to stabilize then the design of the system architecture can begin. The beginning of the detailed system design is marked by a quality review checkpoint of the system architecture and requirements specification at the appropriate percent of completion. Meanwhile, system tests are developed using the information gathered during requirements development and system design and will be used to verify that all of the system requirements have been fulfilled in the implemented system.

Implementation Phase
Once the appropriate milestones and quality assurance checkpoints have been reached in the planning phase then the implementation phase can begin. The implementation phase is subdivided into construction, system testing, release, and final signoff. During construction the system deliverable will take form in accordance with the design specification. After the system has been constructed, system testing is performed to verify project requirements have been met and preparation for release is begun. Quality assurance and control measures are then reviewed for final approval and the system is released. Throughout the implementation phase various quality assurance and control techniques are used to ensure the success of the project and that a quality product is delivered.

For additional details about our project lifecycle approach or how it may be tailored to your companies unique project needs, please feel free to contact us.