INTRODUCTION

Project life cycle Projects , by definition , have a beginning and end. They also have defined phases between the project start and project closeout.

Project life cycle and phases The concept of life cycle is widely used in the field of marketing management , where the life of a product is analyzed with to respect to the overall revenue generated from that product with time. At the point of a new product , product features are evaluated and revenues are slow to pick up . This phase is called “ establishment” phase . This is followed by rapid rise in revenues , in the “growth” phase. However , the revenues reach a plateau in its “ maturity” phase and is followed by falling revenues –the decline phase.

Example: A new software development project may consist of five phases; definition , design, code , integration / test and maintenance.

phases: DEFINITION PHASE PLANNING PHASE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE TERMINATION PHASE

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE VERSUS PROJECT LIFE CYCLE The project life cycle is a part of product life cycle .project life covers the project time span , i:e time during which a specific product , result or service is created by the project . The project creates the product or service and hand it over to operation .

Significance of the phases: The following section focuses on phases and the life cycle , Level of effort Cumulative costs Project for reducing costs Escalating cost for minor change Potential for reducing costs Quality of information ….