System Life Cycle Processes Overview from INCOSE Handbook

Agreement Processes

Processes that involve obtaining products/services meeting acquirer requirements.

Acquisition Process

Purpose: Obtain products/services meeting acquirer requirements.

Key activities of Acquisition Process

Preparing acquisition strategies, selecting suppliers, establishing and managing supplier agreements.

Supply Process

To provide a product/service that meets an acquirer's agreed requirements.

Organizational Project-Enabling Processes

Processes that support the management and execution of projects.

Life Cycle Model Management

Define, tailor, and maintain suitable life cycle models.

Infrastructure Management

Provide and maintain required project infrastructure (facilities, tools, IT, etc.).

Portfolio Management

Strategic management of multiple projects ensuring alignment with organizational goals.

Human Resource Management

Ensure suitable workforce availability (skills, quantity, training).

Quality Management

Establish quality guidelines and assess/improve project quality performance.

Knowledge Management

Capture, organize, maintain, and share project knowledge to promote learning and reuse.

Technical Management Processes

Processes that guide the management of technical aspects of projects.

Project Planning

Define plans to guide project execution, manage resource allocation, scheduling, and budgeting.

Project Assessment and Control

Monitor and evaluate project progress, control baselines to ensure adherence to the plan.

Decision Management

Manage systematic and informed decision-making addressing technical, schedule, and budget decisions.

Risk Management

Identify, analyze, mitigate, and monitor project risks to increase probability of project success.

Configuration Management

Establish and maintain integrity of work products, managing system baselines and configuration items.

Information Management

Manage and distribute system information to facilitate information accessibility and security.

Measurement

Define, collect, analyze data, and evaluate measures to support project decisions and performance management.

Quality Assurance

Independently verify compliance with requirements and processes through objective evaluations.

Technical Processes

Processes that involve the technical aspects of system development.

Business or Mission Analysis

Define and analyze the problem space and opportunity, identifying mission requirements and constraints.

Stakeholder Needs and Requirements Definition

Capture stakeholder needs clearly and accurately, defining operational scenarios, capabilities, and constraints.

System Requirements Definition

Translate stakeholder needs into technical requirements for the system.

System Architecture Definition

Develop alternative architectures and select the optimal system architecture.

Design Definition

Provide detailed design consistent with architecture, ensuring suitability for implementation.

System Analysis

Analytical activities supporting decisions such as trade studies, modeling, and simulations.

Implementation

Realize system elements per design, building, coding, fabricating, or producing physical elements.

Integration

Combine system elements into larger elements or final system, ensuring correct interactions.

Verification

Confirm system meets defined requirements through objective demonstration and documentation.

Transition

Move system elements from supplier to user.

Transition

Prepare users and environment for operations.

Validation

Confirm system fulfills stakeholder needs and intended use.

Validation

Demonstrate suitability and effectiveness in operational environment.

Operation

Use system to provide intended services.

Operation

Operate and continuously monitor performance.

Maintenance

Sustain system capability, correcting deficiencies, enhancing reliability.

Maintenance

Ensure continued satisfaction of requirements.

Disposal

Plan and perform responsible retirement or disposal.

Disposal

Minimize adverse environmental and operational impacts.

System Life Cycle

An informative life cycle model with six stages: concept, development, production, utilization, support, and retirement.

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288

A set of life cycle processes aligned with four process groups: Agreement Processes, Organizational Project Enabling Processes, Technical Management Processes, and Technical Processes.

Concurrency

The parallel application of processes.

Iteration

Repeating processes.

Recursion

Applying processes at different levels of the system hierarchy.

Input-Process-Output (IPO) diagrams

Illustrate each system life cycle process, showing typical inputs, process activities, and typical outputs.

Controls

Applicable laws, regulations, standards, agreements, organization policies, project direction, constraints, and control requests that govern processes.

Enablers

Organization processes, procedures, infrastructure, quality management system, knowledge management system, and project infrastructure that govern processes.

Acquisition Process

A process that involves preparing the acquisition, selecting the supplier, establishing the agreement, monitoring the agreement, and accepting the product or service.

Typical Inputs of Acquisition Process

Organization strategic plan, Request for proposal, Solicitation package, Supplier proposal, Acquisition strategy/approach, Project status report/dashboard, Project decision gate/review result, Variance/deviation/waiver request.

Typical Outputs of Acquisition Process

Acquisition agreement, Acquired product or service, Supplier acceptance report, Acquisition records/artifacts, Organization lessons learned.

Supply Process

A process that involves preparing for supply, establishing the supply agreement, performing supply, and accepting the product or service.

Typical Inputs of Supply Process

Organization strategic plan, Request for supply, Project status report/dashboard, Project decision gate/review result, Change request, Variance/deviation/waiver request, Installed system, Validated system, Disposed system, Supply payment.

Typical Outputs of Supply Process

Supplier proposal, Supply agreement, Supplied product or service, Customer satisfaction report, Supply records/artifacts, Organization lessons learned.

Life Cycle Model Management Process

A process that establishes, assesses, and improves life cycle processes.

Typical Inputs for Life Cycle Model Management

Organization strategic plan, organization tailoring strategy/approach, project portfolio, quality management evaluation report, quality management corrective action report, organization lessons learned, life cycle model management records/artifacts.

Typical Outputs for Life Cycle Model Management

Organization policies, organization procedures, life cycle model, tailoring strategy/approach, life cycle model management records/artifacts.

Infrastructure Management Process

A process that establishes, operates, maintains, and improves infrastructure.

Typical Inputs for Infrastructure Management

Organization strategic plan, project portfolio, project infrastructure needs, infrastructure change request, infrastructure management records/artifacts.

Typical Outputs for Infrastructure Management

Organization infrastructure, infrastructure management report, infrastructure change implementation, infrastructure management records/artifacts.

Portfolio Management Process

A process that defines, authorizes, evaluates, and terminates projects.

Typical Inputs for Portfolio Management

Organization strategic plan, business plan, organization portfolio direction and constraints, systems engineering management plan (SEMP), project authorization request, supply strategy/approach, project status report/dashboard, project decision gate/review result, variance/deviation/waiver request, portfolio management records/artifacts.

Typical Outputs for Portfolio Management

Project authorization, project portfolio, portfolio management report, portfolio management records/artifacts.

Human Resource Management Process

A process that identifies, develops, acquires, and provides human resources.

Typical Inputs for Human Resource Management

Organization strategic plan, project portfolio, project human resource needs, human resource management records/artifacts.

Typical Outputs for Human Resource Management

Human resource management strategy/approach, qualified personnel, human resource management report, human resource management records/artifacts.

Quality Management Process

A process that establishes quality management approaches, performs quality assurance, and manages quality improvements.

Typical Inputs for Quality Management

Organization strategic plan, project portfolio, quality management strategy/approach, quality management criteria and methods, project status report/dashboard, project decision gate/review result, product or service evaluation report, process evaluation report, quality management records/artifacts.

Typical Outputs for Quality Management

Quality management evaluation report, quality management corrective action report, quality management report, quality management records/artifacts.

Knowledge Management Process

A process that manages organizational knowledge and learning.

Organization strategic plan

A document that outlines an organization's strategy and direction.

Project portfolio

A collection of projects and programs that are managed and coordinated together.

Project lessons learned

Knowledge gained from the process of performing a project that can be used to improve future projects.

Knowledge management strategy/approach

A plan for managing an organization's knowledge assets to create value.

Knowledge management records/artifacts

Documents and materials that capture knowledge and information within an organization.

Plan knowledge management

The process of defining how knowledge will be managed within a project or organization.

Enable knowledge sharing

Facilitating the exchange of knowledge among individuals and teams.

Manage knowledge

The process of overseeing and controlling knowledge assets and processes.

Knowledge

Information, understanding, or skill obtained from experience or education.

Knowledge management report

A document that summarizes the knowledge management activities and outcomes.

Project planning process

A series of steps taken to define the project scope, objectives, and approach.

Project authorization

Formal approval to start a project or phase.

Project strategies/approaches

The methods and plans used to achieve project objectives.

Project tailoring strategy/approach

Customizing project processes and practices to fit the specific project context.

Qualified personnel

Individuals who possess the necessary skills and experience to perform project tasks.

Acquisition need

The requirement for obtaining resources or services for the project.

Project planning records/artifacts

Documents created during the project planning phase that capture relevant information.

Define the project

The process of establishing the project's objectives, scope, and deliverables.

Plan project and technical management

The process of developing plans for managing project activities and technical aspects.

Activate the project

The initiation of project activities following approval.

Project plan

A formal document that outlines how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled.

Systems engineering management plan (SEMP)

A document that describes how systems engineering will be applied throughout the project.

Work breakdown structure (WBS)

A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to accomplish project objectives.

Project budget

An estimate of the total costs required to complete the project.

Project schedule

A timeline that outlines when project activities will occur.

Risk management strategy/approach

A plan for identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risks.

Configuration management strategy/approach

A plan for managing changes to project artifacts and ensuring consistency.

Information management strategy/approach

A plan for managing project information and documentation.

Measurement strategy/approach

A plan for assessing project performance and progress.

Verification strategy/approach

A plan for ensuring that project deliverables meet specified requirements.