At the end of the transition phase is the fourth important project milestone, the Product Release Milestone. At this point, you decide if the objectives were met, and if you should start another development cycle. In some cases this milestone may coincide with the end of the inception phase for the next cycle. The Product Release Milestone is the result of the customer reviewing and accepting the project deliverables.

Evaluation Criteria

The primary evaluation criteria for the transition phase involve the answers to these questions:

  • Is the user satisfied?
  • Are actual resources expenditures versus planned expenditures acceptable?

At the Product Release Milestone, the product is in production and the post-release maintenance cycle begins. This may involve starting a new cycle, or some additional maintenance release.

Artifacts

Essential Artifacts (in order of importance) State at milestone
Implementation Elements The implementation is complete and baselined, and the deployable elements have been incorporated in the final product.
Optional Artifacts State at milestone
'Shrinkwrap' Product Packaging In the case of creating a shrinkwrap product, the contractor will need the necessary packaging artifacts to help retail the product.



Rational Unified Process  

2003.06.13