-So if the elaboration phase is successful, we then move - -2
-to the construction phase, which is our third phase. And - -3
-the construction phase is basically the phase in which most - -4
-of the actual development occurs. In short, all the features considered - -5
-are developed. So we'll continue with our car metaphor that - -6
-we used for the prototype. And in this case we - -7
-will have our complete car ready. Not only the features - -8
-are developed but they're also thoroughly tested. So we have performed - -9
-quality assurance. We have verified and validated the software, - -10
-the system and we know that it works correctly. Or - -11
-at least that it works correctly as far as - -12
-we can tell. So, in general, the construction phase is - -13
-the phase in which there is a shift in - -14
-emphasis from intellectual property development - -15
-to product development. From ideas - -16
-to products. So, what is the outcome of the - -17
-construction phase? Well, basically the construction phrase produces a product - -18
-that is ready to be deployed to the users. Specifically, - -19
-the phase generates the following outcomes. First of all, at the - -20
-end of this phase, all the use cases have been - -21
-realized with traceability information. What does that mean? It means that - -22
-not only all the functionality expressed by the use cases - -23
-have been implemented, but also that we have traceability information from - -24
-the use cases, to the different artifacts. So for example, - -25
-we know which part of the design realizes which use case. - -26
-We know which part of the implementation is related to a - -27
-given use case. Which use cases were derived from a use - -28
-case, and so on and so forth. And in this way - -29
-we can trace our requirements throughout the system. Throughout the different - -30
-artifacts that were developed during the software process. As we were - -31
-saying, we also have complete software product here, which is integrated - -32
-on all the needed platforms. Since the system, the software product, - -33
-has to be thoroughly tested, we will also have a complete - -34
-set of results for our tests. As part of this - -35
-phase, we will also finalize the user manual, so you'll have - -36
-a user manual ready to be provided to the users, and - -37
-ready to be used. And finally, we will have a complete - -38
-set of artifacts that include design documents, code, test cases, and - -39
-so on and so forth, so basically all of the artifacts - -40
-that have been produced during the development process. So roughly speaking, - -41
-we can consider the product that is produced at the end - -42
-of this phase as a typical beta release. So in case - -43
-you're not familiar with that, a beta release is an initial - -44
-release normally meant for a selected subset of users. So it - -45
-is something that is not quite yet ready for primetime, but - -46
-almost. So let's see also in this case, what are the evaluation - -47
-criteria for the construction phase. So how do we assess, that - -48
-this third milestone has been accomplished, successfully? We pretty much have - -49
-a complete product ready to be shipped right? So the first question - -50
-we want to ask is, whether the product is stable and mature - -51
-enough to be deployed to users. At the end of this - -52
-phase it has to be. Are the stakeholders ready for the - -53
-transition into the user community? Are we ready to go from development - -54
-to production? Are the actual - -55
-resource expenditures versus the planned expenditures - -56
-still acceptable? So what this means is that at this point we - -57
-can really assess whether our estimates were accurate enough with respect - -58
-to what we actually spent for the project up to this point. - -59
-So unless we can answer in a positive way to - -60
-all these questions, the transition might be postponed by one release. - -61
-Because that means that we're still not ready to go - -62
-to the market. We're still not ready to deploy our product. -- cgit 1.4.1