The IT Project Life Cycle: Mastering the Steps for Success

By Dr. Glenda Holcomb and Dr. Novadean Watson-Williams  |  12/08/2025

Decades ago, an IT project was considered an all-in-one solution of software and hardware where the focus on a project life cycle was centered on software development solutions. At that time, systems were large and required thousands of lines of code, integrated onto hardware platforms to meet the needs of the project. In essence, all projects were developed, monitored, and controlled through one IT project life cycle – the waterfall development life cycle.

As time went on, more frameworks around IT and the project life cycle were developed to overcome issues with the waterfall approach. But no matter the model, a project is a series of life cycle phases that guide projects from start to completion, ensuring successful project delivery and management.

Pros and Cons of Using a Defined Framework

There are pros and cons for using a defined organizational process framework for projects. The pros for an organization include:

• All projects start with the same baseline processes.
• All team members are trained in the model and tools for planning and tracking.
• Management tools are standard across the organization.
• A model is proven to deliver results within the constraints of the project’s plan. 

The primary cons for the use of a defined baseline typically means that a lot of documentation is created. It is necessary for all team members to know all aspects of the project life cycle.

When there are standard mature models, the processes and templates must be tailored to the project by a project manager. Otherwise, the project team can get too process-focused and miss delivery timelines, capabilities, and budgets. 

The proper approach for each project is critical for all project team members to help them stay focused and organized to successfully deliver all work products to the project sponsor’s satisfaction. This approach includes the boundaries established by a contract:

• Budget
• Schedule
• Capabilities/functionality
• Quality 

The Evolution of Project Life Cycle Phases

In 1986, the U.S. Air Force and Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) initially established the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) to define the characteristics of successful software projects. Software engineer Watts Humphrey, known as the father of software quality, was key to the design and documentation for the CMM framework and all the models that followed it. As the starting point, Humphrey started with the software life cycle and tracking project progress, using the tools he and his team had created for IBM. 

Waterfall is a very linear but disciplined approach to track all life cycle phases of software development, ranging from conception to operations and development. No matter what the project size may be, the size or scope of the project does not matter. Projects as large as a satellite system to as small as the development of a text box file use the same approach.

Previously, the life cycle was defined as different phases. A project progressed from the beginning to the end, meeting all project deliverables for each phase. Waterfall project phases are:

• Concept
• Requirements gathering and analysis
• System design
• Implementation and coding
• Integration and testing
• Deployment
• Operations
• Maintenance

However, the linear structure of the waterfall approach often caused the need to redo project deliverables and an expansion of the schedule and budget for the project. These changes were due to poor definitions in any phase and a lack of project dependencies.

After the mid-design phase, any required changes by primary stakeholders necessitated redoing the requirements, analysis, and documentation of the changed touchpoints for the final project. The further down the life cycle a change was requested or needed, the bigger the project changes for the schedule and budget.

Due to project risks and delays, the IT project life cycle was modified to manage changes throughout projects. Out of these modifications, other models were created and adopted by organizations:

• V-Model (Verification and Validation Model)
• Incremental Process Model
• Prototyping Model
• Timeboxed Model
• Rapid Application Development (RAD) Model

Each of these models still incorporated waterfall phases, but they executed those phases differently to address the major issues experienced by a linear model. These project phases were incrementally executed to give feedback loops to previous phases as the project moved forward toward successful project delivery.

Agile Software Development

Agile is the newest model on in software development. Agile is technically seven software models or frameworks included in under one umbrella and defined by a manifesto. Agile principles laid the groundwork for what many believed was a new IT project life cycle. In fact, Agile is a marriage between timeboxed and RAD methodologies.

By putting a project sponsor and the project manager together daily, Agile mitigates the risk and issues around software development. The work is accomplished in sprints. An organization works through a small set of requirements for project execution, has automated testing of small chunks of code for the designers, and has a daily meeting for key decisions.

If a requirement changes while it is in the coding or testing phase, that requirement goes back into the overall list to be assessed in the next sprint for the project. The sprints continue until successful project completion.

There are pros and cons of all of these models. Some phases are faster while others are slower to get to the same project delivery point. Some models work better for highly complex and multifunctional systems, while others are for smaller and focused solutions.

The bottom line is that for these IT project life cycles, the focus is primarily on the technical side of the project while management processes are integrated into defined phases.

The IT Project Life Cycle According to PMI

The Project Management Institute ( PMI) took the goals and objectives of the traditional project life cycle and formed a lexicon of project management terms. This lexicon creates project management standards that can be used with little to no modifications.

If a project is managed properly, solutions are delivered within the constraints of a project plan. The management phases for PMI are:

• Initiation
• Planning
• Execution or implementation
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closure

Along with the PMI’s life cycle, project development approaches that can also be adopted for use are:

• Predictive
• Agile
• Hybrid

The Traditional IT Project Life Cycle: Understanding Its Phases

The initiation phase (conception) is the first phase of the IT project life cycle where a project’s objectives, scope, and key stakeholders are defined. In this phase, a project manager verifies and maps the project to the overall business needs and goals while also aligning expectations and documenting project deliverables, such as:

• The project charter
• The high-level requirements
• Project milestones
• Success criteria

Having all stakeholders’ involvement is essential for this stage, since that becomes the authorization to proceed with the project.

The planning phase (planning and requirements) focuses on attaining resources and planning each task that team members will need to perform to complete the project within its constraints. This phase is where all supporting documentation is drafted, along with finalizing the requirements list. Other important documents include:

• The work breakdown schedule
• The communications plan
• The project management plan and any other plans for review and acceptance by the team and stakeholders

The execution phase (involving system design, development, test, and deployment) is where all tasks for every aspect of project delivery are performed. The project manager is responsible for monitoring activities and project status and anticipating any potential risks.

Continuous team and team members communication is crucial for this phase of the life cycle. The project manager should use tools for:

• Clearly defining the project scope and key tasks
• Centralizing all information on measurements and trends
• Monitoring and controlling phases
• Storing documentation
• Reporting on progress throughout the project

The monitoring and control phase has an integrated relationship with the planning and execution phases. Tracking project progress and performance in this phase plays a huge role in ensuring the project stays on track.

The biggest piece of this phase is the change control processes and practices. Having an active change control process allows a project manager to respond rapidly to requests and identify risks throughout the project.

The closure phase (deployment) is when all deliverables and contractual obligations are finalized for customer use. This phase is where any defects are identified and any follow-up work is completed to meet 100% of the project requirements.

The operations and maintenance of the project is usually completed by the customer or by another contractor with their own project.

Best Practices for the IT Project Life Cycle

In addition to keeping a project on schedule, IT project managers need to be alert and adapt to necessary changes to avoid scope creep. Other best practices for a project’s success include:

• The life cycle model chosen for IT project management must include the tools and techniques for the project team to meet the project requirements and project goals. It’s the practice of planning, organizing, and executing the tasks needed to turn a brilliant idea into a tangible product, service, or other deliverable.
• Organizations must train their project teams in the framework and the project plan that will be the baseline/expectation for successful delivery of all deliverables.
• Regular feedback between the project team, project manager, and key stakeholders is a must. Feedback loops help a project stay on plan and allow managers to be proactive in addressing any issue that may require additional resources.  
• Managers should review projects in the organizational overarching plan to see how similar projects fared in their delivery. This practice allows the current team to see what risks and issues arose, what corrective actions were taken, and what practical insights can be gained for project work. 
• Continuous communication and collaboration are required to ensure that project progress is measured and assessed throughout the entire project. Without communication, team members often lose track of the big picture by concentrating on individual tasks. Without collaboration, individual tasks aren’t integrated into the whole. A lack of integration leads to an increased need to answer questions and solve problems in the overall project. 
• Established tools that support the project’s life cycle and organizational reporting must be used to ensure accurate monitoring and control reports can be trusted. Common tools for planning and tracking are the Gantt chart and burndown charts for identifying project bottlenecks and overburdening resources. 
• Conducting a “lessons learned” meeting after a project has been closed out captures the good, the bad, and the ugly about your project. Properly documented, those lessons may help the next project team better deliver future projects per the project charter and increase overall efficiency. 

The Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Management at APU

For adult learners interested in software development, IT project management, and other related topics, American Public University (APU) offers an online Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Management. The courses offered in this program include management information systems, networking concepts, and application software integration. Other courses include Web ecommerce development and database concepts.

For more information, visit APU’s information technology degree program page.

Note: Completion of this program does not award any professional certifications, but may be helpful in preparing to earn such certifications. Some program courses meet topic requirements for CompTIA Project+® certification, Microsoft Word® certification, the Internet Business Foundations curriculum of the Certified Internet Web (CIW®) Foundations certification, and the CIW Ecommerce Specialist certification.

CompTIA Project+® is a registered trademark of the Computing Technology Industry Association.
Microsoft Word is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation. Certified Internet Web is a registered trademark of Certification Partners, LLC.