<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<org.eclipse.epf.uma:PracticeDescription xmi:version="2.0" xmlns:xmi="http://www.omg.org/XMI" xmlns:org.eclipse.epf.uma="http://www.eclipse.org/epf/uma/1.0.6/uma.ecore" xmlns:epf="http://www.eclipse.org/epf" epf:version="1.5.1" xmlns:rmc="http://www.ibm.com/rmc" rmc:version="7.5.1" xmi:id="-txho2faQkfNfyMw-X-Y_aA" name="release_planning,_ijFkcB4sEd2bS8fFOQ7WWA" guid="-txho2faQkfNfyMw-X-Y_aA" changeDate="2009-07-15T04:19:13.000-0700" version="7.5.0">
  <additionalInfo>&lt;h3>&#xD;
    Additional Resources&#xD;
&lt;/h3>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    For more information on the Release Planning approach, see the following:&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;ul>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        Kroll, P. and&amp;nbsp;Kruchten, P. &lt;em>The Rational Unified Process Made Easy&lt;/em>, Addison Wesley, 2003. Chapter 12:&#xD;
        Planning an Iterative Project.&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
&lt;/ul></additionalInfo>
  <problem>&lt;h3>&#xD;
    Why adopt this practice?&#xD;
&lt;/h3>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    Release&amp;nbsp;Planning improves the accuracy of project planning, the ability to predict resource usage, and the ability&#xD;
    to meet established delivery dates. In adopting this practice, the project team can better manage scarce resources and&#xD;
    focus on delivering scope with higher quality and value to the organization.&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    In some development approaches, project managers would plan the whole project at project initiation, and then execute&#xD;
    the plan, with little or no modifications to the original project plan unless there were significant scope changes or&#xD;
    risks that derailed the project. These approaches depend a lot on the project managers' personal knowledge of the&#xD;
    scope, and the resources available to deliver the scope. In many cases, these plans would become inaccurate and useless&#xD;
    after the first one or two phases. At that point, many project managers would simply manage the milestones and abandon&#xD;
    the detailed tasks.&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    Even seasoned project managers can benefit from Release Planning. As more and more software developers move to&#xD;
    iterative methods for delivering software, the need to perform just-in-time project planning is critical.&#xD;
    Planning&amp;nbsp;for the next few weeks is always more accurate than planning&amp;nbsp;for the next few months. The goal of&#xD;
    this practice is to balance the high-level and low-level planning such that detailed (low-level) planning occurs&#xD;
    just-in-time to support the successful delivery of the software products.&lt;br />&#xD;
    &amp;nbsp;&#xD;
&lt;/p></problem>
  <background>&lt;p>&#xD;
    Project planning is very inaccurate when you attempt to plan beyond the initial phases of work for any&#xD;
    project.&amp;nbsp;The Release Planning practice ensures that your planning efforts are iterative in nature, aligned with&#xD;
    the software delivery to ensure a more accurate estimate of work efforts.&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    In many cases, the planning horizon for a software project is a hard concept to understand. Software development&#xD;
    project managers tend to want to plan the entire project, and then let the team work the plan, resisting changes to the&#xD;
    plan as it executes. The Release Planning practice emphasizes the need to plan the next iteration in detail, while&#xD;
    planning the whole project at a high level. This practice also encourages the project manager to feel comfortable with&#xD;
    re-planning as needed to ensure accuracy in delivery dates and costs based on events that impact the project.&lt;br />&#xD;
&lt;/p></background>
  <application>&lt;p>&#xD;
    The best way to read this practice is first to&amp;nbsp;get familiar&amp;nbsp;with its overall structure: what it is in it and&#xD;
    how it is organized.&amp;nbsp;&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    Start with the available work products:&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;ul>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot;&#xD;
        href=&quot;./../../../practice.mgmt.release_planning.base/workproducts/project_plan_1CDBB7E4.html&quot;&#xD;
        guid=&quot;_0a6vcMlgEdmt3adZL5Dmdw&quot;>Project Plan&lt;/a>&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot; href=&quot;./../../../core.mgmt.common.extend_supp/workproducts/risk_list_C4B6F290.html&quot;&#xD;
        guid=&quot;_Ckay8Cc_EduIsqH1Q6ZuqA&quot;>Risk List&lt;/a>&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
&lt;/ul>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    Also, check the&amp;nbsp;work product templates and&amp;nbsp;reports. See:&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;ul>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot;&#xD;
        href=&quot;./../../../practice.mgmt.release_planning.base/guidances/templates/project_plan_1534BA2B.html&quot;&#xD;
        guid=&quot;_0c7hoMlgEdmt3adZL5Dmdw&quot;>Project Plan&lt;/a> template&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot;&#xD;
        href=&quot;./../../../practice.mgmt.release_planning.base/guidances/examples/project_burndown_report_example_847643C1.html&quot;&#xD;
         guid=&quot;_Yiq2EDcGEdyTZ9G7ByfQTw&quot;>Project Burndown Report&lt;/a> example&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
&lt;/ul>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    Finally, get more details on how to perform project planning and staff a project by looking at the following:&#xD;
&lt;/p>&#xD;
&lt;ul>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot; href=&quot;./../../../practice.mgmt.release_planning.base/tasks/plan_the_project_A4A80C96.html&quot;&#xD;
        guid=&quot;_0lC70MlgEdmt3adZL5Dmdw&quot;>Plan Project&lt;/a>&amp;nbsp;task&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
    &lt;li>&#xD;
        &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot;&#xD;
        href=&quot;./../../../practice.mgmt.release_planning.base/guidances/guidelines/staffing_project_70705561.html&quot;&#xD;
        guid=&quot;_Jq64EJjsEduad8I_c-ogIA&quot;>Staffing a Project&lt;/a> guideline&#xD;
    &lt;/li>&#xD;
&lt;/ul>&#xD;
&lt;p>&#xD;
    See more information on &lt;a class=&quot;elementLink&quot;&#xD;
    href=&quot;./../../../practice.mgmt.release_planning.base/guidances/roadmaps/how_to_adopt_520D7115.html&quot;&#xD;
    guid=&quot;_ihr3sOMPEdyM47cGD2jiaQ&quot;>How to Adopt the Release Planning Practice&lt;/a>.&#xD;
&lt;/p></application>
</org.eclipse.epf.uma:PracticeDescription>
