Project Lifecycle
Control & DirectionProject Lifecycle governance allows you to define structured stages that projects must pass through, with approval gates and workflow rules at each phase. Lifecycle templates are reusable definitions that can be applied to any project, ensuring consistent governance across your security program. This is particularly valuable for strategic projects that require formal requirements approval, testing verification, and closure sign-off.
Project Lifecycle integrates with Projects (template assignment), Tasks & Milestones (requirements and test tasks), and Lifecycle Approvers (approval authority).
Lifecycle stages
Every project with a lifecycle template applied moves through five sequential stages:
| Stage | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Requirements | The project’s requirements are being gathered, documented, and refined. Tasks and milestones are being defined. |
| Requirements Approved | All requirements have been reviewed and formally approved by designated approvers. The project scope is now locked for execution. |
| Execution | Active work is underway. Tasks are being completed, milestones are being tracked, and budget is being consumed. |
| Testing | Deliverables are being verified against requirements. Test-type tasks are executed and their confirmation statuses are recorded. |
| Closed | The project has been completed, lessons learned have been captured, and the project record is finalized. |
When a project reaches the Closed stage, the Closed At timestamp and Closed By user are recorded, along with any Lessons Learned captured during the closure process.
Lifecycle templates
Lifecycle templates are reusable definitions that describe the phases, workflows, and transition rules for a category of projects. Templates are managed from the Lifecycle Templates page.
Navigate to Execution Tracking > Lifecycle Templates to view all templates. The list view displays templates in an editable table with options to duplicate, version, and delete.
Creating a lifecycle template
Open the creation form
Click New Template from the lifecycle templates list, or navigate to Execution Tracking > Lifecycle Templates > New.
Define the template
Provide a name and description for the template. The name should reflect the type of projects this template governs (e.g., “Strategic Initiative Lifecycle”, “Compliance Project Lifecycle”).
Open the builder
After saving the template, open the Lifecycle Builder to define the phases, workflows, and transition rules. The builder provides a visual interface for configuring each phase of the lifecycle.
Configure phases
For each phase in the lifecycle, define:
- Phase name — A descriptive label for the phase
- Phase workflows — The approval or review workflows that must be completed before the phase can be considered done
- Transition rules — The conditions that must be met to advance to the next phase
Save the template
Click Save to finalize the template. It is now available for assignment to projects.
Phase workflows
Each phase in a lifecycle template can have one or more phase workflows attached. Phase workflows define the approval or review process that must be completed within that phase. They control who needs to approve, review, or sign off on the work before the project can transition to the next stage.
Phase workflows are configured in the lifecycle builder and are executed when a project enters the corresponding phase.
Phase transitions
Phase transitions define how a project moves from one lifecycle stage to the next. Each transition can specify conditions that must be satisfied before the advance is permitted, such as all requirements being approved, all tasks being completed, or all test confirmations passing.
Transitions are recorded on the project as a history of when each phase change occurred, providing a complete audit trail of the project’s progression through its lifecycle.
Auto-advance
Projects can be configured to automatically advance to the next lifecycle phase when all transition conditions are met. Enable the Auto-Advance Phase setting on the project to activate this behavior. When auto-advance is enabled, the system monitors the project’s state and automatically transitions to the next phase once all required workflows and conditions are satisfied.
When auto-advance is disabled, a project manager must manually trigger each phase transition, providing an additional checkpoint for human review.
Versioning and duplicating
Lifecycle templates support versioning so you can evolve your governance process over time without affecting projects that are already using an existing template version. When you need to modify a template, duplicate it to create a new version. The original version remains unchanged and continues to govern any projects that reference it.
From the lifecycle templates list, use the Duplicate action to create a copy of a template. The duplicated template can be edited independently and assigned to new projects.
Default approvers
Navigate to Execution Tracking > Lifecycle Approvers to configure the default approvers for phase transitions and requirement approvals. Default approvers apply to all projects unless overridden at the project level. This setting determines who has authority to approve requirements, sign off on phase transitions, and authorize project closure.
Navigate to approver settings
Go to Execution Tracking > Lifecycle Approvers to open the default approvers configuration page.
Configure phase approvers
For each lifecycle phase, assign one or more users who are authorized to approve transitions out of that phase. These users will be notified when a project is ready to advance.
Configure requirement approvers
Assign default users who are authorized to approve project requirements. These approvers are used when a requirement is submitted for approval and no project-level override is in place.
Save
Click Save to apply the default approver configuration. These settings take effect for all new projects and for existing projects that have not configured project-level overrides.
Lifecycle state tracking
When a lifecycle template is applied to a project, the project’s Lifecycle State is stored as a JSON object that captures the current phase, the history of phase transitions, and the status of any active workflows. This state is visible on the project detail page and provides a real-time view of where the project stands in its governance process.
The Current Phase reference indicates which phase the project is currently in, and the Lifecycle Stage enum reflects the broader stage (Requirements, Requirements Approved, Execution, Testing, or Closed).
Permissions
Managing lifecycle templates requires the projects:manage permission. Users with this permission can create, edit, duplicate, version, and delete templates. Configuring default approvers requires administrative access. Phase transition approvals are governed by the approver assignments configured in the template and the default approver settings.