Stakeholders are identified and eventually agree to the project's objectives. Step Two analyzes the project's risks by evaluating the objectives, identifying areas of uncertainty and formulating a cost-effective strategy for dealing with the risks. Step Three tackles the risk problem through predetermined mitigation steps. At the same time, steps are taken to plan the development and deployment of the system. Step Four calls for the actual development and deployment of the system.
Managers monitor progress and take measurements to ensure the project's success.
Step Five measures and evaluates the success of the system's deployment. Mangers can modify the plan at this stage, depending on the benefits that have been achieved so far. While problems with large system development continues to plague state governments, forces are at work changing the way agencies acquire, design, develop and implement such computer projects. Marple said devolution of federal programs has played a major role in forcing states to bear down and become more disciplined with their project-management practices. Other state officials point to the growth of the Internet as a factor.