Before any planning of the project can be done, decisions must be made regarding how the work of the project is going to be approached. For example, will the solution be developed in-house or contracted to third parties? Will the solution be a modification to an existing product or built from scratch? Will the solution be based on a commercial off-the-shelf product (COTS) or something that is custom-designed?
The way in which the work is to be conducted will depend on any customer or supplier standards, practices and guidelines - for example, any specific development Iifecycles that may apply. These should be captured in the Project Brief as part of the project approach, as they will influence the project strategies to be created in the Initiating a Project process. It also ensures that the project approach is clearly understood between customer and supplier, and does not jeopardize the project in any way.
A well defined and agreed project brief ensures the project has a commonly understood and well-defined start point.
