Document the component lifecycle
The component lifecycle describes the succession of stages that the component goes through over time. A robust component lifecycle management includes versioning and planning for successor components to ensure that IT continues to support critical business areas.
Not all company's document their component lifecycles and it is not mandatory in Alfabet. However, robust component lifecycle management is key to the health to the business and helps you to understand identify and manage lifecycle conflicts. By documenting the lifecycles of the components in your technology portfolio, you will be able to identify which components are approaching end-of-life but have no defined successor components. Furthermore, you can understand which applications are at risk if the relevant technologies are no longer available.
Go to the component's content area > Overview.
Capture general data about the component. Go to the Lifecycle attribute and specify the following.
- Start Date and End Date: Captures when the component is actively running and can be used in the company. The Object State attribute should be specified set to Active during this period.
- Object State: Describes the operational use of the component in the real world.
- Successor: The next component that will follow this component version.
Describe the succession of stages that the component goes through. Go to the Component Lifecycle view.
- Click the component in the timeline and click
edit button. - Activate the slider for the lifecycle phases to include and specify their start and end dates. The following lifecycle phases may be specified:
- Manufacturer Support: Indicates that the technology is relevant to be used in a production environment.
- Manufacturer Extended Support: Indicates that the technology is still available, but should be avoided for use in a production environment.
- Click Align Active Period to automatically align the start/end dates of the component's active period with the start/end dates of the lifecycle phases that are configured to begin and end the active period.