EPIC Activities

This chart lists the activities that take place in each phase of EPIC. Note that each activity is done for each iteration within the phase.

Phase	Inception	Elaboration	Construction	Transition
Plan the Iteration
	Build a detailed plan for the iteration
	Update the Development Plan for the project
Gather
... an Understanding of Stakeholder Needs and End-user Business Processes
	Update or create a business model	Update and expand the business model	Update and expand the business model as necessary
	Capture the critical behaviors of the solution	Capture the significant behaviors of the solution	Capture the behaviors of the solution	Update the behaviors of the solution as needed
… an Understanding of Architecture and Design
	Determine architectural context	Amplify the architectural context	Review, and update as needed, the architectural context	Monitor the architectural context
	Identify architectural alternatives	Amplify the architectural alternatives contained in solution(s)
… an Understanding of Marketplace and Other Sources
	Identify relevant component sources	Monitor relevant component sources	Monitor relevant market segments
	Characterize available components	Evaluate applicable components	Characterize component changes
… an Understanding of the Programmatics and Risks
	Identify management information	Update management information
	Identify procurement needs and opportunities	Update procurement needs and opportunities
	Identify implications of changes to the end-user's business process	Amplify implications of changes to the end-user's business process	Monitor implications of changes to the end-user's business process
	Identify risks	Update risks
Phase	Inception	Elaboration	Construction	Transition
Refine the Understanding of the solution
	Synthesize information in candidate solutions	Identify and resolve mismatches from the synthesis of new information
	Analyze and negotiate mismatches for each candidate solution
	Characterize each candidate solution	Amplify the solution(s)	Update the solution if needed
Assemble an Executable Representation
	Build and test proof of concept(s)	Build and test and architectural prototype	Build and test the solution	Build and test releases of the solution
	Prototype the needed changes to the end user's business processes		Implement the needed end-user business process changes
			Make any needed changes to existing infrastructure and external interfaces
Phase	Inception	Elaboration	Construction	Transition
Assess the Iteration
	Assess the Executable Representation	Assess the architectural prototype for the solution(s)	Assess the solution
	Update the information about the solution
	Determine lessons learned from iteration
	Assess the phase, if the iteration completes the phase			Review all phases if the iteration retires the solution

Supporting activities include tasks that must be accomplished during iterations within the phase, but may not be part of every iteration. Vital activities not listed here include project monitoring and control, and activites described in the Development Plan (such as requirements management or configuration management).

Phase	Inception	Elaboration	Construction	Transition
Supporting Activities
	Monitor project status
	Prepare experimentation facility		Maintain the experimentation facility
	Update and create contracting vehicles as necessary