Software Engineering - Old Questions

5. What is the critical distinction between a milestone and deliverable? Explain.

• A milestone is a scheduled event signifying the completion of a major deliverable or a set of related deliverables. A milestone has zero duration and no effort -- there is no work associated with a milestone. It is a flag in the work plan to signify some other work has completed.
• Usually a milestone is used as a project checkpoint to validate how the project is progressing and revalidate work. Milestones are also used as high-level snapshots for management to validate the progress of the project. In many cases there is a decision to be made at a milestone.
• Deliverable is a term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible object produced as a result of the project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a server upgrade or any other building block of an overall project. The word is considered corporate jargon.
• A deliverable may be composed of multiple smaller deliverables. It may be either an outcome to be achieved or a product to be provided

The major difference between a milestone and a deliverable is that a milestone signifies project progress towards obtaining its end objectives, a stepping stone that must be reached in order to continue, whereas a deliverable is a measurable result of this process.