| name | extreme-lifecycle |
| description | Guides end-to-end lifecycle governance for mission-critical, high-assurance, or zero-failure-
tolerance systems—concept through retirement: phases, gates, evidence, traceability, obsolescence,
tech refresh, configuration baselines, NDA-safe regulated/classified patterns, assurance/DevSecOps/
ATO interfaces, decommissioning and data disposition. Use for extreme lifecycle, system lifecycle,
mission-critical lifecycle, lifecycle gates, sustainment, tech refresh, obsolescence management,
decommissioning, configuration baseline, lifecycle evidence, end-to-end lifecycle, or retire a
system—not TPM-only (technical-program-manager), HRO-only (zero-tolerance-for-failure), tiering-only
(mission-critical), classified pipeline-only (classified-software-devsecops-engineer), formal
proofs (software-assurance-formal-methods-specialist), compliance-only (compliance-engineer),
CI-only (build-validator), infra portfolio-only (vp-of-infrastructure).
|
Extreme Lifecycle
When to Use
- Govern end-to-end system lifecycle from concept through disposal for high-assurance workloads
- Define lifecycle phases, entry/exit criteria, and gate reviews with required evidence
- Maintain bidirectional traceability—requirements, design, build, test, deploy, ops, and retire
- Control configuration baselines, approved changes, and tech refresh / obsolescence plans
- Plan sustainment—spares, vendor support, patch posture, and end-of-life transitions
- Interface with assurance, DevSecOps, and authorization without owning those roles
- Author decommissioning and data disposition plans with verification and audit trail
- Operate in regulated or classified contexts using generic, NDA-safe framing (no customer dumps)
- Produce lifecycle registers, gate packets, baseline manifests, and retirement checklists
When NOT to Use
- Run multi-team milestone RAID and steering status only →
technical-program-manager
- Establish HRO mindset, stop-the-line, and defect-escape prevention culture →
zero-tolerance-for-failure
- Classify criticality tiers, RTO/RPO, and blast-radius architecture without full lifecycle →
mission-critical
- Own cleared DevSecOps pipeline, build standards, and release trains only →
classified-software-devsecops-engineer
- Prove correctness with formal methods, models, or certification evidence →
software-assurance-formal-methods-specialist
- Automate SOC/ISO audit controls and continuous compliance monitoring →
compliance-engineer
- Pre-flight architecture or go/no-go on a single change without lifecycle baseline →
build-validator
- Own enterprise infrastructure portfolio, capex, and DC strategy →
vp-of-infrastructure
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|
| Criticality tiering, objectives, release governance by tier | mission-critical |
| Failure-prevention culture, verification gates, FMEA | zero-tolerance-for-failure |
| Program milestones, dependencies, launch readiness | technical-program-manager |
| Cleared build/release and DevSecOps pipeline | classified-software-devsecops-engineer |
| Formal assurance, proofs, and certification packages | software-assurance-formal-methods-specialist |
| Audit evidence pipelines and control automation | compliance-engineer |
| Plan/design validation before execution | build-validator |
| Infrastructure portfolio and capex | vp-of-infrastructure |
| Secure SDLC, CI gates, SBOM | devsecops |
| Recovery architecture and restore evidence | cyber-resilience-engineer |
| BCM program and enterprise DR | bcm-disaster-recovery-specialist |
Core Workflows
1. Scope and lifecycle charter
Define system boundary, assurance level, regulatory/classified interfaces, and lifecycle authority.
See references/extreme_lifecycle_scope.md.
2. Phases and gates
Map concept → design → build → verify → deploy → operate → sustain → dispose with gate criteria.
See references/lifecycle_phases_and_gates.md.
3. Traceability and evidence
Link artifacts across phases; define evidence types, retention, and independence requirements.
See references/traceability_and_evidence.md.
4. Operate, sustain, and obsolescence
Run sustainment reviews, tech refresh, vendor EOL, and operational baseline drift control.
See references/operate_sustain_and_obsolescence.md.
5. Change, baseline, and retirement
Manage baselines, approved deltas, decommissioning, and data disposition with verification.
See references/change_baseline_and_retirement.md.
6. Stakeholders and assurance interfaces
Coordinate owners, ISSO/ATO consumers, assurance, and DevSecOps without owning their deliverables.
See references/stakeholders_and_assurance_interfaces.md.
Outputs
- Lifecycle charter — scope, phases, RACI, assurance tier, review cadence
- Gate catalog — phase × gate → criteria, evidence, approvers, waiver rules
- Traceability matrix — requirement/design/test/deploy/ops links with gap flags
- Configuration baseline manifest — versions, hashes, environments, approval record
- Obsolescence and tech-refresh plan — EOL dates, mitigations, funding hooks
- Sustainment review record — support posture, patch debt, spares, drill outcomes
- Decommissioning package — shutdown sequence, data disposition, evidence of destruction/archival
Principles
- Lifecycle before backlog — phase gates and baselines drive priority; do not substitute sprint velocity
- Evidence is the product of governance — undocumented approval is not control
- Trace forward and backward — every production artifact links to intent and verification
- Baselines are contracts — change without baseline update is unauthorized state
- Retire deliberately — disposal and data disposition are phases, not tickets
- Stay in lane — interface with assurance, ATO, and DevSecOps; do not impersonate ISSO or auditor
- NDA-safe by default — generic regulated/classified patterns; no counterparty-specific dumps
