A medium-sized consulting company I once worked developed their own methodology for dealing with web development projects. This company has since gone out of business making their methodology public. Not that there's much here that doesn't fall in to standard practices for consulting firms. I'm reproducing a summary here as a reference for those that perhaps haven't worked for a "real" consulting company.

This methodology is organized by phases. Phases are typically used to communicate a grouping of deliverables and functional progression within a project timeline and to assess the progress of a project. Most web development methodologies begin when requirements are defined and end when the application "goes live." This methodology starts even earlier -- when the original concept is formed-and does not end until a client post-delivery review of the project is completed.

There are eight "typical web development" lifecycle phases in this methodology. Each of these is described briefly below.

Sales

For consulting projects, includes pre-proposal and proposal activities. Identifies client opportunities, evaluates potential clients, assesses RFPs and/or opportunities, and prepares a proposal or Statement of Work.

Project Initiation

Contains activities to mobilize the project team and plan project activities in detail. Ensures that all engagement and project management procedures and policies are in place.

Analysis

Defines the strategy, competitive analysis, current processes, and financial viability of a site. Includes gathering and analyzing information pertinent to each focus area (business functionality, technical environment, security, etc.) to define functional requirements, the "what" of the solution.

Design

Defines the details of the proposed solution in a creative, technically correct and secure design. Identifies potential risks and constraints to implementation and refines the business case. Undertakes a thorough creative design process that ensures the goals of the e-business model are defined, designed and implemented in a compelling, creative solution.

Development

Prescribes an iterative development approach that incorporates rapid prototyping and application building. Constructs and unit tests all components of the detailed business solution. Iteratively tests each module with small clusters of adjacent functionality to assure proper interactions prior to full-scale system testing. Prepares for organization-wide rollout.

Implementation

Moves modules and databases from the test environment to the production staging environment. Conducts final security test. Prepares for organization-wide rollout of the new solution and makes the business solution fully operational across the entire organization. Measures performance.

Production Operations

Puts mechanisms in place to ensure that the benefits achieved through implementing the business solution can be sustained over time and can lead to further opportunities for performance gains. Manages web content refreshes and operations.

Project Close

Validates that the solution is running to specifications and meets the client's expectations. Completes and closes out project and engagement management activities.