Lifecycle: Product vs Project

Difference Between Product Lifecycle vs. Project Lifecycle

There is often confusion about the difference between the product life cycle and the project life cycle. I’ll attempt to clear some of the confusion around this topic:

• A project is defined as an endeavor undertaken to create a service, product, or result. The project life cycle has a definite beginning and end with a clearly defined scope and resources.

• The objectives of the project life cycle and the product life cycle are quite different. A project is used to achieve a pre-defined outcome that may or may not be a product. 

• The product life cycle may use many projects to achieve its goals, but the reverse is usually not true.