Gating Process

A Gating Process is a quality control process that enforces decision checkpoints with pass/fail criteria at critical stages of workflow execution.

• AKA: Gate Process, Quality Gate Process, Stage Gate Process, Checkpoint Process.
• Context:
  • It can typically implement go/no-go decisions based on predefined criterions with threshold validation.
  • It can typically prevent downstream problems by catching quality issues at early stages.
  • It can typically support risk management through systematic evaluation at milestone points.
  • It can often incorporate automated checking with manual review for comprehensive assessment.
  • It can often enable process standardization across projects with consistent quality standards.
  • It can often provide audit trails documenting decision rationale and approval authority.
  • It can range from being a Single-Gate Process to being a Multi-Gate Process, depending on its checkpoint count.
  • It can range from being a Hard Gate Process to being a Soft Gate Process, depending on its enforcement strictness.
  • It can range from being a Manual Gate Process to being an Automated Gate Process, depending on its decision mechanism.
  • It can range from being a Binary Gate Process to being a Graduated Gate Process, depending on its outcome options.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Software Development Gating Processes, such as:
    • CI/CD Gating Process for deployment pipeline control.
    • Code Review Gate Process for merge request approval.
  • Project Management Gating Processes, such as:
    • Phase Gate Process for project stage transition.
    • Investment Gate Process for funding release decision.
  • Quality Assurance Gating Processes, such as:
    • Test Coverage Gate Process for minimum coverage enforcement.
    • Security Scan Gate Process for vulnerability threshold checking.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Continuous Flow Process, which lacks discrete checkpoints and gate decisions.
  • Advisory Process, which provides recommendations without enforcement mechanism.
  • Post-Hoc Review Process, which evaluates after completion rather than at checkpoints.
• See: Quality Control Process, Decision Process, Stage-Gate Model, Workflow Management, Risk Management Process, Approval Process, Continuous Integration.

---