The life cycle begins with planning and design. The very first step is to clearly define the project
scope: business requirements, capacity, availability targets, compliance standards, and budget.
Without scope definition, design validation or vendor selection would be premature.
Vendor selection (A) happens much later during procurement.
Validation (B) occurs after conceptual and detailed designs are prepared.
Freezing design (D) is the final stage before implementation.
Therefore, defining the project scope is the correct initial step.
Reference: ANSI/TIA-942-B Annex F (Lifecycle), ISO/IEC 30182 (Smart City & DC Lifecycle), PMI
PMBOK (Scope Definition).
