6. A Risk and Issues List

Ok, really the last thing. As I said in point 1 above, if the business insists on not changing the budget allocation, you can still do RUP. You will have to modify scope to meet budget. You should still re-estimate and change the basis of estimate at each milestone and openly share the data.

Instead of seeking to change the budget, you are only seeking to get the "go/no-go" decision. Think of it this way. You are being completely honest, updating estimates based on new information. You can modify scope to maintain budget.

Now the client gets to make a decision:
1. Go. With the reduced functionality. Everybody wins.

2. Go, and you BETTER get it all done anyway. This one is childish nonsense, so just add it to the risk list. It is equivalent to demanding nine women having a baby in one month instead of nine. Demand all you wish, you ain't gonna get it.

3. No Go. If you can't get it all, stop now. This is a HUGE WIN. For once the client didn't have to spend all of the project's budget to walk away empty handed as they would have with a waterfall project.

4. No Go. But lets start a new project with the right budget. You lose some good data this way, but in the end they get the results and you get the budget.