an analytic study on agile project management in synova inc

8/12/2019 An Analytic Study on Agile Project Management in Synova Inc

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An Analytic study on Agile Project Management in Synova IncBy Aryashree Pritikrishna

A Project Report

[Project On]

[An Analytic study on Agile Project Management in Synova Inc]

Prepared By:

Aryashree Pritikrishna(Reg. No. : 521065673)

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree

Of

MBA in Project Management[2010-2011]

[ Lccode : 02765, Address : PLOT NO. 3006/3885, 1ST & 2nd floor, above Bajaj show room, Ravi talkies square, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, Pincode751002]


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An Analytic study on Agile Project Management in Synova Inc

A PROJECT REPORT

Under the guidance Of

Submitted by

Aryashree Pritikrishna

in partial fulfillment o f the requirementfor the award of the degree

Of

MBA

IN

[Project Management]

October 2011


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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled

An Analytic study on Agile Project Management inSynova Inc

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for thedegree of

Master of business Administration

to Sikkim Manipal University, India, is my original work and notsubmitted for the award of any other degree, diploma,

fellowship, orany other similar title or prizes.

Place: Bangalore Aryashree PritikrishnaDate: 20/10/2011 Reg. No: 521065673


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

If words can be considered as a symbol of approval and token ofacknowledgement then let the words play the heralding role of expressingmy gratitude acknowledgement.

At the very outset, I take the privilege to convey my gratitude tothose people whose cooperation, suggestion and heartfelt support helpedme to accomplish the project report works successfully.

I acknowledge my sincere gratitude to my Manager Mr. Abhinav

Vattikutifor permitting me to do the study.

My sincere thanks to my Tech Lead Mr. Anand Singh for hiscareful supervision, valuable guidance and constant encouragement rightfrom the inception to the successful completion of my project.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the members of thedepartment Of Business Administration for their support.

My profound gratitude to Shri. Ramdas (IT&ES)for giving me the

opportunity to do my project work in their esteemed organization.

Last but not the least. I express my heartfelt thanks to all otherstaff member of Synova Inc, Bengaluru, Karnataka,my parents andfriends for the timely help and support they have rendered in bringing mystudy, so its relevance in a faithful manner.


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STUDENT DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled at AnAnalytic study on Agile Project Management in Synova Incsubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Master of Business Administration to Sikkim ManipalUniversity, India, is my original work and not submitted for theaward of any other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any othersimilar title or prizes.

Place: Aryashree PritikrishnaDate: MBA Fourth Semester

Reg.No.:521065673Webcom School OfBusiness,BhubaneshwarOdisha.


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BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report titled An Analytic study on

Agile Project Management in Synova Inc is the bonafide

work of Aryashree Pritikrishnawho carried out the project

work under my supervision.

Signature Signature

Head of the Department Faculty in Charge

Webcom School of Business Webcom School of Business3006/3885 1st Floor, Lewis Road 3006/3885 1st Floor, Lewis RoadBhubaneswar, Orissa 751002 Bhubaneswar, Orissa 751002


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EXAMINERS CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that Aryashree Pritikrishna has successfullycompleted the project titled An Analytic study on Agile

Project Management in Synova Inc adopted at Synova Inc,Bengaluru, Karnataka for the requirement ofpartial fulfillmentof Master of Business Administration (MBA), programconducted at Webcom School Of Business, a University studycentre of Sikkim Manipal University.

I wish her all success in her further Endeavour.

Internal Examiner External Examiner


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UNIVERSITY STUDY CENTRE CERTIFICATE

Certified that Aryashree Pritikrishna is a student of MBA

Final semesterholding University Roll No.521065673 under the

roll of my College, a University Study Centre of Sikkim Manipal

University of Project Management, has completed his project

entitled An Analytic study on Agile Project Management in

Synova Incas Submitted in partial fulfillment of the award of the

degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA) of the said

University.

He has worked under my supervision. The Report submitted is

genuine & no part of this report has been submitted anywhere forthe award of any degree from any University.

He was sincere & obedient during his tenure of study having

an amiable behavior & good character.

I wish him all the Best.

(MS Kirti Mishra)

Director HR

Webcom School Of Business


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PREFACE

Projects are an indispensable part of any kind of formal

education. They help us to have a practical exposure as well as

better outlook of the subject, which we are studying. In a

professional course like M.B.A, the students are equipped with

strong theoretical knowledge about the business operations and the

time-tested methods of running a successful business. To make this

theoretical knowledge stronger, the students are assigned certain

projects in various organizations to get an idea of practical working

styles.

I am working in Synova Inc. The topic of study was An

Analytic study on Agile Project Management in Synova Inc.

The project commenced from 03rdSep 2011 to 4thNOV 2011.

In order to make the data and findings easily understandable,

efforts have been made to present the information in a simplified,

lucid and organized manner. It gives me immense practical

exposure to the practical working patterns and the environment. Iwill be satisfied if the organization gets benefits from the study and

the findings.

Place:BengaluruDate: 01-12-2011


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

1. 1.Executive Summary #11

2. 2. An overview of the Organization #122.1.Introduction #122.2.About the organization #13

3. 3. Project Overview #283.1.Introduction to the Study #283.2.Objectives the Study #903.3.Scope of the Study #903.4.Research Methodology #913.5.Limitation of the Study #92

3.6.Data Analysis #933.7.Recommendation #1153.8.Conclusion #116

4. 4. Others #1174.1.Questionnaire #1174.2.Bibliography #1224.3.References #1224.4.Glossary #123


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11 |P a g e Aryashree Pritikrishna

[Chapter-1]

Executive Summary

Project Title : An Analytic study on Agile Project Management inSynova Inc

Duration of study : 3rd Sep to 4th Nov 2010.

Place of study : Synova Inc, Bangalore, Karnataka.

Name of the company : Synova Inc

Major Project : An Analytic study on Agile Project Management inSynova Inc.

Methodology : A structured questionnaire was developed andAdministered among the selected sample foreffective project management.

Major finding : Agile Project Management systems have beencontributing to the overall growth of Synova Inc.through cost reduction, risk elimination, projectprocess and greater productivity. There seems tobe ignorance among the support staffs andSoftware Engineer to some extent.

Major Recommendations : The Agile project management with the most tosay about the management of a project. Here arethe top 10 points why we are using Agile ProjectManagement.

Control Scope Creep and Manage Change Deliver Project Results On Time and On

Budget Focus the Project Team on the Solution Obtain Project Buy-In from Disparate

Groups

Define the Critical Path to OptimallyComplete your Project

Provide a Process for Estimating ProjectResources, Time, and Costs

Communicate Project Progress, Risks, andChanges

Surface and Explore Project Assumptions Prepare for Unexpected Project Issues Document, Transfer, and Apply Lessons

Learned from Your Projects


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[Chapter-2]

An overview of the Organization

Introduction:

Synova Inc is a technology enterprise that offers enterprise software services to

medium and large organizations in three continents.

Our service offerings focus on enterprise applications, mobile applications and

cloud enablement. We work as your technology partner to transform your

business and deliver measurable results.Our next-gen partnership approach ensures that the time spent on contracting

and governance is minimized, allowing us to focus on delivering technology

solutions aligned to your business vision.

Our mission

To be a global leader in enterprise software services, by providing value-driven

package implementation, custom development, maintenance, support, and

technology project management solutions for time-sensitive and mission-critical

applications.

Fast facts

Synova Inc was founded in 1998 as a enterprise software services

company by Raj Vattikuti. Today, we are recognized by our clients as their

preferred technology outsourcing and project management partner.

We have over 2000 technology professionals spread across 35 U.S. and

14 international locations in China, India Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil

with headquarters in Southfield, Michigan and project delivery centers in

Chicago, Southfield and Bangalore, India. We are ISO 9001 and ISO27001-certified.

We have strategic, long-term partnerships with clients spread across

diverse industry verticals including financial services, government,

automotive, healthcare, and technology.

In the USA, we are a 100% minority-owned business enterprise (MBE),

certified by the Michigan Minority Business Development Council

(MMBDC), and a National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)

Corporate Plus member.


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We are a member of NASSCOM, the National Association of Software

Services Companies in India.

The Synova Way:

Our experience has shown that successful projects require a high degree of

client involvement and commitment.

Reflecting this insight, Synova offers a unique value proposition based on three

powerful axioms.

Connect. Collaborate. Actualize

Together they define a proven partnership process that is:

Customer-centric -: gives us deep insight into our clients objectives and

technology roadmap

Interactive -: ensures the confluence of our clients deep domain

knowledge and our technology expertise

Result-oriented -: works in fulfillment of specific business objectives with

well-defined KPIs and SLAs

CONNECT

At Synova, our customer-centric approach begins with listening to what you

have to say. Our team of experts engages with you at multiple levels to

understand the dynamics of your industry, focusing not just on the big picture,

but also on the finer details, which so often determine your success.

COLLABORATE

It is our belief that technology projects often fail, if the client is not actively

engaged.

As part of our process we leverage the business insights of the client to jointly

set project goals and identify its potential risks and failure points. We clearly

define our roles and responsibilities and those of the client. This allows all

stakeholders to provide the leadership necessary for the success of the project.

This next-gen partnership approach is transparent and not mired in complicated

governance structures and red tape.ACTUALIZE

From strategizing, implementing and execution to helping your business

internalize and adapt to change, our collaborative approach ensures that we

arrive at the most strategic, cost-effective and value-driven solution.

Our focus on successful execution is reflected in the detailing of the project

milestones, KPIs and SLAs that we identify, meet and exceed during the project

lifecycle.

We pride ourselves on providing business value - the most important outcome of

any engagement.


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Diversity and Inclusion:

Synova recognizes and values diversity in the workplace. We realize that we are

stronger because of the heterogeneity that exists within our organization. We

greatly value the varied experiences, points of view, ideas and perspectives of

our multi-faceted community of employees.

Synova is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal

employment opportunities for all persons without regard to race, color, religion,

nationality, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status.

Our inclusive environment enables us to offer creative and innovative solutions

that add value to your business and ours.

Footprint:

Since our inception in 1998, we have successfully worked with a large number of

clients across the globe, offering a wide portfolio of services and solutions to a

diverse range of industry verticals including:

Finance

Government

Technology

Automotive

Healthcare Our clients include:

Fortune 100 corporations

Small and medium businesses

Integrators

Captive centers

Local Tier I technology firms

All our partnerships are strategic and long-term, and we are considered a

preferred solutions provider to some of the largest and most diversified

companies in the world. US Locations:

Andover, MA

Dallas, TX

New York, NY

Atlanta, GA

Denver, CO

Newark, NJ

Austin, TX

Detroit, MI

Phoenix, AZ


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Baltimore, MD

Endicott, NY

Raleigh, NC Boca Raton, FL

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Houston, TX

Boston, MA

Indianpolis, IN

Sacramento, CA

Boulder, CO

Kansas City, MO

San Francisco, CA

Charlotte, NC Lexington, KY

San Jose, CA

Chicago, IL

Los Angeles, CA

Seattle, WA

Cleveland, OH

Miami, FL

St. Louis, MO

Minneapolis, MN

Southbury, CT Washington, DC

Puerto Rico

International Locations:

BRAZIL

o Sao Paulo

o Campinas

o Rio de Janeiro

CHINA

o Daliano Shanghai

HONG KONG

o Wanchai

INDIA

o Bangalore

o Chennai

o Gurgaon

o Hyderabad

o Pune

o Kolkata


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Application Development Services:

We collaborate with clients across a wide range of industries to deliver enterprise

software services, onsite and offshore.

We focus on:

Mobility

ERP solutions

Cloud adaptation

We also offer the following services:

Custom development

Package implementation

Enhancement

Maintenance

Quality management and testing

Our global delivery model and presence in low-cost geographies enable ourclients to draw upon the best resource mix for their projects. The model

guarantees robust delivery processes and predefined outcomes, resulting in a

high ROI for our customers.

Synova has successfully implemented complete offshore development centers

for clients, enabling them to run multiple projects that maximizing the value

obtained from our global delivery model.


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ERP Solutions:

Synova offers ERP implementation services that encompass all modules andfunctional areas in:

SAP

Oracle Apps

PeopleSoft

SAP Services partner

o Largest Netweaver partner for SAP India

o Awarded Best SAP Netweaver services partner- Asia Pacific

o Rated as No.1 preferred services partner by SAP consultingSEA

2009

o SAP Projects delivered in USA, Africa, UAE and India

Some SAP services provided are:

o SAP enhancements projects

o SAP upgrade projects

o SAP back office 24X7 maintenance


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The Synova Advantage

Recognized SAP partner in India and Singapore

Accelerators for vendor portal and human resources portal

SAP and salesfoce.com integration accelerators available for quick

integration of salesforce.com and SAP

Accelerators for SAP CRM on mobile

Simplified approach to ERP implementation. We have adapted the basic

SAP recommended framework for Solution Manager and ASAP to provide

the best ROI for customers in the small and medium business category.

Creative deployment of the BO solutions approach to generate targeteddashboards and reporting systems.

Design and development of robust quality analytics reporting engines for

global business processes and decision systems.

Enterprise Cloud Adaptation:

The cloud is rapidly gaining momentum as the technology of choice for small and

large businesses alike. Synova specializes in helping clients determine their

cloud strategies and seamlessly migrate their existing infrastructure and

applications to the cloud.


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Synovas team of senior architects reviews the customers business needs and

crafts a solution that minimizes the risks associated with cloud adaptation. Our

services include solution architecture, robust security design and developmentand other critical operational details.

Our cloud solutions are supported by our strategic alliances with:

SalesForce.com

Amazon Web Services

SAP By Design

The Synova Advantage

In-house producers/artists or graphic designers available to produce wire

frames.

Passionate about solving business problems with disruptive technology

Fanatical about client experience and transformational client success

Salesforce.com, Amazon Web Services, Google, Adobe

Primary focus in finance, healthcare, manufacturing, telecom and retail

verticals

Capability to set up Offshore development centers for cloud computing


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Mobile Application Development & Support:

Today, our clients are making strategic investments that enable them to interact

with their customers on a mobile platform. Synova has successfully implemented

advanced mobile solutions in the areas of Banking and Financial Services across

the globe.

We have built and implemented complex technical solutions in the area of mass

data collection and entitlements. We provide technology for last mile services in

rural India for financial inclusion, accounting for community-based organizations,

healthcare including telemedicine, education including e-learning and skill

training for livelihood programs in emerging markets.

Synova specializes in application development for all mobile platforms including:

Symbian

Android

iPhone

Windows

We also assist our customers in mobile enablement/enhancement of their legacy

applications.


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Time and Material with Cap.

When scope is not very clear and if there is ambiguity in the scope, we will use

our CPM methodology to deliver the project using T&M with Cap contracts. Theseare a hybrid of T&M and Fixed bid contracts.

T&M

While traditionally T&M denotes the Time & Materials engagement model, within

which we provide resources to our clients charged out on the basis of time

spent, at Synova it also represents Talent Management. Using our CPM

methodology, the effort is estimated by the client and Synova, and the resources

are staffed on a T&M basis.

Within this model, we offer you technology professionals charged at an hourly ormonthly rate in all technology areas.

Professional Services

This includes technology professionals deployed on full time and part-time basis

based on the current requirements of your organization.

We offer managed solutions, by entering into a master vendor relationship with

you. We provide complete on-site management of all contract activities. This

includes your subcontracting needs and procedures, in partnership with your e-

procurement and human capital management partners that run the requirement-

to-check processes.

Offshore projects

Synova is equipped to recruit technology professionals, with the necessary work

permits, from low cost geographies, and onboard them as part of your

technology team, in the shortest possible time. We leverage our offshore

bench and supplement this with new recruits that you may require.

In this model the client can choose to either take responsibility of complete

project governance or hand it to Synova.

Collaborative Performance Model:

Our unique value proposition Connect, Collaborate, Actualize, is at the heart of

the Collaborative Performance Model (CPM), an innovative methodology for our

project services business.

The CPM co-opts the customer into the project workflow and creates a

collaboration layer within the engagement. This is intended to eliminate the pain

points of traditional delivery models characterized by:

Limited business/domain knowledge

Bureaucratic functioning caused by layers of management

Lack of transparency


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Compartmentalized teams

Lack of innovation

Complex contracting and governance processes

Inability to achieve anticipated cost savings and productivity gains

Our engagement model is designed to overcome these weaknesses by aligningto your business vision and tailoring solutions that create value for yourcustomers.

CPM IN ACTION:

Here is how the collaborative workflow is harnessed to optimize the cost of

operations and deliver high-quality projects.

Key features:

Collaborative design

Proactive and continuous knowledge exchange

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for both stakeholders

o Client providing domain and subject matter expertise

o Synova providing technical expertise

Risk and reward sharing

Clear and continuous communication protocol


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The Synova Advantage:

We focus on Key Performance Indicators and SLAs, detailing them finely,

to place special emphasis project success milestones.

The most important determinant of the success of your technology project

is the quality of people working on it.Talentraq, our proprietary talent

management solution gives us a clear advantage over our competitors.

We use risk and reward pricing models to minimize your upfront

investment and link your technology costs to incremental revenue

generation.

We minimize your contract and governance issues, ensuring your IT

budget is used to implement technology initiatives and not frittered away

on excessive management and control.

Our methodology puts the trust back into the client-vendor partnership.

TALENTRAQ

At Synova our objective is straightforward:

To locate the right candidate, with the right set of skills, at the right cost to your

business in the shortest possible time.

To achieve this goal, we have pioneered a proprietary talent management

methodology called Talentraq.Talentraqis a start-to-finish engagement model, at the core of which is

resource forecasting. We study your technology roadmap and utilize it to

forecast the software professionals you will require across skill sets and roles. As

your partner, we invest in holding an optimum, strategic bench of professionals,

ready to deploy in your organization.

We collaborate with you at every stage of the staffing process by deploying

dedicated fulfillment teams to handle complete lifecycle resourcing.

Connectto initiate, forecast and plan.

Understand:Our preferred engagement model is to work as your partner,rather than a supplier. This allows us to engage with you to understand the role

of technology in meeting your specific business objectives. We also gain visibility

to your annual technology roadmap, helping us forecast your talent

requirements for the year.

Predict:When you engage us, we create a schedule of regular interactions

focused on estimating your resourcing needs. We place particular emphasis on

scarce and emerging skills such as SAP, cloud and mobility. We then build a

detailed blueprint of the talent you will require over the next 12 months.

Track:Our experts track market trends to assess high-demand skill-sets and

invest in creating a bench of excellence, so that your recruitment plan stays oncourse. We provide the necessary training and certification to the professionals


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on the bench, so that they can be deployed with minimum lead-time to

maximize your productivity.

Recruit:Backed by more than a decade of experience in talent management,we have designed a proven global resource delivery model.

This consists of a five-stage hiring process:

The Synova interview

Seven levels of compliance checks

Client assessment and selection

Soft skill competency and assessment

Six-stage numeric analytical tech screening process that includes:

o Level

o Application

o Domaino Technology

o Scalability

o Severity

The entire process is completed within 7-10 business days by a dedicated

fulfillment team. Every critical stage is executed keeping communication linesopen with you for constant feedback and dialogue.

Our repeated success with this process has earned us the status of preferred

supplier to medium and large organizations as well as many Fortune 500

companies.

Collaborateto engage and empower

Our collaborative model ensures that we support each other through every stage

of the talent management process, including:


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Induction and knowledge transition:Synova works with customers to

develop detailed onboarding processes that minimize the learning curve,

ensuring quick, productive deployment. In collaboration with the client, wedevelop all necessary training material and also draw upon client SMEs to

facilitate induction and knowledge transition.

Employee retention:We recognize that talented software professionals need to

be nurtured and mentored to grow within your organization. Apart from ensuring

that they receive the required technology certifications, we organize motivational

events and provide leadership training to support their growth aspirations. We

also create a structured, career progression plans for every employee. As a

result, our attrition levels are significantly lower than the industry average.

Actualizeto meet your business objectives

We constantly monitor performance metrics to ensure that you receive the full

value of working with Synova. The average tenure of any Synovian is 18 months

with 21% of employees getting promoted after completion of an assignment.

We set up a system of periodic reports and reviews, in consultation with you,

and institute the metrics to monitor the SLAs of our engagement.

The benchmarks we follow to measure the successes of our methodology

include:

Time taken to validate profile against specific requirement and submit a

resume is 4 to 48 hours depending on availability.

Onboarding after selection: 1 to 20 days depending on urgency, bench

strength and skill set

Over 85% of our employees have been redeployed to different projects

after they complete the assignment for which they were hired, ensuring

growth & stability within the organization.

23% of the total strength has completed 2.5 years with Synova. This

confirms the stability that the organization offers.

36% of our employees are absorbed by our customers on account of

consistently good performance.

11% of our employees travel onsite for various opportunities.

34% of our employees have moved into an enhanced role within the

project.


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[Chapter-3]

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Introduction to the study:

As apart of fulfillment of MBA curriculum of Sikkim Manipal University .I havetaken up the titleAn Analytic study on Agile Project Management in SynovaInc.

The study is an attempt to understand the project flow policies and projectmanagement system of Synova Inc.

Concept of Agile Project Management System:

Agile software developmentis a group of software development methodologiesbased on iterative and incremental development, where requirements andsolutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functionalteams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, atime-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response tochange. It is a conceptual framework that promotes foreseen interactionsthroughout the development cycle. The Agile Manifesto[1] introduced the term in2001. Agile management methods can also be applied in other developmentprojects than software development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development


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History of Agile Project Management:

Predecessors:

Incremental software development methods have been traced back to 1957. In1974, a paper by E. A. Edmonds introduced an adaptive software developmentprocess.

So-called lightweight software development methods evolved in the mid-1990sas a reaction against heavyweight methods, which were characterized by theircritics as a heavily regulated, regimented, micromanaged, waterfall model ofdevelopment. Proponents of lightweight methods (and now agile methods)contend that they are a return to development practices from early in the historyof software development.

Early implementations of lightweight methods include Scrum (1995), CrystalClear, Extreme Programming (1996), Adaptive Software Development, FeatureDriven Development, and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)(1995). These are now typically referred to as agile methodologies, after theAgile Manifesto published in 2001.

Agile Manifesto:

In February 2001, 17 software developers met at the Snowbird, Utah resort, todiscuss lightweight development methods. They published the Manifesto forAgile Software Development to define the approach now known as agile softwaredevelopment. Some of the manifesto's authors formed the Agile Alliance, anonprofit organization that promotes software development according to the

manifesto's principles.


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Agile Manifesto reads, in its entirety, as follows:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helpingothers do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentationCustomer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items onthe left more.

The meanings of the Manifesto items on the left within the agile softwaredevelopment context are described below.

Individuals and Interactions in agile development, self-organization andmotivation are important, as are interactions like co-location and pairprogramming.Working software working software will be more useful and welcome than justpresenting documents to clients in meetings.Customer collaboration requirements cannot be fully collected at the beginningof the software development cycle, therefore continuous customer orstakeholder involvement is very important.

Responding to change agile development is focused on quick responses tochange and continuous development.

Twelve principles underlie the Agile Manifesto, including:

Customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of useful software Welcome changing requirements, even late in development Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months) Working software is the principal measure of progress Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace Close, daily co-operation between business people and developers

Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location) Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design Simplicity Self-organizing teams Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

In 2005, a group headed by Alistair Cockburn and Jim Highsmith wrote anaddendum of project management principles, the Declaration ofInterdependence, to guide software project management according to agiledevelopment methods.


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Characteristics:

There are many specific agile development methods. Most promote

development, teamwork, collaboration, and process adaptability throughout thelife-cycle of the project.

Agile methods break tasks into small increments with minimal planning, and donot directly involve long-term planning. Iterations are short time frames(timeboxes) that typically last from one to four weeks. Each iteration involves ateam working through a full software development cycle including planning,requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing whena working product is demonstrated to stakeholders. This minimizes overall riskand allows the project to adapt to changes quickly. Stakeholders producedocumentation as required. An iteration may not add enough functionality to

warrant a market release, but the goal is to have an available release (withminimal bugs) at the end of each iteration. Multiple iterations may be required torelease a product or new features.

Team composition in an agile project is usually cross-functional and self-organizing without consideration for any existing corporate hierarchy or thecorporate roles of team members. Team members normally take responsibilityfor tasks that deliver the functionality an iteration requires. They decideindividually how to meet an iteration's requirements.

Agile methods emphasize face-to-face communication over written documents

when the team is all in the same location. Most agile teams work in a singleopen office (called a bullpen), which facilitates such communication. Team size istypically small (5-9 people) to simplify team communication and teamcollaboration. Larger development efforts may be delivered by multiple teamsworking toward a common goal or on different parts of an effort. This mayrequire a co-ordination of priorities across teams. When a team works indifferent locations, they maintain daily contact through videoconferencing, voice,e-mail, etc.

No matter what development disciplines are required, each agile team willcontain a customer representative. This person is appointed by stakeholders to

act on their behalf and makes a personal commitment to being available fordevelopers to answer mid-iteration problem-domain questions. At the end ofeach iteration, stakeholders and the customer representative review progressand re-evaluate priorities with a view to optimizing the return on investment(ROI) and ensuring alignment with customer needs and company goals.

Most agile implementations use a routine and formal daily face-to-facecommunication among team members. This specifically includes the customerrepresentative and any interested stakeholders as observers. In a brief session,team members report to each other what they did the previous day, what theyintend to do today, and what their roadblocks are. This face-to-face

communication exposes problems as they arise.


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communication, where as in the traditional method, the "customer" is initiallyrepresented by the requirement and design documents.

Comparison with other methods:

Agile methods are sometimes characterized as being at the opposite end of thespectrum fromplan-drivenor disciplinedmethods; agile teams may, however,employ highly disciplined formal methods. A more accurate distinction is thatmethods exist on a continuum from adaptivetopredictive. Agile methods lie onthe adaptiveside of this continuum. Adaptive methods focus on adapting quicklyto changing realities. When the needs of a project change, an adaptive teamchanges as well. An adaptive team will have difficulty describing exactly whatwill happen in the future. The further away a date is, the more vague anadaptive method will be about what will happen on that date. An adaptive team

cannot report exactly what tasks are being done next week, but only whichfeatures are planned for next month. When asked about a release six monthsfrom now, an adaptive team may only be able to report the mission statementfor the release, or a statement of expected value vs. cost.

Predictive methods, in contrast, focus on planning the future in detail. Apredictive team can report exactly what features and tasks are planned for theentire length of the development process. Predictive teams have difficultychanging direction. The plan is typically optimized for the original destinationand changing direction can require completed work to be started over. Predictiveteams will often institute a change control board to ensure that only the most

valuable changes are considered.

Formal methods, in contrast to adaptive and predictive methods, focus oncomputer science theory with a wide array of types of provers. A formal methodattempts to prove the absence of errors with some level of determinism. Someformal methods are based on model checking and provide counterexamples forcode that cannot be proven. Generally, mathematical models map to assertionsabout requirements. Formal methods are dependent on a tool driven approach,and may be combined with other development approaches. Some provers do noteasily scale. Like agile methods, manifestos relevant to high integrity softwarehave been proposed in Crosstalk.

Rapid Application Development:

Rapid application development(RAD) is a software developmentmethodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The"planning" of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing thesoftware itself. The lack of extensive pre-planning generally allows software tobe written much faster, and makes it easier to change requirements.


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Rapid application development is a software development methodology that

involves methods like iterative development and software prototyping. Accordingto Whitten (2004), it is a merger of various structured techniques, especiallydata-driven Information Engineering, with prototyping techniques to acceleratesoftware systems development.

In rapid application development, structured techniques and prototyping areespecially used to define users' requirements and to design the final system. Thedevelopment process starts with the development of preliminary data modelsand business process models using structured techniques. In the next stage,requirements are verified using prototyping, eventually to refine the data andprocess models. These stages are repeated iteratively; further development

results in "a combined business requirements and technical design statement tobe used for constructing new systems".

RAD approaches may entail compromises in functionality and performance inexchange for enabling faster development and facilitating applicationmaintenance.

Four phases of RAD:

1. Requirements Planning phasecombines elements of the systemplanning and systems analysis phases of the System Development Life

Cycle (SDLC). Users, managers, and IT staff members discuss and agreeon business needs, project scope, constraints, and system requirements.It ends when the team agrees on the key issues and obtains managementauthorization to continue.

2. User design phaseduring this phase, users interact with systemsanalysts and develop models and prototypes that represent all systemprocesses, inputs, and outputs. The RAD groups or subgroups typicallyuse a combination of Joint Application Development (JAD) techniques andCASE tools to translate user needs into working models. User Designis acontinuous interactive process that allows users to understand, modify,and eventually approve a working model of the system that meets their

needs.


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3. Construction phasefocuses on program and application developmenttask similar to the SDLC. In RAD, however, users continue to participateand can still suggest changes or improvements as actual screens orreports are developed. Its tasks are programming and applicationdevelopment, coding, unit-integration and system testing.

4. Cutover phaseresembles the final tasks in the SDLC implementationphase, including data conversion, testing, changeover to the new system,and user training. Compared with traditional methods, the entire processis compressed. As a result, the new system is built, delivered, and placedin operation much sooner. Its tasks are data conversion, full-scale testing,system changeover, user training.

Another version of RAD phases

1. Business Modeling:The information flow among business functions isdefined by answering questions like what information drives the businessprocess, what information is generated, who generates it, where does theinformation go, who process it and so on.

2. Data Modeling:The information collected from business modeling isrefined into a set of data objects (entities) that are needed to support thebusiness. The attributes (character of each entity) are identified and therelation between these data objects (entities) is defined.

3. Process Modeling:The data objects defined in the data modeling phaseare transformed to achieve the information flow necessary to implement abusiness function. Processing descriptions are created for adding,

modifying, deleting or retrieving a data object.4. Application Generation:Automated tools are used to facilitate

construction of the software; even they use the 4th GL techniques.5. Testing and Turn over:Many of the programming components have

already been tested since RAD emphasises reuse. This reduces overalltesting time. But new components must be tested and all interfaces mustbe fully exercised.

Agile methods:

Well-known agile software development methods include:

Agile Modeling Agile Unified Process (AUP) Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) Essential Unified Process (EssUP) Extreme Programming (XP) Feature Driven Development (FDD) Open Unified Process (OpenUP) Scrum Velocity tracking


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Method tailoring

In the literature, different terms refer to the notion of method adaptation,including method tailoring, method fragment adaptation and situationalmethod engineering. Method tailoring is defined as:

A process or capability in which human agents through responsive changes in,and dynamic interplays between contexts, intentions, and method fragmentsdetermine a system development approach for a specific project situation.

Potentially, almost all agile methods are suitable for method tailoring. Even theDSDM method is being used for this purpose and has been successfully tailoredin a CMM context. Situation-appropriateness can be considered as adistinguishing characteristic between agile methods and traditional softwaredevelopment methods, with the latter being relatively much more rigid andprescriptive. The practical implication is that agile methods allow project teamsto adapt working practices according to the needs of individual projects.Practices are concrete activities and products that are part of a methodframework. At a more extreme level, the philosophy behind the method,consisting of a number of principles, could be adapted (Aydin, 2004).

Extreme Programming (XP) makes the need for method adaptation explicit. Oneof the fundamental ideas of XP is that no one process fits every project, butrather that practices should be tailored to the needs of individual projects.

Software development life cycle

Software development life-cycle support


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The Agile methods are focused on different aspects of the software developmentlife-cycle. Some focus on the practices (extreme programming, pragmaticprogramming, agile modeling), while others focus on managing the softwareprojects (Scrum). Yet, there are approaches providing full coverage over thedevelopment life cycle (DSDM, RUP), while most of them are suitable from therequirements specification phase on (e.g. FDD). Thus, there is a clear differencebetween the various agile software development methods in this regard.Whereas DSDM and RUP do not need complementing approaches to supportsoftware development, the others do to a varying degree. DSDM can be used byanyone (although only DSDM Members may offer DSDM products or services).RUP, then, is a commercially sold development environment (Abrahamsson,Salo, Rankainen, & Warsta, 2002).

Measuring agility

While agility can be seen as a means to an end, a number of approaches havebeen proposed to quantify agility.Agility Index Measurements(AIM) scoreprojects against a number of agility factors to achieve a total. The similarlynamedAgility Measurement Index, scores developments against five dimensionsof a software project (duration, risk, novelty, effort, and interaction). Othertechniques are based on measurable goals. Another study using fuzzymathematics has suggested that project velocity can be used as a metric ofagility. There are agile self assessments to determine whether a team is usingagile practices (Nokia test, Karlskrona test, 42 points test).

While such approaches have been proposed to measure agility, the practicalapplication of such metrics has yet to be seen.

Experience and reception

One of the early studies reporting gains in quality, productivity, and businesssatisfaction by using Agile methods was a survey conducted by ShineTechnologies from November 2002 to January 2003. A similar survey conductedin 2006 by Scott Ambler, the Practice Leader for Agile Development with IBMRational's Methods Group reported similar benefits. In a survey conducted byVersionOne (a provider of software for planning and tracking agile software

development projects) in 2008, 55% of respondents answered that Agilemethods had been successful in 90-100% of cases. Others claim that agiledevelopment methods are still too young to require extensive academic proof oftheir success.

Suitability

Large-scale agile software development remains an active research area.

Agile development has been widely seen as being more suitable for certain typesof environment, including small teams of experts.


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Some things that may negatively impact the success of an agile project are:

Large-scale development efforts (>20 developers), through scalingstrategies and evidence of some large projectshave been described.

Distributed development efforts (non-colocated teams). Strategies havebeen described in Bridging the Distanceand Using an Agile SoftwareProcess with Offshore Development

Forcing an agile process on a development team Mission-critical systems where failure is not an option at any cost (e.g.

software for surgical procedures).

The early successes, challenges and limitations encountered in the adoption ofagile methods in a large organization have been documented.

In terms of outsourcing agile development, Michael Hackett, Sr. Vice President ofLogiGear Corporation has stated that "the offshore team ... should haveexpertise, experience, good communication skills, inter-cultural understanding,trust and understanding between members and groups and with each other."

Suitability of different development methods

Agile home groundPlan-driven home

ground

Formal methods

Low criticality High criticality Extreme criticality

Senior developers Junior developers Senior developers

Requirements changeoften

Requirements do notchange often

Limited requirements,limited features

Small number ofdevelopers

Large number ofdevelopers

Requirements that can bemodeled

Culture that thrives onchaos

Culture that demandsorder

Extreme quality

Agile Modeling:

Agile Modelingis a practice-based methodology for modeling anddocumentation of software-based systems. It is intended to be a collection ofvalues, principles, and practices for Modeling software that can be applied on asoftware development project in a more flexible manner than traditionalModeling methods.

The principles and values of Agile Modeling practices are intended to help

mitigate the perceived flaws of Agile Software Development. The principle


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"Maximize stakeholder value" aims to inspire the developer to collaborate withthe customer in providing an adequate level of documentation.

The principle "Model with others" attempts to involve project stakeholders suchas the client or customer in the Modeling process to attempt to bring the modelmore into line with the end user requirements.

Limitations:

There is significant dependence on personal communication and customercollaboration. Agile Modeling disciplines can be difficult to apply where there arelarge teams (in Agile methodologies 'large' is typically considered as anythingmore than around 8), team members are unable to share and collaborate onmodels, or modeling skills are weak or lacking. However, the emergence of cloudmodeling offerings that respect the tenets of Agile software development maysignificantly reduce or even eliminate most of these concerns.


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Agile Unified Process (AUP)

Agile Unified Process(AUP) is a simplified version of the IBM Rational UnifiedProcess (RUP) developed by Scott Ambler. It describes a simple, easy tounderstand approach to developing business application software using agiletechniques and concepts yet still remaining true to the RUP. The AUP appliesagile techniques including test driven development (TDD), Agile Modeling, agilechange management, and database refactoring to improve productivity.

Disciplines:

Unlike the RUP, the AUP has only seven disciplines:

1. Model. Understand the business of the organization, the problem domainbeing addressed by the project, and identify a viable solution to addressthe problem domain.

2. Implementation. Transform model(s) into executable code and performa basic level of testing, in particular unit testing.

3. Test. Perform an objective evaluation to ensure quality. This includesfinding defects, validating that the system works as designed, andverifying that the requirements are met.

4. Deployment. Plan for the delivery of the system and to execute the planto make the system available to end users.

5. Configuration Management. Manage access to project artifacts. Thisincludes not only tracking artifact versions over time but also controllingand managing changes to them.

6. Project Management. Direct the activities that take place within theproject. This includes managing risks, directing people (assigning tasks,tracking progress, etc.), and coordinating with people and systemsoutside the scope of the project to be sure that it is delivered on time andwithin budget.

7. Environment. Support the rest of the effort by ensuring that the properprocess, guidance (standards and guidelines), and tools (hardware,software, etc.) are available for the team as needed.

Philosophies:

The Agile UP is based on the following philosophies:

1. Your staff knows what they're doing. People are not going to readdetailed process documentation, but they will want some high-levelguidance and/or training from time to time. The AUP product provideslinks to many of the details, if you are interested, but doesn't force themupon you.

2. Simplicity. Everything is described concisely using a handful of pages,

not thousands of them.


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3. Agility. The Agile UP conforms to the values and principles of the agilesoftware development and the Agile Alliance.

4. Focus on high-value activities. The focus is on the activities whichactually count, not every possible thing that could happen to you on aproject.

5. Tool independence. You can use any toolset that you want with theAgile UP. The recommendation is that you use the tools which are bestsuited for the job, which are often simple tools.

6. You'll want to tailor the AUP to meet your own needs.

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM):

Dynamic systems development method(DSDM) is an agile project deliveryframework, primarily used as a software development method. DSDM wasoriginally based upon the rapid application development method. In 2007 DSDMbecame a generic approach to project management and solution delivery. DSDMis an iterative and incremental approach that embraces principles of Agiledevelopment, including continuous user/customer involvement.

DSDM fixes cost, quality and time at the outset and uses the MoSCoWprioritisation of scope into musts, shoulds, coulds and won't haves to adjust the

project deliverable to meet the stated time constraint. DSDM is one of a number


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of Agile methods for developing software and non-IT solutions, and it forms apart of the Agile Alliance.

The most recent version of DSDM, launched in 2007, is called DSDM Atern. Thename Atern is a shortening of Arctic Tern - a collaborative bird that can travelvast distances and epitomises many facets of the method which are natural waysof working e.g. prioritisation and collaboration.

The previous version of DSDM (released in May 2003) which is still widely usedand is still valid is DSDM 4.2 which is a slightly extended version of DSDMversion 4. The extended version contains guidance on how to use DSDM withExtreme Programming.

Principles:

There are eight principles underpinning DSDM Atern. These principles direct theteam in the attitude they must take and the mindset they must adopt in order todeliver consistently.


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1. Focus on the business need

The main criteria for acceptance of a "deliverable" is delivering a system thataddresses the current business needs. Delivering a perfect system whichaddresses all possible business needs is less important than focusing on criticalfunctionalities.

Understand the true business priorities Establish a sound Business Case Seek continuous business sponsorship and commitment Guarantee the Minimum Usable Subset of features.

2. Deliver on time

Timebox the work Focus on business priorities Always hit deadlines

3. Collaborate

User involvement is the main key in running an efficient and effective project,where both users and developers share a workplace (either physical or viatools), so that the decisions can be made collaboratively and quickly.

Involve the right stakeholders, at the right time, throughout the project Ensure that the members of the team are empowered to take decisions on

behalf of those they represent without waiting for higher-level approval. Actively involve the business representatives Build a one-team culture

4.Never compromise quality

Set the level of quality at the outset Ensure that quality does not become a variable Design, document and test appropriately Build in quality by constant review Test early and continuously.

5. Build incrementally from firm foundations

Strive for early delivery of business benefit where possible Continually confirm the correct solution is being built Formally re-assess priorities and ongoing project viability with each

delivered increment

6. Develop iteratively


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A focus on frequent delivery of products, with assumption that to deliversomething "good enough" earlier is always better than to deliver everything"perfectly" in the end. By delivering product frequently from an early stage ofthe project, the product can be tested and reviewed where the test record andreview document can be taken into account at the next iteration or phase.

Do enough design up front to create strong foundations Take an iterative approach to building all products Build customer feedback into each iteration to converge on an effective

business solution Accept that most detail emerges later rather than sooner Embrace change the right solution will not evolve without it Be creative, experiment, learn, evolve

7. Communicate continuously and clearly

Communication and cooperation among all project stakeholders is required to beefficient and effective.

Run daily team stand-up sessions Use facilitated workshops Use rich communication techniques such as modelling and prototyping Present iterations of the evolving solution early and often Keep documentation lean and timely Manage stakeholder expectations throughout the project Encourage informal, face to face communication at all levels

8. Demonstrate control

Use an appropriate level of formality for tracking and reporting Make plans and progress visible to all Measure progress through focus on delivery of products rather than

completed activities Manage proactively Evaluate continuing project viability based on the business objectives

Prerequisites for using DSDM

In order for DSDM to be a success, there are 9 instrumental factors which needto be met. If these cannot be met, it presents a risk to the Atern approach whichis not necessarily a show stopper but which does need to be managed. Theserisks are also highlighted by the Project Approach Questionnaire.

1. Acceptance of the Atern philosophy before starting work.2. Appropriate empowerment of the Solution Development Team.3. Commitment of senior business management to provide the necessary

Business Ambassador (and Business Advisor) involvement.

4. Incremental delivery


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5. Access by the Solution Development Team to business roles6. Solution Development Team stability.7. Solution Development Team skills.8. Solution Development Team size.9. A supportive commercial relationship.


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Essential Unified Process (EssUP):

The Essential Unified Process for software development, or EssUP, wasinvented by Ivar Jacobson as an improvement on the Rational Unified Process. Itidentifiespractices, such as use cases, iterative development, architecture drivendevelopment, team practices and process practices, which are borrowed fromRUP, CMMI and agile development. The idea is that you can pick those practicesthat are applicable to your situation and combine them into your own process.This is considered an improvement with respect to RUP, because with RUP thepractices are all intertwined and cannot be taken in isolation.

EssUP is supported by a set of playing cards, each card describing a practice.This is because Ivar Jacobson believes that people buy his books but few readthem.


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It is announced that EssUP will be supported both by the IBM Rational toolset,Eclipse and Microsoft's Visual Studio.

Extreme Programming (XP):

Extreme Programming (XP)is a software development methodology which isintended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customerrequirements. As a type of agile software development, it advocates frequent"releases" in short development cycles (timeboxing), which is intended toimprove productivity and introduce checkpoints where new customerrequirements can be adopted.

Other elements of extreme programming include: programming in pairs or doingextensive code review, unit testing of all code, avoiding programming of featuresuntil they are actually needed, a flat management structure, simplicity andclarity in code, expecting changes in the customer's requirements as time passesand the problem is better understood, and frequent communication with thecustomer and among programmers. The methodology takes its name from theidea that the beneficial elements of traditional software engineering practices aretaken to "extreme" levels, on the theory that if some is good, more is better.

Critics have noted several potential drawbacks, including problems with unstablerequirements, no documented compromises of user conflicts, and a lack of an

overall design specification or document.


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procedures, based on formal requirements and logical limits, before the softwarehas been written and integrated with the hardware. In XP, this concept is takento the extreme level by writing automated tests (perhaps inside of softwaremodules) which validate the operation of even small sections of software coding,rather than only testing the larger features. Some other XP practices, such asrefactoring, modularity, bottom-up design, and incremental design weredescribed by Leo Brodie in his book published in 1984.

Origins

Software development in the 1990s was shaped by two major influences:internally, object-oriented programming replaced procedural programming asthe programming paradigm favored by some in the industry; externally, the riseof the Internet and the dot-com boom emphasized speed-to-market and

company-growth as competitive business factors. Rapidly-changingrequirements demanded shorter product life-cycles, and were often incompatiblewith traditional methods of software development.

The Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System was started in order todetermine the best way to use object technologies, using the payroll systems atChrysler as the object of research, with Smalltalk as the language andGemStone as the data access layer. They brought in Kent Beck, a prominentSmalltalk practitioner, to do performance tuning on the system, but his roleexpanded as he noted several problems they were having with theirdevelopment process. He took this opportunity to propose and implement some

changes in their practices based on his work with his frequent collaborator, WardCunningham. Beck describes the early conception of the methods:

The first time I was asked to lead a team, I asked them to do a little bit of thethings I thought were sensible, like testing and reviews. The second time therewas a lot more on the line. I thought, "Damn the torpedoes, at least this willmake a good article," [and] asked the team to crank up all the knobs to 10 onthe things I thought were essential and leave out everything else.

Beck invited Ron Jeffries to the project to help develop and refine thesemethods. Jeffries thereafter acted as a coach to instill the practices as habits in

the C3 team.

Current state

XP created quite a buzz in the late 1990s and early 2000s, seeing adoption in anumber of environments radically different from its origins.

The high discipline required by the original practices often went by the wayside,causing some of these practices, such as those thought too rigid, to bedeprecated or reduced, or even left unfinished, on individual sites. For example,the practice of end-of-day integration tests, for a particular project, could be

changed to an end-of-week schedule, or simply reduced to mutually agreed


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give the customer feedback about the technical aspects of how the problemmight be solved, or cannot be solved. Communication between the customer andprogrammer is further addressed in the Planning Game.

Designing

From the point of view of simplicity, of course one could say that systemdevelopment doesn't need more than coding, testing and listening. If thoseactivities are performed well, the result should always be a system that works.In practice, this will not work. One can come a long way without designing but ata given time one will get stuck. The system becomes too complex and thedependencies within the system cease to be clear. One can avoid this bycreating a design structure that organizes the logic in the system. Good designwill avoid lots of dependencies within a system; this means that changing one

part of the system will not affect other parts of the system.

Values

Extreme Programming initially recognized four values in 1999. A new value wasadded in the second edition of Extreme Programming Explained. The five valuesare:

Communication

Building software systems requires communicating system requirements to thedevelopers of the system. In formal software development methodologies, thistask is accomplished through documentation. Extreme programming techniquescan be viewed as methods for rapidly building and disseminating institutionalknowledge among members of a development team. The goal is to give alldevelopers a shared view of the system which matches the view held by theusers of the system. To this end, extreme programming favors simple designs,common metaphors, collaboration of users and programmers, frequent verbalcommunication, and feedback.

Simplicity

Extreme Programming encourages starting with the simplest solution. Extrafunctionality can then be added later. The difference between this approach andmore conventional system development methods is the focus on designing andcoding for the needs of today instead of those of tomorrow, next week, or nextmonth. This is sometimes summed up as the "you ain't gonna need it" (YAGNI)approach.Proponents of XP acknowledge the disadvantage that this cansometimes entail more effort tomorrow to change the system; their claim is thatthis is more than compensated for by the advantage of not investing in possiblefuture requirements that might change before they become relevant. Coding anddesigning for uncertain future requirements implies the risk of spendingresources on something that might not be needed. Related to the

"communication" value, simplicity in design and coding should improve the


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quality of communication. A simple design with very simple code could be easilyunderstood by most programmers in the team.

Feedback

Within extreme programming, feedback relates to different dimensions of thesystem development:

Feedback from the system: by writing unit tests, or running periodicintegration tests, the programmers have direct feedback from the state ofthe system after implementing changes.

Feedback from the customer: The functional tests (aka acceptance tests)are written by the customer and the testers. They will get concretefeedback about the current state of their system. This review is plannedonce in every two or three weeks so the customer can easily steer thedevelopment.

Feedback from the team: When customers come up with newrequirements in the planning game the team directly gives an estimationof the time that it will take to implement.

Feedback is closely related to communication and simplicity. Flaws in the systemare easily communicated by writing a unit test that proves a certain piece ofcode will break. The direct feedback from the system tells programmers torecode this part. A customer is able to test the system periodically according tothe functional requirements, known as user stories.To quote Kent Beck,

"Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming. Feedback is thetreatment."

Courage

Several practices embody courage. One is the commandment to always designand code for today and not for tomorrow. This is an effort to avoid gettingbogged down in design and requiring a lot of effort to implement anything else.Courage enables developers to feel comfortable with refactoring their code whennecessary. This means reviewing the existing system and modifying it so thatfuture changes can be implemented more easily. Another example of courage is

knowing when to throw code away: courage to remove source code that isobsolete, no matter how much effort was used to create that source code. Also,courage means persistence: A programmer might be stuck on a complexproblem for an entire day, then solve the problem quickly the next day, if onlythey are persistent.

Respect

The respect value includes respect for others as well as self-respect.Programmers should never commit changes that break compilation, that makeexisting unit-tests fail, or that otherwise delay the work of their peers. Members


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respect their own work by always striving for high quality and seeking for thebest design for the solution at hand through refactoring.

Adopting the four earlier values leads to respect gained from others in the team.Nobody on the team should feel unappreciated or ignored. This ensures a highlevel of motivation and encourages loyalty toward the team and toward the goalof the project. This value is very dependent upon the other values, and is verymuch oriented toward people in a team.

Rules

The first version of rules for XP was published in 1999 by Don Wells at the XPwebsite. 29 rules are given in the categories of planning, managing, designing,coding, and testing. Planning, managing and designing are called out explicitly tocounter claims that XP doesn't support those activities.

Another version of XP rules was proposed by Ken Auer in XP/Agile Universe2003. He felt XP was defined by its rules, not its practices (which are subject tomore variation and ambiguity). He defined two categories: "Rules ofEngagement" which dictate the environment in which software development cantake place effectively, and "Rules of Play" which define the minute-by-minuteactivities and rules within the framework of the Rules of Engagement.

Principles

The principles that form the basis of XP are based on the values just describedand are intended to foster decisions in a system development project. Theprinciples are intended to be more concrete than the values and more easilytranslated to guidance in a practical situation.

Feedback

Extreme programming sees feedback as most useful if it is done rapidly andexpresses that the time between an action and its feedback is critical to learningand making changes. Unlike traditional system development methods, contactwith the customer occurs in more frequent iterations. The customer has clearinsight into the system that is being developed. He or she can give feedback andsteer the development as needed.

Unit tests also contribute to the rapid feedback principle. When writing code, theunit test provides direct feedback as to how the system reacts to the changesone has made. If, for instance, the changes affect a part of the system that isnot in the scope of the programmer who made them, that programmer will notnotice the flaw. There is a large chance that this bug will appear when thesystem is in production.


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Assuming simplicity

This is about treating every problem as if its solution were "extremely simple".Traditional system development methods say to plan for the future and to codefor reusability. Extreme programming rejects these ideas.

The advocates of extreme programming say that making big changes all at oncedoes not work. Extreme programming applies incremental changes: for example,a system might have small releases every three weeks. When many little stepsare made, the customer has more control over the development process and thesystem that is being developed.

Embracing change

The principle of embracing change is about not working against changes butembracing them. For instance, if at one of the iterative meetings it appears thatthe customer's requirements have changed dramatically, programmers are toembrace this and plan the new requirements for the next iteration.

Practices

Extreme programming has been described as having 12 practices, grouped intofour areas:

Fine scale feedback

Pair programming Planning game Test-driven development Whole team

Continuous process

Continuous integration Refactoring or design improvement Small releases

Shared understanding

Coding standards Collective code ownership Simple design System metaphor

Programmer welfare

Sustainable pace


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Development, and All That. JPMorgan Chase & Co. tried combining XP with thecomputer programming methodologies of Capability Maturity Model Integration(CMMI), and Six Sigma. They found that the three systems reinforced each otherwell, leading to better development, and did not mutually contradict.

Criticism

Extreme programming's initial buzz and controversial tenets, such as pairprogramming and continuous design, have attracted particular criticisms, suchas the ones coming from McBreen and Boehm and Turner. Many of thecriticisms, however, are believed by Agile practitioners to be misunderstandingsof agile development.

In particular, extreme programming is reviewed and critiqued by MattStephens's and Doug Rosenberg's Extreme Programming Refactored.

Criticisms include:

A methodology is only as effective as the people involved, Agile does notsolve this

Often used as a means to bleed money from customers through lack ofdefining a deliverable

Lack of structure and necessary documentation Only works with senior-level developers Incorporates insufficient software design Requires meetings at frequent intervals at enormous expense to

customers Requires too much cultural change to adopt Can lead to more difficult contractual negotiations Can be very inefficientif the requirements for one area of code change

through various iterations, the same programming may need to be doneseveral times over. Whereas if a plan were there to be followed, a singlearea of code is expected to be written once.

Impossible to develop realistic estimates of work effort needed to providea quote, because at the beginning of the project no one knows the entirescope/requirements

Can increase the risk of scope creep due to the lack of detailedrequirements documentation

Agile is feature driven; non-functional quality attributes are hard to beplaced as user stories


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Feature Driven Development (FDD):

Feature-driven development(FDD) is an iterative and incremental softwaredevelopment process. It is one of a number of Agile methods for developingsoftware and forms part of the Agile Alliance. FDD blends a number of industry-recognized best practices into a cohesive whole. These practices are all drivenfrom a client-valued functionality (feature) perspective. Its main purpose is todeliver tangible, working software repeatedly in a timely manner.

FDD is a model-driven short-iteration process that consists of five basicactivities. For accurate state reporting and keeping track of the softwaredevelopment project, milestones that mark the progress made on each featureare defined. This section gives a high level overview of the activities.

Activities

FDD describes five basic activities that are within the software developmentprocess. In the figure on the right the meta-process model for these activities isdisplayed. During the first three sequential activities an overall model shape isestablished. The final two activities are iterated for each feature. For moredetailed information about the individual sub-activities have a look at Table 2(derived from the process description in the Article section of Jeff De Luccaswebsite). The concepts involved in these activities are explained in Table 3.

Develop Overall Model

The project starts with a high-level walkthrough of the scope of the system andits context. Next, detailed domain walkthroughs are held for each modeling area.In support of each domain, walkthrough models are then composed by smallgroups which are presented for peer review and discussion. One of the proposed


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Table 1: Milestones

Domain

Walkthrough

DesignDesign

Inspection

CodeCode

Inspection

Promote To

Build1% 40% 3% 45% 10% 1%


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Best practices:

Feature-Driven Development is built around a core set of industry-recognizedbest practices, derived from software engineering. These practices are all drivenfrom a client-valued feature perspective. It is the combination of these practicesand techniques that makes FDD so compelling. The best practices that make upFDD are shortly described below. For each best practice a short description willbe given.

Domain Object Modeling. Domain Object Modeling consists ofexploring and explaining the domain of the problem to be solved. Theresulting domain object model provides an overall framework in whichto add features.

Developing by Feature. Any function that is too complex to be

implemented within two weeks is further decomposed into smallerfunctions until each sub-problem is small enough to be called afeature. This makes it easier to deliver correct functions and to extendor modify the system.

Individual Class (Code) Ownership. Individual class ownershipmeans that distinct pieces or grouping of code are assigned to a singleowner. The owner is responsible for the consistency, performance, andconceptual integrity of the class.

Feature Teams. A feature team is a small, dynamically formed teamthat develops a small activity. By doing so, multiple minds are alwaysapplied to each design decision and also multiple design options are

always evaluated before one is chosen. Inspections. Inspections are carried out to ensure good quality design

and code, primarily by detection of defects. Configuration Management. Configuration management helps with

identifying the source code for all features that have been completedto date and to maintain a history of changes to classes as featureteams enhance them.

Regular Builds. Regular builds ensure there is always an up to datesystem that can be demonstrated to the client and helps highlightingintegration errors of source code for the features early.

Visibility of progress and results. By frequent, appropriate, and

accurate progress reporting at all levels inside and outside the project,based on completed work, managers are helped at steering a projectcorrectly.


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Metamodel (MetaModeling):

Metamodeling helps visualizing both the processes and the data of a method,such that methods can be compared and method fragments in the methodengineering process can easily be reused. The advantage of the technique is thatit is clear, compact, and consistent with UML standards.

Open Unified Process (OpenUP):

The Open Unified Process(OpenUP) is a part of the Eclipse ProcessFramework (EPF), an open source process framework developed within the

Eclipse Foundation. Its goals are to make it easy to adopt the core of the RUP /Unified Process.

OpenUP preserves the essential characteristics of RUP / Unified Process, whichincludes incremental development, use cases and scenarios drivingdevelopment, risk management, and architecture-centric approach.

The most agile and lightweight form of OpenUP, OpenUP/Basic, targets smallerand co-located teams interested in agile and incremental development. Smallprojects constitute teams of three to six people and involve three to six monthsof development effort.


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Scrum:

Purpose of the Scrum

Scrum is a framework for developing and sustaining complex products. ThisGuide contains the definition of Scrum. This definition consists of Scrums roles,events, artifacts, and the rules that bind them together. Ken Schwaber and JeffSutherland developed Scrum; the Scrum Guide is written and provided by them.Together, they stand behind the Scrum Guide.

Scrum Overview

Scrum (n): A framework within which people can address complex adaptiveproblems

an analytic study on agile project management in synova inc

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