Collaborative software development
We believe that successful IT projects need business understanding and IT
expertise. We use facilitated workshops to dynamically bring together:
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Understanding of the business objectives.
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Understanding of how the business works.
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Understanding of IT systems and architecture, both software and hardware.
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Understanding of the latest tools and techniques.
Iterative software development
Talking about a piece of software is nothing like seeing, feeling and using a
piece of software.
We use prototyping as a tool for communication, understanding and
decision-making.
Prototypes go through three stages:
Prototypes are planned and reviewed in facilitated workshops.
It’s an iterative process – when a prototype is initially reviewed it usually
elicits comments such as, ‘I like that’, ‘I don’t like that’, ‘can we do this?’
The prototype is then refined and reviewed again.
Prototyping is ongoing throughout the project so that the business is seeing the
system develop and giving feedback right from the start of the project.
Having the right people involved in prototyping planning and reviewing ensures
that the project stays on track and remains focussed on the business
objectives.
As the final prototype for each part of the system is completed it forms part of
the final solution allowing progress to be tracked throughout the project.
Responsive Software Development
Responsive Software Development is very closely linked to Iterative Software
Development.
Traditionally change in a project has been seen as something to be feared and
avoided. Agile methodologies acknowledge that change is inevitable and so needs
to be managed.
Using an iterative prototyping approach to software development allows us to
show our clients the software as it is being built and so we can integrate
their feedback.
This has a number of benefits:
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It helps ensure that the developing system is a good fit for the business
objectives.
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It allows the developing system to reflect changes to business climate and
business needs.
Controlled Software Development
IT projects have a reputation for exceeding both timescales and budget. We use
DSDM and Prince 2 to ensure project control.
We use a number of techniques to control software development but in particular
these include:
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Prototyping. This ensures that the finished system is in line with the business
objectives. There is more information on this above in the Iterative and
Responsive Software Development Sections.
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Time boxing. A time box is a fixed length of time within which part of the
system will be developed. We break projects down into a number of time boxes.
This allows us to keep a close eye on how the project progress.
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Prioritisation. Ideas are endless resources are not. Prioritisation is a way of
ensuring that the resources available for a project are focussed appropriately.
The underlying question becomes, does this contribute to the business
objectives for this project and if it does how useful is it? The Moscow rules
are a useful way of prioritising:
Could have / could do without