AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

SDLC

Agile Project Management

PROJ1-CE8642

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1.

2.

3.

Define the traditional systems

development life cycle (SDLC) and
describe the 7 major phases within
it.
Compare and contrast the various
component-based development
methodologies.
Describe the self sourcing process
as an alternative to the traditional
SDLC.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

4.

5.

Discuss the importance of

prototyping and prototyping within
any systems development
methodology
Describe the outsourcing
environment and how outsourcing
works.

CAMERAS USE FILM?

CAMERAS USE FILM?

The preceding slide Kodak 35mm

film sales dropped from $7 billion in
2004 to an estimated $1.9 billion in
2010
Many retailers no longer process
35mm film
Web sites like SnapFish, Photo
Bucket, and Flickr are now the norm

CAMERAS USE FILM?

1.

2.

3.

Do you own a 35mm camera? Last

time you had 35mm film
processed?
Will smartphones spell the end of
digital cameras?
Do you know someone who owns a
35mm camera? What do they use
it for?

INTRODUCTION

Information systems are the support

structure for meeting the companys
strategies and goals
New systems are created because
employees request them
New systems are created to obtain a
competitive advantage

INTRODUCTION

When developing a new system, you

have 3 who choices
1.

2.

3.

Insourcing IT specialists inside

your organization
Selfsourcing do-it-yourself
approach many end users take with
little or no help from IT specialists
Outsourcing a third-party
organization (i.e., let someone do the
work and pay them for it)

INSOURCING AND THE SDLC

Systems development life cycle

(SDLC) - a structured step-by-step
approach for developing
information systems
7 distinct phases
Also called a waterfall
methodology, an approach in
which each phase of the SDLC is
followed by another, from planning
through implementation

SDLC Phases & Major

Activities

SDLC as a Waterfall
Methodology

Phase 1: Planning

Planning phase - create a solid

plan for developing your
information system
Three primary planning activities:
1.

Define the system to be developed

You cant build every system, so you

make choices based on your
organizations priorities, which may be
expressed as critical success factors
Critical success factor (CSF) - a
factor simply critical to your
organizations success

Phase 1: Planning
2.

Set the project scope

Project scope - clearly defines the

high-level system requirements
Scope creep - occurs when the scope
of the project increases
Feature creep - occurs when
developers add extra features that were
not part of the initial requirements
Project scope document - a written
definition of the project scope and is
usually no longer than a paragraph

Phase 1: Planning
3.

Develop the project plan including

tasks, resources, and timeframes

Project plan - defines the what, when,

and who questions of system
development
Project manager - an individual who
is an expert in project planning and
management, defines and develops the
project plan and tracks the plan to
ensure all key project milestones are
completed on time
Project milestones - represent key
dates for which you need a certain
group of activities performed

Phase 1: Planning

Sample Project
Plan

Phase 2: Analysis

Analysis phase - involves end

users and IT specialists working
together to gather, understand, and
document the business
requirements for the proposed
system

Phase 2: Analysis

Two primary analysis activities:

1.

Gather the business requirements

Business requirements - the detailed

set of knowledge worker requests that
the system must meet in order to be
successful
Business requirements address the
why and what of your development
activities
Joint application development (JAD)
- knowledge workers and IT specialists
meet, sometimes for several days, to
define or review the business
requirements for the system

Phase 2: Analysis
2.

Prioritize the requirements

Requirements definition document

prioritizes the business requirements
and places them in a formal
comprehensive document
Again, you probably cant do
everything, so prioritizing is important
Users sign off on this document which
clearly sets the scope for the project

Phase 2: Analysis

Take time during analysis to get the business requirements correct. If you find
errors, fix them immediately. The cost to fix an error in the early stages of the
SDLC is relatively small. In later stages, the cost is huge.

Phase 3: Design

Design phase - build a technical

blueprint of how the proposed
system will work
Two primary design activities:
1.

Design the technical architecture

Technical architecture - defines the

hardware, software, and
telecommunications equipment
required to run the system

Phase 3: Design
2.

Design system models

This includes GUI screens that users will

interface with, database designs (see
XLM/C), report formats, software steps,
etc

Starting with design, you take on

less of an active participation role
and act more as a quality control
function, ensuring that the IT
people are designing a system to
meet your needs

Phase 4: Development

Development phase - take all of

your detailed design documents
from the design phase and
transform them into an actual
system
Two primary development
activities:
1.
2.

Build the technical architecture

Build the database and programs

Both of these activities are mostly

performed by IT specialists

Phase 5: Testing

Testing phase - verifies that the

system works and meets all of the
business requirements defined in
the analysis phase
Two primary testing activities:
1.

Write the test conditions

Test conditions - the detailed steps

the system must perform along with the
expected results of each step

Phase 5: Testing
2.

Perform the testing of the system

Unit testing tests individual units of

code
System testing verifies that the units
of code function correctly when
integrated
Integration testing verifies that
separate systems work together
User acceptance testing (UAT)
determines if the system satisfies the
business requirements

Phase 6: Implementation

Implementation phase distribute the system to all of the

knowledge workers and they begin
using the system to perform their
everyday jobs
Two primary implementation
activities
1.

Write detailed user documentation

User documentation - highlights how

to use the system

Phase 6: Implementation
2.

Provide training for the system users

Online training - runs over the

Internet or off a CD-ROM
Workshop training - is held in a
classroom environment and lead by an
instructor

Phase 6: Implementation

Choose the right implementation

method

Parallel implementation use both

the old and new system
simultaneously
Plunge implementation discard
the old system completely and use the
new
Pilot implementation start with
small groups of people on the new
system and gradually add more users
Phased implementation
implement the new system in phases

Phase 7: Maintenance

Maintenance phase - monitor

and support the new system to
ensure it continues to meet the
business goals
Two primary maintenance
activities:
1.

Build a help desk to support the

system users

2.

Help desk - a group of people who

responds to knowledge workers
questions

Provide an environment to support

COMPONENT-BASED
DEVELOPMENT

The SDLC focuses only on the

project at hand
Component-based development
(CBD) focuses on building small
self-contained blocks of code
(components) that can be reused
across a variety of applications
1.

2.

Using already-developed
components
Building new components as needed

Component-Based Development
Methodologies

Rapid application development

(RAD)
Extreme programming (XP)
Agile methodology

Rapid Application Development

(RAD)

Rapid application development

(RAD) (also called rapid prototyping) emphasizes extensive user involvement
in the rapid and evolutionary
construction of working prototypes of a
system to accelerate systems
development

Prototypes are models of software

The development team continually designs,
develops, and tests the component
prototypes until they are finished

Rapid Application Development

(RAD)

Build new
software
components

Use alreadyexisting
software
components

Extreme Programming (XP)

Extreme programming (XP) - breaks

a project into tiny phases and
developers cannot continue on to the
next phase until the first phase is
complete

Agile Methodology

Agile methodology - a form of XP,

aims for customer satisfaction
through early and continuous
delivery of useful software
components

SoA An Architecture
Perspective

Service-oriented architecture
(SoA) perspective that focuses on
the development, use, and reuse of
small self-contained blocks of code
(called services) to meet all
application software needs

All CBD methodologies adhere to an

SoA
Services are the same as components,
which are the same as small selfcontained blocks of code

SELFSOURCING

Selfsourcing (end-user
development) the development
and support of IT systems by end
users with little or no help from IT
specialists
Do-it-yourself systems
development approach
Can relieve IT specialists of the
burden of developing many smaller
systems

Selfsourcing Approach

Is similar to traditional SDLC

Big exception is that design,
development, testing, and
implementation are replaced by the
process of prototyping
Prototyping is the process of
building models, and in this case
continually refining those models
until they become the final system

Selfsourcing Approach

Selfsourcing Advantages

Improves requirements
determination
Increases end user participation and
sense of ownership
Increases speed of development
Reduces invisible backlog

Invisible backlog list of all systems

that an organization needs to develop
but never get funded because of the
lack of organizational resources

Selfsourcing Disadvantages

Inadequate end user expertise leads

to inadequately developed systems
Lack of organizational focus creates
privatized IT systems
Insufficient analysis of design
alternatives leads to subpar IT
systems
Lack of documentation and external
support leads to short-lived systems

The Right Tool for the Job

End users must have development

tools that:

Are easy to use

Support multiple platforms
Offer low cost of ownership
Support a wide range of data types

PROTOTYPING

Prototype a model of a proposed

product, service, or system
Prototyping - the process of building a
model that demonstrates the features of
a proposed product, service, or system

Proof-of-concept prototype - prove the

technical feasibility of a proposed system
Selling prototype - used to convince
people of the worth of a proposed system

The Prototyping Process

The prototyping process involves

four steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Identify basic requirements

Develop initial prototype
User review
Revise and enhance the prototype

The Prototyping Process

Advantages of Prototyping

Encourages active user

participation
Helps resolve discrepancies among
users
Gives users a feel for the final
system
Helps determine technical
feasibility
Helps sell the idea of a proposed
system

Disadvantages of
Prototyping

Leads people to believe the final

system will follow.
Gives no indication of performance
under operational conditions.
Leads the project team to forgo
proper testing and documentation.

OUTSOURCING

Outsourcing the delegation of

specified work to a third party for a
specified length of time, at a
specified cost, and at a specified
level of service
The third who option of systems
development, after insourcing and
selfsourcing

OUTSOURCING

The main reasons behind the rapid

growth of the outsourcing industry
include the following:

Globalization
The Internet
Growing economy and low
unemployment rate
Technology
Deregulation

Outsourcing Options

IT outsourcing for software

development can take one of four
forms:
1.
2.

3.

4.

Purchase existing software

Purchase existing software and pay the
publisher to make certain modifications
Purchase existing software and pay the
publisher for the right to make
modifications yourself
Outsource the development of an entirely
new and unique system for which no

Outsourcing Options

Outsourcing Process

Like selfsourcing, the selfsourcing

process looks similar to the
traditional SDLC
Big exception here is that you
outsource most of the work to
another company

Outsourcing Process

When outsourcing, youll develop two vitally

important documents a request for proposal and a
service level agreement

Outsourcing RFP

Request for proposal (RFP) formal

document that describes in excruciating
detail your logical requirements for a
proposed system and invites outsourcing
organizations to submit bids for its
development

In outsourcing, you must tell another

organization what you want developed; you do
that with an RFP
Therefore, the RFP must be very detailed
Some RFPs can take years to develop

Outsourcing SLA

Service level agreement (SLA) formal contractually obligated agreement

between two parties

In outsourcing, it is the legal agreement

between you and the vendor and specifically
identifies what the vendor is going to do
(and by when) and how much youre going
to pay
Supporting SLA documents service level
specifications and service level
objectives contain very detailed numbers
and metrics

Outsourcing Options

There are three different forms of

outsourcing:
1.

2.

3.

Onshore outsourcing - the process of

engaging another company within the
same country for services
Nearshore outsourcing - contracting an
outsourcing arrangement with a company
in a nearby country
Offshore outsourcing - contracting with
a company that is geographically far away

Offshore Outsourcing

Primary outsourcing countries are:

India
China
Eastern Europe (including Russia)
Ireland
Israel
Philippines

The Advantages and

Disadvantages of
Outsourcing

Advantages:

Focus on unique core competencies

Exploit the intellect of another
organization
Better predict future costs
Acquire leading-edge technology
Reduce costs
Improve performance accountability

The Advantages and

Disadvantages of
Outsourcing

Disadvantages:

Reduces technical know-how for future

innovation
Reduces degree of control
Increases vulnerability of your
strategic information
Increases dependency on other
organizations