Development Methodologies, Managing the Technology
However, when it comes to discussing Development Methodologies, i.e. management of the technology including information technology and software development in particular, there are indeed numerous methodologies, and in Chapter 4 Jason discusses eighteen of them. Based on Jason's comments and sources on this web site, the suitability of each to the task at hand may be summarized as shown in Figure 1. For convenience, Figure 1 includes the project management methodologies identified in the previous section and also includes classic building construction by way of comparison.
Description |
Suited to
control of: |
Phases |
Project
Size |
Comments |
|
S
|
Q
|
T
|
$
|
| Project Management Frameworks Methodologies |
| Rational Unified Process |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
M, L |
1, 2, 3, 4 |
| PRINCE2 |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
| System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) |
Y |
Y |
N |
? |
Y |
S, M, L |
3, 4, 6 |
| Solutions-based Project Methodology |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
S, M |
3, 5 |
| TenStep |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
S, M |
5 |
| Technology Development Management Methodologies |
| The "Agile" Group: |
| Extreme Programming (XP) |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
S, M |
5 |
| Scrum |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
S, M |
5 |
| Crystal |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
S, M |
5, 7 |
| Dynamic Sys. Development (DSDM) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
? |
Y |
S, M |
5 |
| Rapid Applications Development (RAD) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
? |
Y |
M, L |
5 |
| Unicycle |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
S, M, L |
4 |
| Code-and-fix Approach |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
S |
7 |
| V-methodology |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
| Waterfall |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
M, L |
4, 6 |
| Open Source |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
S, M |
5 |
| Spiral |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
| Synchronize and Stabilize |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
M, L |
|
| Reverse Engineering Development |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
| General Publication Methodology |
Y |
Y |
N |
? |
Y |
M |
4, 8 |
| Structured System Analysis & Design |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
| Pramis |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
| Offshore Development |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
L |
4 |
| General Drug Development |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
L |
4 |
| Classic Building Construction |
Y |
? |
Y |
Y |
Y |
M, L |
4 |
Comments:
S = Scope; Q = Quality; T = Time & $ = Cost
- Y, N, ?: Yes, No, Undetermined
- S, M, L: Small, Medium or Large projects
- Arguably an IT/software development methodology, i.e. belongs under Technology Management
- High management ceremony
- Low management ceremony
- Classic "waterfall" sequence
- Not suited to virtual teams
- For book and periodical publishing
Figure 1: Comparison of various methodologies from a project management perspective
Jason observes that:
"Some project methodologies focus purely on the technology itself, while others focus more on a generic project management approach. You must carefully consider the methodology to use based on the organizational requirements."[12]
He also draws attention to what he calls "Light" and "Heavy" methodologies, meaning those with little or no ceremony and those with considerable ceremony (as noted in Figure 1 above), necessitated by the project's complexity. As he says:
Because project size and complexity affect the type of methodology to be selected, it is crucial that project managers determine the lay of the land first. Figure [2 below] is a selection matrix, which shows the different sizes (i.e., small, medium, or large) of projects you may encounter. This matrix serves as a useful guide to the type of methodology you should employ for your project. Selecting the wrong methodology for your project could be disastrous." [emphasis added][13]
Amen to that! Hence, Figure 2 serves as a very useful chart.
Figure 2: Charvat's matrix for selecting light or heavy methodology
12. Ibid, abstracted from pp54-55
13. Ibid, p168
|
The
Importance of the Right Methodology
