Method123

Most people understand that the days of the five-year, monolithic project are over - and have been for some time. The better approach is to break large projects into a set of smaller, easier to manage projects. Short projects are easier to manage than large projects. There are fewer things that can go wrong, fewer people involved, less time for scope changes, etc. Characteristics of Agile Iterations The Agile model takes this to an extreme by stating that even the days of the six-month development cycle is over, as is the three-month cycle and maybe even the one-month cycle. Partial solutions should be up and running in a very short time, with very short iterative cycles designed to deliver working code that is built up to a final solution. Implement Complete Functionality Agile iterations implement complete functionality for a set of selected customer requirements. This includes the complete mini-lifecycle of analysis, design, construct, test and implementation. The selected functiona...

For many years, those were your choices. But now there is a different choice for IT development - Agile.  Calling them methodologies is probably too broad a word. It might be better to refer to them as approaches for doing development, or even philosophies. There are four general beliefs that light methodologies have in common. Develop in short cycles. Agile "sprints" usually take no more than 30 days each - or shorter. Partial solutions should be up and running in a very short time, with very tight iterative cycles designed to deliver continually working code that is built up to a final solution. Value the people. People should be valued and treated with respect. Managers should trust them to do a good job and get out of the way. Agile teams work on a challenging but steady pace that can theoretically be sustained indefinitely. Involve the client. If you are going to achieve the rapid results, the client must be an integral part of the project team. In fact, they should b...