Agile Software Development
Lifecycle and Process Workflow

There isn’t a single methodology that you can apply across all projects. However, many teams are moving toward an adaptive methodology, such as Agile, and moving away from the predictive, A project manager spends time negotiating milestones, features, resources, working at length in the planning stages of a project, usually developing a full-blown project plan that details how the work will be moved through many gates to completion. Customers finalize requirements before development begins and then a lengthy development process occurs, with the project manager tracking every movement of the project through each handoff and finally on to delivery. If everything goes well, this process produces an on-time, on-budget release. The chief drawbacks to this approach are well-documented: it is not responsive to change and it takes a long time to deliver working software. When technology forms the field of play and drives every change, a six month (or longer) release cycle, with requirements chiseled in stone, does not meet the business need.

The Agile Process Flow

Agile lifecycle model within the enterprise. In any enterprise there may be projects operating simultaneously, multiple sprints/iterations being logged on different product lines, and a variety of customers, both external and internal, with a range of business needs.

  • Concept - Projects are envisioned and prioritized
  • Inception - Team members are identified, funding is put in place, and initial environments and requirements are discussed
  • Iteration/Construction - The development team works to deliver working software based on iteration requirements and feedback
  • Release - QA (Quality Assurance) testing, internal and external training, documentation development, and final release of the iteration into production
  • Production - Ongoing support of the software
  • Retirement - End-of-life activities, including customer notification and migration
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