CHAPTER 11: Building Information System And Managing Projects

CASE STUDY 11: DST SYSTEMS SCORES WITH SCRUM AND APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

1.      What were some of the problems with DST System’s old software development environment

Some of the problems with DST System’s old software development environment are this development group had used a mixture of tools, processes, and source code control systems, without any unified repository for code or single developer tool set. Different groups within the organization used very different tools for software development, like Serena PVCS, Eclipse, or other sources code software packages. Processes were often manual and time consuming.  Managers were unable to easily determine how resources were being located, which of their employees were working on certain projects, and the status of specific assets. Its typical development schedule was to release a new version once every two years, but competitors were releasing version faster. DST knew that it needed a better method than the traditional “waterfall” method for designing, coding, testing, and integrating its products. In the waterfall model of software development, progression flows sequentially from one step to the next like a waterfall, with each step unable to start until the previous step has been completed. While DST had used this method with great success previously, DST began searching for viable alternatives.

2.      How did Scrum development help solve some of those problems?
DST tried Scrum with its existing software development tools and experienced strong results. The company accelerated its software development cycle from 24 to 6 months and developer productivity increased 20 percent, but Scrum didn’t work as well as DST had hoped with its existing tools. Processes broke down and the lack of standardization among the tools and processes used by DST prevented Scrum from providing its maximum benefit to the company. DST needed an application lifecycle management (ALM) product that would unify its software development environment. DST set up a project evaluation team to identify the right development environment for them. Key factors included cost-effectiveness, ease of adoption, and feature-effectiveness. DST wanted the ability to use the new software without significant training and software they could quickly adopt without jeopardizing AWD’s development cycle. After considering several ALM products and running test projects with each one, DST settled on CollabNet’s offering, Team Forge, for its ALM platform.

3.      What other adjustments did DST make to use Scrum more effectively in its software projects? What people, organization, and technology issues had to be addressed?
The CollabNet specializes in software designed to work well with agile software development methods such as Scrum. So from the article is DST adapted Collabnet’s subversion product to help with the management control of changes to project documents, programs, and other information stored as computer files. DST adaption of Collabnet because their products is so fast in only 10 weeks. The management organization and the technology Jerry Tubbs, The system development at DST system, says DST was successful in attempts to revamp the software group because some factors.1) looked for simplicity rather than complicated 2) Involved developers in the decision making process to ensure that change to be greeted enthusiastically 3) Allow for the developers to adopt ALM software on their own. Also the company was successful because they selected the right development framework as well as the right software to make that change a reality and skillfully managed the change process.