Agile project management methods is useful in the fields of software development, in particular, because it quickly enables teams to respond to the certain situations or problems in the development of a project through incremental, iterative flow of work known as sprints[1]. There is a number of Agile Methods in project management such as SCRUM, Object Oriented Programming, and Extreme Programming but the team will choose to discuss about the Rapid Application Development (RAD) method.
Rapid Application Development is a development process to suit the needs of having to develop a system fast[2]. RAD is useful when developing certain systems under a tight schedule. Because it uses minimal planning and in favors more prototyping, developers can work on their system and at the same time, the planning and revising takes place. It would then be easier for developers to work around changing requirements.
In PMBOK or the Project Management Body of Knowledge, the guidelines are composed of 44 process groups that fall in the Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Monitoring and the Closing. These guidelines are followed because it follows standard practices that have been accepted and is a part of project management around the world. PMBOK guides new and potential project managers to agree on project ideas that most people can agree on thus providing him with a guideline to the accepted norm when managing his projects[3].
With RAD's prototyping entwined with its planning, guidelines set by the PMBOK are generally followed. Developers do need to have at least a minimal plan and a set of requirements followed by a prototype. The prototype does not need to be perfect and will have to be revised and refined eventually leading developers to a cycle from planning, revising and verifying their prototypes. In these cycles, the refinement of the prototype results in the development of the system eventually leading to a finished system. Again, the PMBOK guide is followed allowing project managers to work in cycles from Initiating to closing. Changing requirements is easy to go around with when using RAD because the planning of the project is along with the revising thus making more room for changes. RAD also makes it possible for project managers to build systems more quickly than conventional water-fall development process giving them more time to create a working system with prototypes rather than ending up with a plan. RAD is great for quickly making systems but it compromises functionality and performance because of the lack of time in the planning and the requirements gathering. It is more faster to develop systems in RAD because developers needs to have a minimal plan to begin with. Work begins as soon as requirements are given and no ample time is given in planning thus compromising performance with the speed of development. RAD demands more teamwork and commitment to the project and the success of the project depends on teams to do their duties well. The team needs to work around changed requirements using exceptional technical skills and know-how of the project.
References:
1. Agile Methodology, Development Methodologies
What Is Agile Methodology? 23 October 2008. 30 November 2009 <http://agilemethodology.org/>.
2. RAD - Rapid Application Development Process. 30 November 2009 <http://www.gantthead.com/content/processes/11306.cfm>.
3. Project Management Body of Knowledge: What is PMBOK and how can it Benefit a Manager? 22 September 2009. 30 November 2009 <http://business-project-management.suite101.com/article.cfm/project_management_body_of_knowledge>.
No comments:
Post a Comment