Effective Software Project Management

Ensuring That a Linear SDPM Strategy Is Correct

The decision that a Linear SDPM strategy is the correct decision for the project is as much art as it is science. From the science perspective you must have all positive data supporting the decision. The first thing you want to think about is the requirements sign-off. Obviously you must have customer sign-off. Without that it is a done deal, and some other strategy should be chosen. With that sign-off you still might not be clear on the decision to adopt a Linear SDPM strategy. For example, if you got some pretty strong signals that the customer was a bit reluctant to sign off, you need to dig into that and try to find out the reasons. Suppose you do that and are comfortable with what you learned. You are still not ready to make the decision. The next step is to validate that the project will not be affected by any exogenous factors. Projects that involve building software for commercial purposes will be highly affected by changes in the business environment, such as actions by your competitors. For these projects you might want to give some strong consideration to another strategy. The Iterative or Adaptive strategies might be better choices. Erring on the side of adopting a more complex or uncertain strategy is always safe. Erring on the side of adopting a less complex or more certain strategy can have negative results. Projects that have an internal focus only are likely candidates for the Linear SDPM strategy. If you do choose ...