Effective Software Project Management

The Planning Phase of an Iterative SDPM Strategy for the Rational Unified Process Model

Figure 19-4 is the Planning Phase of the Incremental SDPM strategy for the Rational Unified Process model.

Figure 19-4. Planning Phase of an Iterative SDPM strategy for the Rational Unified Process model

There are two levels of plan that need to be constructed for the Iterative SDPM strategy for the Rational Unified Process model.

• An overall plan, a high-level phase plan that covers all iterations

• A low-level iteration plan that looks inside each iteration

The overall plan is done once at the beginning of the project as part of the initial requirements gathering phase. The iteration plan is done right after the completion of the requirements gathering phase in each iteration.

Overall Plan

The overall plan is a brief description of the framework of the project. It specifies the duration and number of iterations, how to choose the deliverables for each iteration, and how to track project performance (all of which are described in the following subsections). The best time to prepare this plan is at the end of the initial requirements gathering phase.

Iteration Duration and Number

For most cases, an iteration will last from 2–6 weeks. As project size and team size increase, the length of an iteration also increases. The important thing to keep in mind is to maintain the meaningful involvement ...