Effective Software Project Management

The Launching Phase of an Iterative SDPM Strategy

Figure 20-1 highlights the Launching Phase of an Iterative SDPM strategy.

Figure 20-1. The Launching Phase of an Iterative SDPM strategy

An Iterative SDPM strategy differs in principle from an Incremental SDPM strategy in one important way—in the Iterative SDPM strategy each iteration presents the customer with the complete solution. The Incremental SDPM strategy, on the other hand, presents the customer with a portion of the known solution at each increment. While scope change requests are the bane of the Linear or Incremental SDPM strategies, they are the fuel of the Iterative SDPM strategy. You face four tasks that must be done in the Launch Phase of an Iterative project that are not done or are done differently in the Launch Phase of a Linear or Incremental project. They are as follows:

• Processing scope change requests

• Handling solution handoffs

• Handling solution rollout

• Scheduling iterations

These are discussed in the subsections that follow.

Processing Scope Change Requests

The Iterative SDPM strategy is the first of three strategies covered in this book for which scope change requests are vital. The partial solution cannot evolve to a complete and acceptable solution in the absence of scope changes. Scope changes are the redirecting force that keeps the solution converging on the needs of the customer and of the business. ...