Tag: communications

CASE STUDY: VA Software
Agile development methodologies aren't one-size-fits-all. Independent software vendors (ISVs) have unique needs-external customers, aggressive release dates and competitive pressures-that require tailoring software development methodologies that work well in corporate IT settings. Faced with a major new project and bogged down by a big design up-front process, VA Software adapted Extreme Programming (XP) to help build the latest versions of SourceForge® Enterprise Edition (SFEE).

---

Achieving Agility in Globally Distributed Software Development
In today's business climate there exists an ever-increasing demand to achieve more from less. More return from less investment, faster time to market from shrinking resources, higher quality from collapsing timelines. The impact of these pressures on the software development industry has meant that organizations have had to look for new avenues such as offshore development to reduce costs yet still satisfy these increasing demands. Simply incorporating an offshore development strategy to realize lower costs is not a solution. Leveraging the lower cost and resource scalability that an offshore development strategy provides must also include the facilities to enable that capability to produce better results faster.

---

An Agile Approach To Managing Distributed Development
Traditional approaches to distributed development impair flexibility: they don't expose what's actually happening on the ground in different locations, they lack common and effective communication channels, and they substitute "hope" for "managed process" when reconciling work. Distributed development should be as responsive to change as co-located teams.  A program managing distributed development requires behaviors that engender agility.  Three contributing factors are release cadence, transparency of activity, and lightweight communications.

---

CASE STUDY: Learning.com

Portland, Oregon-based Learning.com is a fast-growing software company providing online services to students and teachers to help integrate computer technology and education into their curricula. With a user base of over 30,000 teachers and over 1.5 million students accessing its subscription-based hosted products, Learning.com must continue to innovate and meet market needs while continuing to provide robust and scalable products.

---