Statistics: (315 Views) (0 Comments) Posted by: admin on Sunday, March 02, 2008 Categories: SDLC, Process, and Methodologies, Agile Methods

This article, actually a compilation of three articles, provides proven advice for applying agile strategies on IBM® Rational® Unified Process®, or RUP®, teams. The articles are written by Mark Lines, Joshua Barnes, and Julian Holmes respectively, co-founders of Unified Process Mentors (www.upmentors.com). These three have mentored literally thousands of practitioners around the world on all aspects of software development, conducted dozens of conference presentations, authored many publications, sat on advisory boards, and chaired user groups. They work with organizations around the world to make process theory practical, driving success through structured change and leading by example.

My experience is that RUP, done right, is agile and that RUP encapsulates much of the advice needed to scale agile techniques successfully. The first article, Bringing Discipline to the Agile Lifecycle by Mark Lines, shows how RUP requirements management techniques and risk-driven lifecycle bring the level of discipline required in many organizations without losing the flexibility that is the hallmark of agile methods. He argues that you really don't want the requirements to change radically later in the lifecycle, and that a bit of up-front investment can radically reduce your cost, schedule, and overall project risk. The second article, Strategies for Bringing Agility to RUP by Joshua Barnes, approaches the software process challenge from the opposite direction. He suggests ways to improve your RUP-based process "in flight" -- many projects are started with fixed goals in mind and with rigid regulatory constraints placed upon them, yet once the team is partway through the project they realize that they can loosen up because the fixed goals aren't so fixed and the regulations aren't so rigid. The third article, Geographically Distributed Agile Teams: Enabling Individuals and Interactions with Processes and Tools by Julian Holmes, overviews strategies for improving collaboration within a distributed agile team. Achieving effective collaboration within a project team can be a difficult challenge for a co-located team, let alone a geographically distributed one. Julian provides advice for developing a collaborative team culture while still maintaining consistency of approach, delivery, and management of shared work products. 

Authors: Mark Lines, Joshua Barnes, Julian Holmes, Scott W. Ambler,