Freezing The Specification

How To Hit A Moving Target

When time to market and windows of opportunity are key driving forces behind fast development, and where functionality just can't be frozen, moving targets make it increasingly difficult to develop software – let alone keep to a tight deadline. Atrial Systems have developed an alternative, using their Dynamic Development technique.

In the fast moving world of IT, it can be hard enough keeping up with the changes, let alone being the one to make them. Fast competitive reactions and innovative developments often make time to market a key driving force in rapid development. It is for this type of environment that Atrial developed its Dynamic Development process.

The motivation behind Dynamic Development is to address key issues in the creation of rapid development products :–

• How to negotiate a contract on a product that is yet to be fully defined
• How to develop a system to a deadline where the product is continually evolving
• How to keep the impact and cost of the additional functionality to a minimum
• How to develop a relationship conducive to flexibility

An example case study shows how this system was used.

An existing Atrial client required resources to develop the web-based configuration screens and functionality of a new product. The development took place using HTML, Javascript, Perl and a proprietary scripting language that Atrial had already gained experience of on previous projects with the client.

The functionality required was partially specified but it was made clear that this was subject to change as the specification of the product was refined. However due to the critical time to market window it would not be possible to wait for all the functionality to be defined.

The timescales were defined, and the companies tendering for the work were required to make bids, despite the vagueness of the definition of functionality.

Atrial put forward a solution that was deemed to be flexible enough to cope with the scope of changes. Due to the relationship with the customer it was possible to put a dynamic contract in place that promoted flexibility.

A profiled team was assembled to meet the client's demands. Each team member’s selection was based on their experience and the project requirements. The team included experienced developers, specialist test engineers and a project manager.

During the course of the project the scope of development more than doubled in size and involved numerous reworks as the requirements changed, however Atrial were able to contain the costs and keep the impact of the changes to a minimum.

The product has just been launched.