Dynamic Systems Development

Control Quality of Rapid Development

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is a proven framework for iterative project management and development, helping to deliver results quickly and effectively on initiatives of various magnitude.

Being a vendor, technique and tool independent approach, it can be used in any business and technical environment. There are eight principles underpinning the DSDM approach:

• Focus on Business Need — deliver what the business needs to be delivered, when it needs it.
• Deliver on Time — concentrate on meeting the deadlines to deliver an impactful solution.
• Collaborate — work in a spirit of active cooperation and commitment to exceed expectations.
• Maintain Quality — achieve the agreed level of quality on every iteration of the delivery.
• Build Incrementally — understand the scope, build a basic working model, then improve it.
• Develop Iteratively — include business feedback into each iteration and embrace change.
• Communicate Continuously — encourage informal, live communication and daily stand-ups.
• Demonstrate Control — use appropriate reporting and tracking to maintain confidence.

DSDM based development focuses on the following core techniques in order to shorten the delivery time:

• Time-boxing — split the project in portions, each with a fixed budget and a delivery date.
• Prioritizing — classify work items by their importance, as must, should, could or won't have.
• Prototyping — create prototypes of the system under development at early stage of the project.
• Workshops — bring project stakeholders together to discuss requirements and functionalities.

The most important factors that management needs to control are decision-making powers of developers, easy access to end-users, development team skills and development tools, among others.