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Two Basic Types of High-Technology Life Cycle Models
August 3, 2008 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Agile Project Management, Project Lifecycle Phases, SCRUM
Two Basic Types of High-Technology Life Cycle Models
By Dr.Russell Archibald
There are two basic types of life cycle models for what can be termed ‘hightechnology’ project categories: Predictive and Adaptive.
Predictive life cycle models “favor optimization over adaptability” (Desaulniers and Anderson 2002) and include:
- Waterfall (also known as traditional and top-down): linear ordering of the phases, which can be strictly sequential or overlapping to some extent; no phase is normally repeated.
- Prototyping: functional requirements and physical design specifications are generated simultaneously.
- Rapid Application Development (RAD): based on an evolving prototype that is not thrown away.
- Incremental Build: decomposition of a large development effort into a succession of smaller components.
- Spiral: repetition of the same set of life-cycle phases such as plan, develop, build, and evaluate until development is complete.
Adaptive life cycle models “accept and embrace change during the development process and resist detailed planning” (Desaulniers and Anderson 2002) and include:
- Adaptive Software Development/ASD: Mission driven, component based, iterative cycles, time boxed cycles, risk-driven, and change-tolerant.
- Extreme Programming/XP: Teams of developers, managers, and users; programming done in pairs; iterative process, collective code ownership.
- SCRUM: Similar to above adaptive life cycle models with iterations called “sprints” that typically last 30 days with defined functionality to be achieved in each sprint; active management role throughout.
- Agile Software Development Models: These adaptive models are also referred to as “agile” life cycle models (Bullock 2003). In 2001 the “Agile Software Development Manifesto” was issued by a group of seventeen representatives of these adaptive life cycle model users, and this movement has gained considerable momentum in the IT industry.
Project Environment Impact on the Life Cycle Model: Design and adaptation of the life cycle model for each project category or subcategory must reflect the important characteristics of the project environment. “The organizational characteristics, the degree of familiarity with the technology to be used, and the competitive demands for initiating the project are just some of the environmental factors that can vary from project to project” (Desaulniers and Anderson 2002.)
Dr. Russell D. Archibald, PhD (Hon), MSc, Fellow PMI and APM/IPMA, PMP, is one of the six founding members of the Project Management Institute. Now semi-retired, he has many years of management experience in engineering and operations with a variety of major US corporations in Europe and South America as well as the US. He has made major contributions to the understanding of project management, is author of the best selling 2003 book “Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects” (published also in Russian, Chinese, and Italian), has trained more than a thousand program and project managers and project specialists around the world, and has consulted in project management to clients in 14 countries on 4 continents. E-mail: russell_archibald@yahoo.com. Website: www.russarchibald.com.
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