Waterfall vs. Cyclical PM: Software development is a Creative Process
April 8, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Agile Project Management, Project Management Musings
Waterfall vs. Cyclical PM: Software development is a Creative Process (#19 in the Hut Project Management Handbook)
By Wouter Baars
To outsiders, software development appears to have more to do with engineering than it does with inventing. It does, however, correspond to inventing in a number of ways. In the process of invention, one never knows in advance precisely what is going to happen.
The designers and programmers who write new software must conceive of solutions for the problems that are set before them. Regardless of the many methods and prescriptions for work, writing programming code remains largely new and therefore largely uncertain. Programmers can choose their solutions out of millions of possibilities that are written in dozens of programming languages, and which operate according to thousands of hardware configurations and in dozens of software platforms. Although this freedom does offer a number of advantages, it also makes the project more difficult to manage than traditional projects (e.g. construction or building projects).
Next in the Hut Project Management Handbook:
Waterfall vs. Cyclical PM: Identifying Requirements Beforehand
Previously in the Hut Project Management Handbook:
Waterfall Versus Cyclical Project Management
Wouter Baars has a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Science. He has been a project manager for several years for The European commission, Waag Society, KPN (Dutch telecom provider) and many smaller organizations. He is specialized in creative projects such as serious game development, e-learning and software development. Currently he is teaching project management and coaching organizations that are working on their project management. More info on his work: www.projectmanagement-training.net.
Originally published by DANS – Data Archiving and Networked Services - The Hague
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