Welcome to the Silverpath Spotlight, an e-newsletter from Silverpath Technologies that discusses how to get more out of your testing efforts and highlights company news. If you have queries or article ideas, email us through our website.
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Upcoming Training Events
August 31, 2010 October 21, 2010 November 18, 2010 |
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Ensure an Effective Quality Program with Silverpath
“I originally engaged Trevor for help with a large and complex client software project years ago. The excellent results delivered then prompted me to seek him out again for a larger and more complex project this past year. Trevor is a complete, end-to-end subject matter expert..." Read More... Contact Us for more information on how this approach can be made to work for you. |
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Featurette: Using Agile Principles to Get an “A” With the Customer Every Time
By Trevor Atkins: Agile is a frequent topic in process improvement discussions and networking events alike – some going for Agile all the way and others rejecting it as something that won’t work for their projects or customers. In general, I have found that a significant degree of value can be added to an organization’s software development process and bottom-line through the application of the expressed intentions of the Agile approach. Consider: Principles behind the Agile Manifesto If one understands Agile as not a methodology or process but as a philosophical approach to trying to do better at something that has traditionally not worked as well as it could, substantial opportunity exists for improvement: "This year's results show a marked decrease in project success rates, with 32% of all projects succeeding which are delivered on time, on budget, with required features and functions, 44% were challenged which are late, over budget, and/or with less than the required features and functions and 24% failed which are cancelled prior to completion or delivered and never used.", Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group, CHAOS Summary 2009 – http://standishgroup.com/newsroom/chaos_2009.php This is not to say that using Agile will overcome all the challenges inherent in your development methodology, but rather that using each of the principles included in the Agile Manifesto to change your approach to planning and executing projects can get you significant “Quick Wins”. For example with the principle: “…satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software”:
This approach can bring all sorts of benefits in terms of lowering the Total Cost of Quality, but the one key performance indicator we shall make an observation on is the aspect of customer satisfaction.
By the time the Final Release is given to the customer for acceptance, the business should have already accepted and be ramped up on the previous releases. Therefore the project team already has an 80% acceptance rating going into this last cycle. It may be a little light-hearted to look at this outcome as similar to entering the final exam with an “A” already guaranteed, but fundamentally the team has reached the end of the project proving with each release that they are in synch with the customer’s needs and are delivering the solution that fits that need. Good grades aren’t everything when looking for a successful project, but without a happy customer…
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About Silverpath Technologies
Silverpath Technologies provides results-centric consulting and training services targeted at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of quality and testing activities across the software development lifecycle through the application or modification of processes, techniques and tools. For more information, visit http://www.silverpath.com. |
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