Over the years business intelligence, data warehouse and reporting projects have sometimes been associated with high costs and long development times. The reason for this is old methods of delivering projects i.e. using a top down design and build approach.
Fortunately times have changed and a more pragmatic option is now available i.e. Agile development. In brief the agile methodology advocates breaking down the work into smaller "chunks" e.g. 1 to 2 weeks. These small "chunks", known as sprints aim to deliver a complete working prototype which can then be presented to the end user for testing and feedback.
This approach allows users to provide more timely feedback and the developers can deliver projects in phases rather than in one big hit at the end. There are multiple benefits to this approach:
Techlogix consultants use this approach to help clients prioritise their request so we can deliver value to the business as soon as possible. Rather than developing the whole suite of reports upfront we will develop the most important reports and deliver those to you as well.
So next time you speak to one of our consultants ask them how this approach works so you can use it for all your other software projects to get value sooner and improve the likelihood of your projects succeeding.
Fortunately times have changed and a more pragmatic option is now available i.e. Agile development. In brief the agile methodology advocates breaking down the work into smaller "chunks" e.g. 1 to 2 weeks. These small "chunks", known as sprints aim to deliver a complete working prototype which can then be presented to the end user for testing and feedback.
This approach allows users to provide more timely feedback and the developers can deliver projects in phases rather than in one big hit at the end. There are multiple benefits to this approach:
- Users receive some functionality which is immediately useable. No more waiting for a big project after 2 years of waiting.
- Users are involved in setting priorities and therefore the most important features are delivered 1st.
- If there are financial constraints in the future and the project is abandoned half way then the users will have all the high priority items in working order and the investment up to that point is not lost.
- Problems are detected earlier on, solutions provided and user satisfaction is higher because users know what they will get and they can provide feedback from a very early stage.
- Budgets can also be approved in phases. This increases the likelihood of approval as each phase is assessed in its own right. Your CFO is more likely to approve a request for $10,000 or $15,000 at a time than one big request of $200,000.
Techlogix consultants use this approach to help clients prioritise their request so we can deliver value to the business as soon as possible. Rather than developing the whole suite of reports upfront we will develop the most important reports and deliver those to you as well.
So next time you speak to one of our consultants ask them how this approach works so you can use it for all your other software projects to get value sooner and improve the likelihood of your projects succeeding.