With the beginning of a successful transition in mind, here are a few ideas on using Agile in a legacy development environment.

Slowly Begin a Cultural Shift

Agile brings with it new terminology, principles and practices. Consider introducing the methodology with a smaller project, like a relatively minor enhancement to a legacy system or a new application of limited scope. This helps your team get used to the concepts and procedures of Agile without much risk to your daily operations.

Hiring someone experienced with Agile to serve as project manager or Scrum Master is a smart strategy for a pilot project, as their familiarity can help ensure everyone understands the methodology. This can be on either a temporary or permanent basis.

Project Manager Training Is Vital

Your project managers are key as Agile is introduced to other systems and departments at your organization. You either need to hire additional PM talent experienced in Agile and Scrum or give your current management staff the training to become successful proponents and practitioners of the methodology. Having your current project managers observe any pilot projects also helps introduce them to these newer concepts.

Although some traditional PM skills also apply to Agile, there are enough differences to warrant a training initiative or a succession of smaller, low-risk pilot projects to expose your managers and development team to this new way of building applications.

Analyze What Existing Systems Would Benefit from Agile

An analysis of your existing systems and overall environment is another necessary step in transitioning your shop to Agile or Scrum. Remember, Agile is a management process – not a technology – so even maintenance or enhancements on legacy COBOL systems would benefit from an upgrade in methodology.

In an increasingly fast-paced modern business world, improved efficiency and productivity play a huge role in the ultimate success of any organization. “Going Agile” helps make sure your company stays in the game!

Work with a Leader in Software Solutions

When you need additional insights on modern application development, talk to the experts at SDE USA. As one of the leading co-sourcing organizations in the business world, we can help your software project be a success. Schedule some time with us at your earliest convenience.

With an eye towards a better understanding of the role and its duties, here is a closer look at the Scrum Master.

The Glue that Holds a Scrum Project Together

As noted earlier, a Scrum Master shares some of the responsibilities as a project manager in a typical technology initiative. Development teams in an Agile project, on the other hand, largely manage their own assignments; they are essentially self-organizing. While the Scrum Master shares a measure of responsibility for the success of a project with the product owner, that latter person ultimately has more authority.

So what does a Scrum Master actually do during their workday? In short, they serve as the glue that holds the entire project together. Anything from leadership to inspiration and administration is part of their daily routine.

Typical Duties of a Scrum Master

Scrum Masters may not actively participate in daily Scrum meetings, but they handle all the legwork to facilitate those standups, including scheduling and notification. Helping the development team manage their burndown chart is another important duty. They also assist the team with the planning of each sprint, sometimes with input from the product owner.

Serving as a communication buffer for the team ensures they are able to stay heads-down throughout each sprint. The Scrum Master also handles the scheduling for sprint reviews and retrospectives. These kinds of administrative tasks are vital in improving the overall efficiency of the project effort.

Being able to translate technical information into something easier to understand is a necessary skill, as the Scrum Master works closely with the product owner and other business stakeholders to make sure everyone understands the more complex parts of a project. Fostering a collaborative environment among the entire team may be their most important duty.

Ultimately, making sure the process doesn’t interfere with the project timeline is the sign of a successful Scrum Master.

Work with a Top Software Solutions Company

If your organization needs additional assistance on its next development project, consider the talented team at SDE USA. As one of the top co-sourcing shops in the industry, we offer expertise on process and technology to ensure a successful outcome. Connect with us as soon as possible!

Read further if you are interested in understanding more about the duties of a product owner. Although first introduced as part of the Scrum framework, this role is now one of the most important on any Agile project team.

The Business Stakeholder Proxy

Business stakeholders remain an essential voice in any technology project. One of the advantages of Agile is its emphasis on streamlined communication. A product owner helps in this regard by speaking for this community throughout the project lifecycle.

Serving as a proxy for the stakeholders requires the product owner to be able to quickly make decisions. They must combine the insight of an experienced business analyst with the responsibility of an executive. As communication is a two-way street in Agile initiatives, they also must be able to present issues from the development staff to other stakeholders.

Empowered to Prioritize Requirements

As the single point of contact for the stakeholder community, product owners play a key role in prioritizing requirements, authorizing changes, agreeing to the project timeline and schedule, as well as acquiring funding for the initiative. These duties go beyond what a product manager does on technology projects using a different methodology like the Waterfall.

It is important for the product owner on an Agile project to maintain a positive relationship with the project manager or Scrum Master representing the development staff. This is another place where strong communication and analytical skills come into play. They must be able to properly model the requirements of an application while ensuring everyone on the business and technical sides of the project understand the tasks to be completed.

On most Agile projects, the product owner and the Scrum Master remain the two most important team members. Product owners combine the business knowledge and technical acumen to ensure requirements are properly defined and the chain of communication stays open. They work together to properly motivate the entire team.

Work with a Leading Software Solution Company

When you need additional advice on bringing your software project to fruition, talk to the experts at SDE USA. As one of the top co-sourcing development organizations in the industry, we are experienced in Agile as well as the latest in technologies. Make it a point to connect with us soon.

With a successful project outcome in mind, here are a few tips on managing a co-sourced development project. Leverage these insights to ensure your team delivers a great application under budget!

A Baseline Project Plan is a Good Start

Any technology initiative needs the right documentation to make sure everyone starts off on the right page. Of course, these include the requirements and specifications for the actual development work – either for a completely new application or an enhancement or fix to an existing one.

Additionally, a detailed project plan, including a baseline and a listing of all roles and responsibilities is a must. If your co-sourced talent is working remotely, bear that in mind when creating a schedule for daily meetings and other interactions.

Open Communication Throughout the Project

Never assume your baseline document covers everything required for a successful project. Be sure to communicate with your team on a regular basis using the phone, video chat and text messaging. Closely follow your regular meeting schedule with the entire team, but also leverage one-to-one discussions as necessary.

Bug and Issue Tracking is Important

Make sure everyone has access to a good bug/issue tracking application – JIRA, YouTrack, etc. – throughout the project. This is an important part of guaranteeing no vital problem gets missed, which is a risk on a co-sourced project spanning different continents. Spending part of each daily meeting going over updates to the tracking application data is a smart strategy.

Keep Your Team Engaged and Motivated

Keeping your project team engaged throughout the development lifecycle can become difficult with a dispersed group. While getting everyone together for a group lunch may be impossible, be sure to take steps to build camaraderie among your staff. Use incentives to motivate everyone to give their best efforts from day one – this helps keep things on schedule; preventing crunch time from creeping up before the final deadline.

Work With a Leader in Co-Source Software Solutions

If you need additional insights on using a co-sourced staffing model on your next project, talk to the experts at SDE USA. As a leading international software development organization, we are well versed in state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies, ensuring a successful application delivery. Schedule some time with us at your earliest convenience.

Here are a few valid reasons to forego staff augmentation as part of your business’s HR policy. Take these concerns into account before deciding on a plan of action for 2017.

Training the New Team Members

While technology professionals acquired on a temporary basis are typically quite skilled in software engineering, database design and more, they still need to come up to speed with how your company works. This requires training in your coding standards, the requirements of a current project, etc. – knowledge which is essentially wasted once they leave. Consider the extra time and resources spent on temp worker training.

Internal Analysis Is Also Required

Even before bringing these temporary employees on board, your current team needs to perform some due diligence and analysis on what internal knowledge, processes and procedures to transfer to the new talent. Is there anything that requires a non-disclosure agreement? What about proprietary knowledge and/or security concerns?

These are questions to be answered before going the staff augmentation route.

Additional Managerial Overhead Is Necessary

Whatever means you use to bring in new IT talent – staff augmentation or permanent hires – additional managerial staff is also needed. This adds overhead and expenses to your company’s financial statement. Make sure this is part of your analysis before finalizing your staffing plan.

There Are No Guarantees When It Comes to Staff Augmentation Talent

Even when considering the lower overall expenses incurred when using staff augmentation workers compared to permanent staff, remember there are no guarantees of a successful project outcome. You are able to mitigate this risk somewhat by choosing a staff augmentation or co-sourcing company with a sterling track record. Still, it is sometimes easier to trust your permanent employees.

Hopefully, analyzing these potential downsides to staff augmentation – along with the numerous positives – helps your organization make a well-considered decision.

Whenever you need some help bringing a great application idea to life, consider the IT co-sourcing experts at SDE. Well versed in state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies, we can help ensure your company’s success. Schedule some time with us at your earliest convenience.

What follows is a look at some of the benefits derived from using staff augmentation to enhance your current technology team. Hopefully, these insights provide some food for thought as you make your staffing plans for the upcoming year.

Staffing Flexibility to Meet Your Needs

Leveraging a staff augmentation or co-sourcing human resources model gives your company the flexibility it needs to handle the ups and downs of a competitive business landscape. You are able to add talent as needed to help meet a project deadline, with those temporary workers simply moving on after a successful implementation. This helps ensure the organization’s expenses stay manageable during slower periods.

Startups Are Able to Hit the Ground Running

Staff augmentation is especially wise for startup businesses. This allows newer firms a chance to add technology talent to a core group of employees with minimal effort. Companies become productive more quickly without the extra work of hiring permanent team members to fill every role.

Contract Free Talent With Little Commitment

Since technology workers added through staff augmentation aren’t permanent employees, there aren’t the commitment or legal issues as with a permanent employee. Whenever their work is finished – or if their skills aren’t up to par – you simply terminate the contract. Once again, this additional flexibility lets you focus on running your core business without any unnecessary hassles and distractions.

Supplement Your Current Technical Strengths

Whenever you need the extra personnel and technical knowledge to finish a difficult project ahead of schedule, staff augmentation and/or co-sourcing is the way to go. You are able to supplement your current strengths while closing any skills gap preventing you from a timely project completion. Your permanent employees also gain the bonus of learning new techniques and technologies from the temp talent.

The benefits gained from staff augmentation IT employees are numerous. They just might give your team that extra push it needs to get your difficult work done on time and under budget.

When you are searching for additional technology workers for your organization, look no further than SDE. Our proven co-sourced technical talent will help deliver a successful project outcome. Schedule some time to talk with us soon.

With a successful software project in mind, here are a few ideas on selecting the correct programming language to build your application. Good luck in your efforts!

Follow Industry Best Practices

When it comes to building a piece of software, there’s little reason to reinvent the wheel, so following the industry’s best practices makes the most sense. Choosing from widely used languages means finding development talent becomes an easier process. This is also a relevant point when considering the maintenance of your application – enhancements and bug fixes – over the long haul. Thinking long term must be part of your decision-making process.

Knowing the platform for your application helps narrow down your choice in programming languages. If you are building an iOS app, Objective-C or Swift are your most logical choices. Front-end development for a web application usually means JavaScript.

For some projects, more than one language is a likely requirement – front-end, back-end and database. Cross-platform targeting is another language feature worth considering.

If the application uses a non-web GUI, choose a language and IDE known for easy-to-use interface design tools. Fast prototyping of visual interfaces helps when building demos for business stakeholders, especially in an Agile project. This same rule applies for web applications.

Get Buy-In From All Project Stakeholders

It is important all stakeholders agree on the language choice for a project. Compatibility with other internal systems as well as the skill set of the in-house development talent also factor into a final decision. HR personnel also need to offer input on the ease of finding new programming talent experienced in the chosen language.

Working With an Experienced Development Co-sourcing Team is Smart

Ultimately, consulting with an experienced co-sourcing development firm is a wise strategy when determining the right programming language for your application. They fully understand the best choices for each platform, and typically employ development talent well versed in the chosen language. A strategy for future maintenance after the project is completed is another specialty of the best co-sourcing firms.

When looking at the right development team for your software project, be sure to consider the talented staff at SDE, Inc. USA. As a co-sourcing firm experienced in Agile and the latest in software engineering technologies, we are able to successfully complete the work at a competitive rate. Schedule a consultation with us at your earliest convenience.

What follows are a few ideas on how to create a great relationship with a project manager whether you are a developer or a stakeholder. Consider leveraging these useful insights on your next programming project.

Solidify Project Details at the Beginning

It is important most of the project details are sharply defined before the work begins. Even though the Agile methodology is designed to handle evolving requirements, all project roles and responsibilities need to be in stone to stave off any subsequent confusion. It is the project manager’s duty to get everyone on the same page before the functional specifications are written and coding starts.

If your project is using an older methodology, like the waterfall, make sure all requirements are written down and agreed upon. Changing requirements midstream in a waterfall project is very costly and raises the risk of a late product delivery. Whatever the chosen methodology, get the project manager everything he needs to ensure a successful project start.

Consistent Communication is Vital

Agile projects thrive on timely and consistent communication. Daily meetings help ensure progress is being made toward the goals of each sprint. The project manager or scrum master facilitates the scheduling of these meetings while essentially serving as a moderator.

Building a positive relationship with the project manager helps keep everyone working together, in addition to staving off conflicts before any adverse impact.

The Plan Must be Closely Followed

It is important not to stray from the plan during any software development project. Even though Agile is a flexible methodology, that flexibility occurs within a defined structure. Help the project manager keep things moving smoothly whenever possible.

They Are the Experts When It Comes to Project Management

Remember, project managers are experienced in navigating the pitfalls of the software development process. It is important to trust their expertise and let them do what they do best. Everyone is working on the same team to build a great piece of software, with a talented manager leading the way.

If you are looking for help bringing your great idea for an application to fruition, talk to the experts at SDE, Inc. USA. As a top-notch software development firm experienced in Agile co-sourcing, we know how to write quality software efficiently. Schedule a meeting with us as soon as possible!