Flavors of Agile - DSDM

 

I'm going to keep it short today.  At least that is what I am telling myself.  Short is such a relative term to someone who can be as longwinded as me.

The DSDM Agile Project Framework is a scalable "full project" approach to Agile (it emphasizes more than development) that is supported by a set of eight principles built upon:

• People with defined roles and responsibilities
• An iterative and incremental lifecycle for development and delivery
• Clearly defined products
• Recommended practices

…and further founded on an underlying ethos of common sense and practices.  The principles are:

1. Focus on the business need
2. Deliver on time
3. Collaborate
4. Never compromise quality
5. Build incrementally from firm foundations
6. Develop iteratively
7. Communicate continuously and clearly
8. Demonstrate control

After having read the framework, I would think that if you are hesitant to adopt Scrum because it seems too unstructured, DSDM might be a good alternative for you.  Keep in mind that I have never used it and have never spoken to anyone who uses it, so I am not speaking as an expert.  However, I am experienced enough in the majority of the information, tools, and processes presented in the framework that I am comfortable saying that this is a good approach to consider when deciding which Agile approach to use.

There, nice and short.  And I'm having to force myself to not go back and add all the detail behind those two short lists.  There is a lot of detail, and it's more than two lists, but if you have even minimal experience in Waterfall and Agile, you'll find very little that is new.  What makes it unique is how the pieces are put together; it's more than just Scrum.  There are things you would do on a Waterfall project that are not specifically called out in Scrum, but it's Agile.  I'm starting to feel like a candy bar commercial… Hey, you got Agile in my Waterfall…

Next week, I think I'll combine the last few flavors I've been thinking about into one post, so that I can get to scaling Agile a couple of weeks earlier than planned.