Project Management : Waterfall Method Or Traditional Approach And Agile Approach

Project management with its concepts, theories, methodologies, tools and techniques has developed during the last 30 to 40 years. There are number of other methods of project management which have emerged in recent years, and also started to be used in various projects by both the private and public sectors. Although some modern theories of project management are developing, that doesn’t mean that the traditional ones are no longer used or suitable for current project management practices. Both the traditional and modern project management approaches are still used in everyday project practices, though there have been some debates whether to rigorously adhere to the traditionally accepted approach or to apply newer and modern approach, because the traditional ones are considered to be

Cost and resource needs are higher for traditional than Agile due to Waterfall’s sequential development phase of all requirements determined in the beginning, software design and finally implementation of master design. The need for all information up front takes substantial time to gather and the sequential design does not allow for project changes as the flow enters into the programming stage. With Agile, costs remain low because there exists an incremental and iterative approach to the project, meaning less time is used to collect all requirements up front, the

The project will be managed using a modified waterfall technique. In this approach, the initial two phases of the

In order to achieve successful results within established time-frames and budgets, project managers are likely to employ methodologies models. A project methodology is a model that aids managers to plan, design and implement their project goals. Project methodologies are helpful to project manager in any field, for instance, Niel Nickolaisen CIO at the Western Governors University, is an advocate for the agile software development methodology. As these models grants flexibility when dealing with stipulations and scope changes on a project. Needless to say the agile software development methodology is just one example of a varied assortment of methodologies, each with their strengths and weakness. As such, it is up to the project manager to decide which methodology fits their needs, as there isn`t a one fits all solution.

PRINCE2® (Projects in Controlled Environments), is a widely used project management methodology that navigates you through all the essentials for running a successful project. It provides project managers with a practical roadmap from conception to close.

After having reviewed definitions and perspectives by three author groups, I’m inclined to conclude that waterfall methodology is essentially defined by its insistence upon the completion of product development steps in a sequential manner in order to accommodate a client’s need for a product or tool that will enable their business to be performed in a temporally defined effective (or desired) manner. By utility, for the sake of quickly delivering a product to the satisfaction of its client, a development team who employs the waterfall method may do so because of waterfall’s logical yet rigid structure. Its step-by-step nature promotes an easy to follow guide, though many of the tasks involved in the process of its development are anything but easy. Further, waterfall’s rigid nature seems to reinforce the notion of its logic, if but for the sake of timely product completion and client budget. Due to its methodological rigidity, however, products developed by way of waterfall may tend to be rigid in their own right.

Agile Development Methods (Agile) and the Waterfall Method (Waterfall) are two different styles of designing and managing the Soft Development Life-Cycle (SDLC)

There is a cross section of projects ranging from a few weeks to a few years. There are also a wide cross section of customers, those capable of articulating clearly their requirements and the ones that are not clear on their requirements and the overall outcome to be achieved. The level of programmers within the Information Technology Department, where development work is executed, range from intermediate to advance or above average programming competence. The Waterfall approach is easier to manage and can be utilized for projects where there are clear requirements and the project is determined to be a long term one. Also, this method may be best suited given the organization’s requirements for thorough documentation and project accountability, when it comes to budget and cost. The Agile methodology can be used for projects where the requirements as well as the expectation from the end product are not as clear. The developers that are above average in terms of their competence can also use this method. In addition, the Agile method is also best suited for the projects that would require rapid

A project methodology or approach is the model that project managers use for the designing, planning and

There are many proven project management methodologies are available today for organizations to achieve their goals with expected results within an approved scope, budget, and time. The most popular methodologies are traditional Waterfall, Prince2, Agile, and ITIL. The methods are:

Waterfall life cycle model and Agile methodology are the methods to implement and develop software. The initial methodology used by company is Waterfall methodology consists of sequential steps for the designing of software. One can predict cost, duration and requirements of the project in this method. This method is primarily used when organization knows what the end product of the project is. Proper planning is required before the start of the project.

Several adaptations to the traditional approaches like agile, interactive, phased, extreme, etc have been made but each will be expected to meet the requirements of the project objectives, timeline, resources, and deliveries of the stakeholders. Other industry standard certifications like ISO9000 and regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley have also influenced methodologies and processes used by several organisations (Kerzner, 2003). Generally, managing projects should involved five major process which include the project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and then project closing. See Fig. 2 below.

and new demands from users (Uikey & Suman, 2012). The SDLC focuses on the prime

Looking at each methodology from a different perspective, the management perspective, unveils additional benefits and setbacks. The rigidity of the Waterfall method for software development can be cumbersome when dealing with changing expectations, but it makes it easier for management to manage the project’s progression. Having clear goals makes it easy for managers to track the development process. It is more difficult to track a project where requirements are constantly evolving. Most of the projects (not involving software development) in our department are tracked through their process. As goals are achieved, completion nears 100%.

A software development methodology is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. It is used to structure, plan and control the process of developing an information system including procedures, techniques, tools and documentation aids. A wide variety of methodologies have evolved over the years, majority aggress that all these methodologies are distinguished into two categories – Heavyweight or Lightweight. Heavyweight methodologies are also known as traditional methodologies which approach system development with standard, well-defined processes such as Waterfall, Spiral and Unified Process. Lightweight methodologies