No one these days, especially in software development, is unfamiliar with the agile development methodology. As well clients looking for software development services are very familiar with agile, well at least with the word agile. But they may be unfamiliar with how it affects their projects and how it affects what gets delivered to them and when. What they also may not realize is that there are several agile delivery frameworks, and many variations exist with vendors putting their own spin on a particular framework. In this post I wanted to explore what is considered one of the more advanced agile delivery frameworks, the Dynamic Systems Development Methodology. The dynamic method can also be used for other types of projects, not just software development, but here I wanted to focus on software development projects only.
I picked this methodology to talk about because many companies would like to have a dedicated software development team; i.e. have a specific group of developers who only work on their products and who can get to know the company and its people well. Many start-ups and small and medium sized businesses like to work this way, and for many it can work out great. The Dynamic Systems Methodology is an alternative to a dedicated team, which may be more effective for some companies, especially when the dedicated team size would be small.
To help explain the dynamic systems development methodology, I enlisted the aid of Softjourn’s Head of Software Development, Anatoliy Okhotnikov, asking him several questions about this methodology. The discussion of this methodology will be done over a couple of blog posts, starting out with more details on what it is, some of the benefits for a company if they decide to work with this model, and moving in to the challenges.
1. Explain to us your role and duties and responsibilities within Softjourn?
My position is the Head of Softjourn’s Software Development Department. My responsibilities range from establishing team work processes and providing continued education on such topics as secure web development, to analyzing new projects, and researching and architecting technical solutions.&nbshibernatep;
2. You advocate a dynamic team model for certain types of companies. Can you explain how it works?
The Dynamic team model works in the following way: a vendor does not provide just bodies to companies (the dedicated team model), but rather delivers functionality. For example, instead of having a dedicated team of two persons, a company may have a pool of 5 or 10 programmers available to them, who have some familiarity with their product and deliver by functionality. Functionality development, for a particular client, is not assigned to the same two person team all of the time, but rather it is assigned to a pool of developers and then to individuals in that pool based on skill-set needed to develop particular functionality and based on availability.
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Softjourn Project Updates
Save on gas with a new Android app!
Do you know how much traffic is on the roads and highways in the US? According to a National Household Travel Survey, U.S. daily travel averages 11 billion miles a day — almost 40 miles per person per day. With gas still over $4.00 a gallon, it is not surprising then that gas prices are on the minds of just about anyone who owns a car.
With this in mind, a start up company decided to combine the boom in smartphones with the idea of helping car owners to save on gas. After analyzing the market and competitive products, our client came up with a solution to differentiate their app; the use of exact gas prices not just user supplied information, and an emphasis on useability. Softjourn was chosen to realize the technical side of the Android application.
The app is planned to be on the market soon, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to hear about the release!
Technologies used:
Platform: Android
Coding language: Java
API: Google
Framework: Spring, Hibernate
New Android App Makes Survey Processes Easier
Softjourn was recently approached by a California-based market research survey company, with a request to assist them in bug fixing and further development of an Android version of their survey system. With a large suite of tools and software editions already in place for users to create detailed surveys and market studies, the Android app provides for another level of flexibity for client's of the marketing research firm.
Our client had previously worked with a freelance developer to create the application, but after the development was over, there were still bugs to be fixed and features to be added. Having no possibility to continue working with the same developer, our client contacted Softjourn for assistance.
The project took a little more than a month. During this time our developers fixed about 40 bugs as well as implemented a few features related to the business logic of the survey application. The app went live soon after the project was delivered, and is now is part of Creative Research System's mobile portfolio.
Technologies used: Android SDK
Thinking how to go mobile? See how we assisted companies like yours to develop mobile apps and to optimize their websites for mobile users!
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Early in April, the best and the brightest of the IT service providers in Ukraine gathered in Lviv to discuss the growth in the sector, including software development and quality assurance services. There are currently over 14,000 students graduating with Computer Science and IT degrees annually in Ukraine, many of them wishing to pursue software development as their career. The forum included many interesting presentations about the current state and future trends in the IT industry, as well as excellent panel discussions between industry’s experts. 