The Data and Analysis Center for Software has a Gold Practices resource that provides information relevant to software acquisition and management. At first glance the reaction might be "this is Big Design Up Front," for weapons systems and space flight. You'd be not only wrong, but missing an valuable resource for the management of software intensive projects.
Sure there is lots of heavy weight discussion focused of "process solves all problems," but interestingly many of the Gold Practices have iterative and incremental elements as well. As a guide for developing an Agile Project Management set of practices - as one of the APM authors has said is coming (sounds like they're going into business thought) - it would be interesting to look around at how Project Management is done in an area where changing customer needs, short schedules, limited funding, and moderate to high risk are common everyday occurrences.
If there is project with changing requirements, short schedules, limited funding and LOW RISK, then managing is easy. You don't need all these fancy processes and agile techniques. Just make a list of what's needed and do the work. It'll all work out in the end.
It's the moderate to high risk project where Project Management pays off and espically Agile Project Management.
Some of the Gold Practices will have no applicability to APM, some do.
- The discipline of software development is critical to agile processes. Whether its XP, Scrum, FDD, Crystal, or higher ceremony processes like Prince2 discipline is the basis of success
- Managing requirements is critical to avoid "churn" in the development effort. If the requirements come of 3 by 5 cards or formal Statements of Work, preventing the requirements from driving the development process off track is important. Business value is achieved by delivering on the "right" requirements at the "right time." This is requirements management.
- Quality and quality measures are the basis of all agile development processes. How does these processes interact with the larger business processes? 21CFR, ISO 9000, Six Sigma as common processes found in software intensive environments.
- Architecture is important in many environments. Emergent architecture "might" be possible in some systems, but ERP, Enterprise Services, Product Line development, large integrated solutions, have architecture elements that are critical to the success of the solution.
- Interoperability is important to "systems of systems," product lines, and large IT organizations.
There are other issues addressed by the Gold Practices site. Take a look; it may be useful, even if only to stimulate a conversation about "how are we addressing the subject area is the processes we're using today?" It might turn out there are issues you didn't think about.
