The Waggware offices are in a constant buzz as of lately partly because our developers, engineers and project managers are racing to ensure our customers are achieving their business goals and objectives.  As 2009 enters its final month I am pausing to reflect on many of our successful projects. 

We have lots to be proud about!  We've completed several major upgrades to billing systems for Utility companies that has enabled them to enter new markets, we've enhanced and streamlined an entire Customer Relationship Management process for a services business that accelerated revenue generation and we've built custom risk management software that have made operational decisions easier for power plants.  All these projects met business objectives, completed on time and on budget. 

So how did we do it?

At Waggware we follow a tested and proven project methodology that we often refer to as the 9 critical steps.  It's a step by step process we take our customers through to ensure we are achieving their business objectives.  When done right every stake holder is happy!  I've written about this process extensively here on the blog and wanted to point you to a landing page on waggware.com where we have plenty of free resources to guide success with our software development or enterprise implementation project. 

http://www.waggware.com/technologies/blog.aspx

Please peruse through the wealth of information we have created and get in touch with us should you have any other questions.

The 9 critical steps in Implementing Enterprise Software is a methodology that can help limit your exposure to an IT project failure.  As we described in a previous post an IT Project Failure is when a project is over budget, has missed key deadlines and failed to meet the business objectives.  Take a quick look at the following presentation outlining the 9 critical steps in a very simple way.

A lot of talk and discussion has been going on between our project managers & analysts in the Waggware offices about choosing the appropriate software development project approach (Waterfall vs. Agile).  I'll share with you some of the outcome of our discussions:

Waterfall ensures the core of the application works

Waterfall development is an approach to developing software t that breaks a project into finite phases.  Each phase is performed in order and each depends on the completion of preceding phases.  The central idea behind the Waterfall model is that time spent up front will ensure project success towards the end.  With this software development life cycle approach the project managers and business analysts must ensure that requirements and design are correct.  Pressure is on them to be thorough in understanding project goals, comprehending existing business processes, gathering business requirements, and developing designs. 

The Waterfall methodology should be used when the project involves putting the back end engine together.  Items such as business rules, adhering to regulatory requirements, and connecting databases all fall into the core of an application.

Agile development focuses on user adoption and experience

Wikipedia describes Agile software development as "a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. " Agile encourages developers and end users to work closely with one another to ensure that unique user needs are met and that business activities are optimized.  This is accomplished by developing in short development bursts (1 - 2 week periods) and gaining feedback on the usefulness of the software application.  The feedback should come from the users that will actually be using the system.  The thinking behind this approach is that users are subject matter experts and are more likely to adopt the change because they took an active role in designing and testing the new changes to the workflow through the iterative software development process. 

Leveraging both an AGILE and Waterfall approach will help to ensure that your project is a successful one.  Focus on the core project objectives by leveraging a Waterfall approach and improve user adoption and experience by leveraging the Agile project approach.  This flexibility in your development process will help to ensure that your corporate project sponsors achieve their business objectives and the individual users will realize improved productivity and software that is easy and perhaps fun to use.

Companies that improve processes become more productive, save money and retain customers.  One of the most important tools in improving processes with-in the typical company is Enterprise software.  As a result the selection and implementation of major enterprise software should never be made in haste.  Failure in a major enterprise software implementation can result in low user adoption, lower than expected return on investment, potentially unhappy customers and risk placing themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

The 9 critical steps include:

1. Defining the Project Vision
2. Evaluating Existing Business Processes
3. Identifying Business Processes
4. Researching Alternatives
5. Short Listing Potential Vendors
6. Evaluating Vendors
7. Selecting the preferred solution
8. Planning the Implementation
9. Evaluating the Project

The following video will help your IT organization understand this step by step approach and will ensure that your next major software implementation is a success.