Chapter 8 DSDM Products

Question 1

What are the two distinct types of DSDM products?

Answer 1

1. Evolutionary products evolve over time. They typically, but not always, span a number of project phases and may be baselined more than once during that time.
2. Milestone products are created in a phase and typically fulfil a specific purpose within that phase as a checkpoint or to facilitate governance processes

Question 2

Business products are?

Answer 2

1. The Business Case (Evolutionary Product)
2. Prioritised Requirements List (Evolutionary Product)
3. Terms of Reference (Milestone Product)
4. Benefits Assessment

Question 3

Solution Products are?

Answer 3

SAD (Evolutionary Product)

DAD (Development Approach Definition) (Evolutionary Product)

Question 4

Management Products are?

Answer 4

1. Delivery Plan (Evolutionary Product)
2. Management Approach Definition (MAD)
3. Timebox Review Record
4. Feasibility Assessment
5. Foundations Summary
6. Project Review Report

Question 5

Terms of Refernce

Answer 5

(Milestone Product)
It is a high-level definition of the over-arching business driver for, and top-level objectives of, the project.The primary aim of the Terms of Reference is to scope and justify the Feasibility phase. It is identified as a governance product because it may be used for purposes such as prioritisation of a project within a portfolio.

Question 6

Business Case

Answer 6

(Evolutionary Product)
It provides a vision and a justification for the project from a business perspective and is produced by the BA. The business vision describes a changed business as it is expected to be, incrementally and at the end of the project. The justification for the project is typically based on an investment appraisal determining whether the value of the solution to be delivered by the project warrants the cost to produce, support and maintain it into the future, all within an acceptable level of risk.

Baselines of the Business Case are typically created first as an outline by the end of Feasibility, then as a basis for approval of development by the end of Foundations. It is formally reviewed at the end of Each Project increment

Question 7

Prioritised Requirements List

Answer 7

Prioritised Requirement List (PRL) is an evolutionary product produced by the BA a. It describes, at a high level, the requirements that the project needs to address and indicates their priority with respect to meeting the objectives of the project and the needs of the business. Consideration of requirements begins in Feasibility and a baseline of the PRL demarcates the scope of the project as at the end of Foundations. Further change will happen as a result of emergence of detail.

Question 8

Solution Architecture Definition

Answer 8

The Solution Architecture Definition is an evolutionary product produced by the BA and the Technical Coordinator . It provides a high-level design framework for the solution. It is intended to cover both business and technical aspects of the solution to a level of detail that makes the scope of the solution clear but does not constrain evolutionary development.

Question 9

Development Approach Definition

Answer 9

The Development Approach Definition is an evolutionary product produced by the Technical Coordinator. It provides a high-level definition of the tools, techniques, customs, practices and standards that will be applied to the evolutionary development of the solution. Importantly it describes how quality of the solution will be assured. A strategy for testing and review is therefore a key part of the development approach

Question 10

Delivery Plan

Answer 10

The delivery plan is an evolutionary product. It provides a high-level schedule of Project Increments and, at least for the first/imminent Increment, Timeboxes that make up that Increment. It rarely deals with task-level detail unless there are tasks being carried out by people who are not part of the Solution Development Team or before the Solution Development Team is formed.

Question 11

Management Approach Definition

Answer 11

an evolutionary product produced by the PM. It reflects the approach to the management of the project as a whole and considers, from a management perspective, how the project will be organised and planned, how stakeholders will be engaged in the project and how progress will be demonstrated and, if necessary, reported. The product is outlined in Feasibility and baselined at the end of Foundations and will only evolve beyond that when circumstances change or if review of the approach identifies areas for improvement.

Question 12

Feasibility Assessment

Answer 12

The Feasibility Assessment is a milestone product produced by the PM. It provides a snapshot of the evolving business, solution and management products described above as they exist at the end of the Feasibility phase. Each of the products should be mature enough to make a sensible contribution to the decision as to whether the project is likely to be feasible or not. The Feasibility Assessment may be expressed as a baselined collection of the products or as an executive summary covering the key aspects of each of them.

Question 13

Foundation Summary

Answer 13

The Foundation Summary is a milestone product produced by the PM. It provides a snapshot of the evolving business, solution and management products described above as they exist at the end of the Foundations phase. Each of the products should be mature enough to make a sensible contribution to the decision as to whether the project is likely to deliver the required return on investment. The Foundation Summary may be expressed as a baselined collection of the products described above or as an executive summary covering the key aspects of each of them.

Question 14

Evolving Solution

Answer 14

An evolutionary product produced by the SDT. It is made up of all appropriate components of the final solution together with any intermediate deliverables necessary to explore the detail of requirements and the solution under construction. At any given time, such components may be either complete, a baseline of a partial solution (a Solution Increment), or a work in progress. They include, where valuable: models, prototypes, supporting materials and testing and review artefacts.

At the end of each Project Increment the Solution Increment is deployed into live use and becomes the Deployed Solution.

Question 15

Timebox Plan

Answer 15

The Timebox Plan is an evolutionary product that provides depth and detail for each Timebox identified in the Delivery Plan. It is produced by the SDT. It elaborates on the objectives provided for that Timebox and details the deliverables of that Timebox, along with the activities to produce those deliverables and the resources to do the work. The Timebox Plan is created by the Solution Development Team and is often represented on a Team Board as work to do, in progress, and done. It is updated at least on a daily basis at the Daily Stand-ups.

Question 16

Timebox Review Record

Answer 16

The Timebox Review Record is an evolutionary product, capturing the feedback from each review that takes place during a Timebox. It is produced by the Team Leader. It describes what has been achieved up to that point together with any feedback that may influence plans moving forwards. Where appropriate, e.g. in a regulated environment, a formal auditable record of review comments from expert Business Advisors and other roles make this a governance product

Question 17

Project Review Report

Answer 17

The Project Review Report is a milestone product produced by the PM. It is typically a single document that is updated, incrementally, at the end of each Project Increment by the addition of new sections pertinent to that Increment.

At the end of each Project Increment, the purpose of this product is:

To capture the feedback from the review of the delivered solution and to confirm what has been delivered and what has not

To capture learning points from the retrospective for the Increment focussed on the process, practices employed and contributing roles and responsibilities

Where appropriate to describe the business benefits that should now accrue through the proper use of the solution delivered by the project up to this point
After the final Project Increment, as part of project closure, a retrospective covering the whole project is carried out that is partially informed by the records for each Increment.

Question 18

Benefits Assessment

Answer 18

The Benefits Assessment is a milestone product produced by either the BA or Business Visionary. It describes how the benefits have actually accrued, following a period of use in live operation. For projects where benefits in the Business Case are expected to accrue over a prolonged period, it is possible that a number of Benefits Assessments may be produced on a periodic basis aligned with the timeframe used for justifying the investment.