DSDM Atern

Question 1

The structure of Atern

Answer 1

1) Process
2) People
3) Products
4) Practices
5) Principles
6) Philosophy

Question 2

Atern approach

Answer 2

1) Variable - Features

2) Fixed - Quality, Time and Cost

Question 3

DSDM Atern delivers because

Answer 3

1) Remain focused on business outcome
2) Delivery on time
3) Collaboration
4) Prioritized according to business need
5) Accommodate changes in agreed timescale
6) Does not compromise on quality

Question 4

Atern agility

Answer 4

1) Avoids big design up front

2) Just enough design upfront

Question 5

Atern flexibility

Answer 5

1) Can be used to complement other project management disciplines

Question 6

Appropriate level of rigour

Answer 6

1) determine the correct level of rigour
2) Too much formality can slow progress down and even cause paralysis
3) Atern should be tailored to suit a project’s individual needs
4) A risk assessment is undertaken early on in the project lifecycle in order to determine the level of rigour that must continually be applied throughout

Question 7

Atern principles

Answer 7

1) Focus on the business need
2) Deliver on time
3) Collaborate
4) Never compromise quality
5) Build incrementally from firm foundations
6) Develop iteratively
7) Communicate continuously and clearly
8) Demonstrate control

Question 8

Demonstrate control

Answer 8

1) Use an appropriate level of formality for tracking and reporting
2) Make plans and progress visible to all
3) Measure progress through focus on delivery of products rather than completed activities
4) Manage proactively
5) Evaluate continuing project viability based on the business objectives

Question 9

Factors instrumental to the success of Atern projects

Answer 9

1) Acceptance of the Atern philosophy before starting work
2) Appropriate empowerment of the Solution Development Team.
3) Commitment of senior business management to provide the necessary Business Ambassador (and Business Advisor) involvement
4) Incremental delivery
5) Access by the Solution Development Team to business roles
6) Solution Development Team stability
7) Solution Development Team skills
8) Solution Development Team size
9) A supportive commercial relationship

Question 10

The Project Approach Questionnaire

Answer 10

1) that helps to identify and confirm the level of achievement of all the above factors and to assess potential risk areas to be addressed
2) he questionnaire is completed during Feasibility and re-assessed as part of Foundations

Question 11

Atern life cycle

Answer 11

1) Pre-Project
2) Feasibility
3) Foundations
4) Exploration
5) Engineering
6) Deployment
7) Post-project

Question 12

Atern Pre-Project Objectives

Answer 12

1) To describe the business problem to be addressed.
2) To identify a Business Sponsor and Business Visionary.
3) To confirm that the project is in line with business strategy.
4) To scope, plan and resource the Feasibility phase.

Question 13

Atern Feasibility Objectives

Answer 13

1) To establish whether there is a feasible solution
2) To identify the benefits likely to arise from the delivery
3) To outline possible approaches for delivery
4) To describe the organisation and governance aspects
5) To state first-cut estimates of timescale and costs for the project overall
6) To plan and resource the Foundations phase.

Question 14

Atern Foundation Objectives

Answer 14

1) high-level requirements
2) business processes to be supported
3) strategies for all aspects of solution deployment
4) how quality will be assured.
5) assess and manage risk associated with the project

Question 15

Atern Exploration Objectives

Answer 15

1) elaborate on the requirements captured
2) explore the full detail of the business need and provide detailed requirements
3) create a functional solution that demonstrably meets the needs of the business.
4) early view of the solution that they will eventually operate, support and maintain
5) models that describe how the solution works

Question 16

Atern Engineering Objectives

Answer 16

1) To refine the Evolving Solution from the Exploration phase to meet the agreed acceptance criteria.
2) To expand and refine any products required to successfully operate and support the solution in live operation.

Question 17

Atern Deployment Objectives

Answer 17

1) To confirm the ongoing performance and viability of the project and re-plan as required.
2) To deploy the solution
3) train the end users of the solution
4) To train and/or provide documentation for operations and support staff
5) To assess whether the deployed solution is likely to enable the delivery of intended elements of business benefit described in the Business Case (where created).

Question 18

Atern Post-Project Objectives

Answer 18

To assess whether the benefits described in the Business Case (where created) have actually been achieved through use of the Deployed Solution.

Question 19

Atern Roles and Responsibilities - Project

Answer 19

1) Business sponsor
2) Business Visionary
3) Technical Coordinator
4) Project Manager
5) Team Leader

Question 20

Atern Roles and Responsibilities - Solution development

Answer 20

1) Team Leader
2) Business Advisiors
3) Business Ambassadors
4) Business Analysts
5) Solutions developers
6) Solution Testers

Question 21

Atern Roles and Responsibilities - Others

Answer 21

1) Atern Coach
2) Workshop facilitator
3) Specialist roles - as required

Question 22

Iterations within a Development Timebox

Answer 22

1) Kickoff
2) Investigation
3) Refinement
4) Consolidation
5) Closeout

Question 23

Iterative development process includes

Answer 23

1) Timeboxing
2) Change Control (in association with MoSCoW prioritisation)
3) Configuration Management
4) Quality Assurance of products (including Testing of software products)

Question 24

Evolutionary Development Strategy

Answer 24

1) Vertical
2) Horizontal
3) combined

Question 25

Vertical approach

Answer 25

1) Advantage- small and simple availabe very early

2) It may be difficult to see the context of the requirement

Question 26

Horizontal approach

Answer 26

This approach delivers the solution layer by layer. The layers could be functional or architectural.
Advantage - Early on in the project, the end-to-end solution can be demonstrated, which gives a clear view of the full extent of the development.
Disadvantage - a bit of everything is available, but nothing is completed (or usable) until the final timebox.

Question 27

A Combined Approach

Answer 27

This approach starts by delivering a (thin) end-to-end slice of the solution (Horizontal) and then reverts to a vertical approach to deliver complete working requirements which fit into the high-level solution framework.

Question 28

A Combined Approach advantage

Answer 28

A Combined approach is useful to confirm the end-to-end scope or the screen flows or user navigation, before getting into the detail of the individual requirements. The Combined Approach, together with the Vertical Approach, is probably the most commonly used approach in Atern projects.

Question 29

Kick-off

Answer 29

Short session for the Solution Development Team to understand timebox objectives and accept them as realistic

Question 30

Investigation

Answer 30

The initial investigation of the detail of all the products to be delivered by the timebox including agreement on the timebox deliverables and quantitative measures that will prove success

Question 31

Refinement

Answer 31

The bulk of the development and testing of the timebox products in line with agreed priorities

Question 32

Consolidation

Answer 32

Tying up of any loose ends related to development and ensuring all products meet their acceptance criteria

Question 33

Close-out

Answer 33

Formal acceptance of the timebox deliverables by the Business Visionary and Technical Co-ordinator

Question 34

BARMAI index

Answer 34

Presenting estimate as a range

relates the estimate range to the likelihood

Question 35

Bespoke model

Answer 35

1) Advantages are that the models are generally fairly simple and easy to understand and that they can be adapted to meet changing project needs.
2) Disadvantages are that they are reliant on good quality, relevant history from similar previous projects and that they have limited functionality.
3) Such models may be used within the team approach described above and indeed may be created by the team.

Question 36

Quality Management – Getting the Balance Right

Answer 36

Quality and quality-related activities are sometimes perceived as adding bureaucracy and overheads. This must be avoided, particularly on a project adopting an agile approach, where it is crucial that all activities add benefit to the end results.

Question 37

The Control Parameters

Answer 37

1) Risk
2) Business benefit
3) Quality
4) Resource
5) Time
6) Cost
7) Features