what is agile

Question 1

when was DSDM developed and what does it stand for?

Answer 1

1994. Dynamic systems development method

Question 2

what is the purpose of DSDM?

Answer 2

designed to bring some structure to Rapid Application Development or RAD in the IT development world

Question 3

what is the ‘The DSDM Consortium’.

Answer 3

It is an Agile approach, and is owned by a not for profit organisation called ‘The DSDM Consortium’.

Question 4

AgilePM is based on

Answer 4

DSDM and was launched in 2010 and brings an Agile approach to project management.

Question 5

At the heart of DSDM is the need to determine the level of

Answer 5

formality we must use.

Question 6

Too much formality can ………. whilst too little can ……..

Answer 6

slow things down …… lead to difficulties

Question 7

the right balance is known as ….

Answer 7

the appropriate level of rigour.

Question 8

Undertaking a risk assessment early in the project’s life cycle will help us to determine what?

Answer 8

the amount of rigour and in a DSDM project the level of formality and rigour help rather than hinder.

Question 9

an agile approach provides what?

Answer 9

provides flexibility and the ability to deliver quickly.

Question 10

what is the traditional approach of agile ..

Answer 10

It contrasts with a traditional approach of specifying exactly what is required, putting together a design solution and then developing the output itself.

Question 11

Often the traditional approach is difficult to achieve as the customer

Answer 11

generally doesn’t know exactly what they want.

Question 12

An Agile approach provides for this by creating the output in small steps, each building on the last. This allows the product to

Answer 12

develop quickly but retains the ability to include changes as the knowledge of the output increases.

Question 13

there are many different approaches to agile development… true or false

Answer 13

true

Question 14

we have lightweight approaches such as Scrum, which provides for

Answer 14

daily meetings of the team as they work on small pieces of work.

Question 15

Lean which is focussed on

Answer 15

process efficiency or ‘taking the fat out of the organisation’ and programming methods such as XP or Extreme Programming.

Question 16

Sometimes the simplicity of these approaches can be their downfall, as there is

Answer 16

no concept of a project, where the delivery is managed through a beginning, middle and end type of process.

This is the strength of DSDM, as it is designed to deliver projects in an Agile way.

Question 17

DSDM considers the need to be able to

Answer 17

react quickly throughout the development of the product, whilst incorporating the constraints often imposed by corporate cultures and processes.

Question 18

DSDM provides what?

Answer 18

It provides a framework based on best practice and incorporates the lessons learnt by the DSDM corporation.

Question 19

Managing project using DSDM helps to resolve

Answer 19

many of the problems we face when running projects in a more traditional manner.

For example, DSDM uses regular facilitated workshops and encourages the team to interact which helps to resolve the natural communications problems faced by many projects.

Question 20

Late delivery is usually avoided as DSDM focuses on

Answer 20

delivering on time, working on the basis that delivering 80% of the features working and on time is better than trying to deliver everything late.

Question 21

Customers are human.

As their knowledge of the product increases throughout the development phase they tend to ……..

Answer 21

change their mind

Question 22

DSDM’s approach to understanding customer requirements, is to

Answer 22

involve the customer in the solution, this helps to avoid these problems stops unwanted features being built and makes sure the business gets what it needs.

Question 23

we have a philosophy which defines the ‘way we do things’ in using DSDM and this is based on eight principles.

Briefly the principles are:

Answer 23

• Focus on the business need
• Deliver on time
• Collaborate
• Never compromise quality
• Build incrementally from firm foundations
• Develop iteratively
• Communicate continuously and clearly, and
• Demonstrate Control

Question 24

what is a timebox?

Answer 24

A Timebox is a period of time during which we create a product or part of a product within a fixed timescale.

Question 25

DSDM’s philosophy states

Answer 25

‘best business value emerges when projects are aligned to clear business goals, deliver frequently and involve the collaboration of motivated and empowered people.

Question 26

Traditionally, we describe a project as having four key aspects which are

Answer 26

time, cost, quality and features.

Some other methods refer to features as scope.

Question 27

The DSDM approach is to fix

Answer 27

time, cost and quality at the start and manage problems by varying the amount of features that are provided. We achieve this by agreeing a prioritised set of requirements with the stakeholders at the outset using the MoSCoW rules.

We’ll discuss these later but briefly it stands for Must Have, Should Have, Could Have and Won’t Have for now.

A DSDM project will always deliver a viable solution.

As long as the rules for MoSCoW and Timeboxing are followed, which we will discuss later, a minimum subset of features called the Minimum Usable Subset is guaranteed to be delivered on time and within budget.

In reality what this means is dropping features or requirements starting with the least important if problems occur.

It also makes it easier to prevent scope creep, which is the addition of features to the project’s scope without proper control.

Question 28

what are the four key aspects that DSDM teams will focus on.

Answer 28

1. understand true business priorities
2. establish sound business case
3. seek continuous business sponsorship and commitment
4. gurantee minimum unseable subset

Question 29

focus on the business need :

Answer 29

• understand true business priorities
• establish sound business case
• seek business continuship and