Really Strategies
RESOURCE CENTER
“Really Strategies provides us with the third-party expertise we need.”
USATODAY.com
Methods For All This Madness
by Scott Althouse
So, you've decided to build a content management system to support your needs. One of the first things you need to consider is your software development methodology. "My what?" you ask. Don't worry, a software development methodology is nothing mysterious (although they can sometimes become very complicated). It's simply an organized structure to support your development. Editorial and production teams use standardized processes for each publishing cycle and common ways of performing each task along the way. Software development teams need something similar.
As I point out in the main article this month, effective requirements are a major success factor in software development projects. How you build and manage requirements is actually just the most visible (to system users) part of your development methodology.
Choosing a development methodology is a little like choosing a religion; most people use one they are most familiar with. If you don't have a predisposition to any particular method, you do have choices—maybe too many choices! Some of the most common include Spiral Development (or the updated Win Win Spiral Method), the Unified Process, Extreme Programming (XP), Rapid Application Development (RAD), and Joint Application Development (JAD). You will find zealots for every methodology; however the best methodology is the one that works for you. The first step is to take an honest assessment of your staff to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Look at what each methodology's benefits are and match them to your needs.
It's also important not to overwhelm your organization with process and methodology changes. It's easy to get bogged down with new processes and completely miss your overall goal, which is to improve the way you manage your content. Start with small steps, and don't be afraid to add or remove parts of the methodology if you're not getting what you need out of it.
