Software Development on Internet Time

Software Development on Internet Time

* Provide a brief summary of the synchronize and stabilize method. What methodology (from the ones we’ve discussed in class) is it closest to, and how?

Often development for the internet and other fast changing technologies has different methodologies than the traditional waterfall approach. The reason being is these fast pace technologies need the ability to be able to adapt quickly and meet the rapidly changing needs. To do this Microsoft came up with a methodology names the “Synchronize and Stabilize” method. This gives the programmers the freedom and flexibility to evolve designs as they go and to roll out work iteratively. Rather than creating a large business requirements document that locked the developer into a specific feature set they would create a vision statement for the software and gather customer data to prioritize what features should be rolled into production first. The projects would be broken into multiple milestones which represented useable product or feature of the product.

The synchronize and stabilize method is most similar to the modern Agile/SCRUM methodologies where a product backlog is kept of all the desired features and then projects are broken up into multiple 2-4 week sprints that end up in a useable product. This methodology is quickly becoming mainstream due to its ability to quickly meet the changing needs of customers and consumers.

* What are two practices that you liked best in the case study that you can see being helpful to you as a systems analyst – also explain why

One of the practices that I enjoyed from the article was when a Netscape manager was discussing the importance of planning in software development. His quote was “The way you hit the bull’s eye the first time is by planning” I feel that his is critical in software development. It is so easy to just write specs and move forward without really putting thought and time into the planning and...