Adaptive System Development Methodologies for Software Development

System Analysis and Design
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Adaptive Systems Development
Adaptive software development methodologies include software methodologies that uses iterative
approaches to deliver small and functional software Iteration packages by utilizing the development
team’s abilities (Adaptivesys.com, 2013). This methodologies are aimed at developing software within a
short period of time by breaking down the large systems into modules. Therefore this approach focuses
on development of large and complex systems through iterative steps to produce these system’s
prototype (UKEssays, 2016). The adaptive methodologies help in reducing the long and complicated
processes involved during software development when traditional methodologies are used (collabnet,
2018). There are a number of methodologies under adaptive system developments as discussed below.
Scrum Methodology
This is an adaptive system development methodology that provides a project framework that provides
the capability to manage and control incremental projects of any kind. This is one of the most popular
adaptive methodologies due to its quality productivity and simplicity as well as its ability to wrap up
various engineering practices supported by other adaptive methodologies (Johnson, 2010). With the use
of scrum methodology during software development, both the development team and the system
owner works closely together in determining the system requirements as well as its functionalities. This
methodology breaks down a complex system into 30days sprints or iterations where each sprint is
began after the functionality has been set. During each sprint, there are several meetings held in a day
between the development team and the management in determining what will be done in the following
day (TatvaSoft, 2015). These short meetings are referred to as scrum hence the rise of scrum
methodology. A diagrammatic representation of scrum methodology is as shown below.
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Figure 1: Scrum Process
Advantage of Scrum
The following are some of the advantages of using scrum methodology during system development:
During development process the decisions made include all the development team which consist of the
developers and the system owners hence promoting team work.
This methodology reduces the number of paper work or business requirements documentation due to
direct involvement of the system owner during the development process.
With this software methodology it is easy to see the results of the development process due to frequent
updates made by the development team on a daily basis hence making it a lightly controlled
methodology.
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Scrum methodology also makes it easy to measure the individual productivity of each team member due
to everyday meetings carried out between the development team and the product owner.
Disadvantages of Scrum
Apart from the advantages of scrum methodology explained above, it also has some drawbacks which
include:
With scrum methodology it is hard to estimate the project time as well as the cost to be incurred since
some sprints may take long than usual hence causing delays.
This system development methodology is not suitable for large systems but rather it is suitable for small
and fast systems.
The methodology also requires experienced team members only in order to be able to complete the
project within the defined timeframe.
Joint Application Development (JAD)
This is an adaptive system development methodology that is based on the defined business
requirements and the development of the user interface of the intended system. This methodology
involves the users of the system, the clients and the developers through a series of off-site meetings to
discuss the development of the system into its successful completion (Okoli and Carillo, 2012). These
collaborative meetings are referred to as JAD sessions. The JAD sessions mainly focuses on the business
requirements of the intended system rather than the technical information hence making this adaptive
system methodology suitable for any kind of the system. Also considering that this methodology is user-
centered, it therefore means that the developer works towards providing a software system that
satisfies the need of the clients hence solving the business problems.
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