Managing Tech Projects: SCRUM vs. RAD System Development Methodologies

This report investigates and compares SCRUM and Rapid Application Development (RAD) methodologies for system development, specifically in the context of an organization developing a mobile application. It details the characteristics, phases, benefits, and drawbacks of both methodologies, highli...Read More

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System Development Methodologies
SCRUM & RAD
9/12/2018

System Development Methodologies
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
System Development Methodologies Selected......................................................................................2
SCRUM.............................................................................................................................................2
Rapid Application Development (RAD)............................................................................................3
Comparison & Contrast.........................................................................................................................4
Benefits.............................................................................................................................................4
Drawbacks.........................................................................................................................................5
Comparison of RAD and SCRUM Methodologies............................................................................6
Recommendations & Conclusion..........................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................8
1

System Development Methodologies
Introduction
The organization has decided to develop and implement a mobile application that would be
synced with the existing system and database. It will allow the resources to access the
application using their mobile devices. There are different system development
methodologies that are available and can be used to carry out the development activities. The
report describes two such methodologies and recommends the one that suits to the
requirements in the best possible manner.
System Development Methodologies Selected
SCRUM
One of the methodologies that can be used for the development of the system for the
organization is SCRUM methodology. SCRUM is a sub-set of agile methodology for system
development and it is an ad-hoc methodology that is adaptive in nature. It is a methodology
that is currently being used by a majority of the business organizations as it provides agile,
flexible, and scalable products as the outcome. There are sprints involved in the SCRUM
system development in which a new capability is released at the gap of 2-4 weeks. The teams
that are involved in a SCRUM project are in the range of team size as 5 to 9 members. There
are three primary roles that are defined under this methodology as Product Owner, Scrum
Master, and development team (Carvalho & Mello, 2011). There are certain events that are
covered under this methodology as sprint, sprint planning, daily stand-up, sprint review, and
retrospective. In this methodology, there will be a product backlog that will be prepared in
which the requirements associated with the mobile application to be developed for the
organization will be stored. The working set for every sprint will be taken from the product
backlog and it will be referred as sprint backlog. The development team will take the
requirements from the sprint backlog and will execute it in the sprint cycle for providing a
working set of software at the end of the sprint. There will be a daily stand-up that will be
carried out by the Scrum Master to discuss the sprint progress and plan the activities for the
day. These sprints will continue until the product backlog will be empty. Scrum review will
be done at the end of every sprint and retrospective will be done at the end of the final sprint
(Mahnic, 2012).
2

System Development Methodologies
Rapid Application Development (RAD)
Rapid Application Development (RAD) is another system development methodology that the
organization can use for the development of its system. It is also a part of the agile family and
offers fast project turnaround.
RAD Phases
There are phases that are involved in the projects that are carried out using RAD
methodology. The first phase is requirements planning phase in which the organization,
development team, and the users will come together to discuss the goals of mobile
application that is to be developed. The definition of the requirements on the basis of the
information received will be done in the requirements planning phase. Testing is one of the
crucial activities that are involved in RAD projects and there are multiple rounds of testing
that are conducted (Yu, 2011). The second phase is user design in which there is a sub-
lifecycle that is involved. This lifecycle of user design phase includes the stages as prototype,
test, and refine. The clients and development team will work together in this phase. A
prototype will be built by the development team which will be tested by the client and the
end-users along with the development resources. The gaps will be refined and the cycle will
go on unless the required prototype will be deisgned. The final prototype will then be taken to
the third phase in which it will be constructed to a working model. Application development,
coding, system & unit testing, and integration testing activities will be covered in the
construction phase (Yang, Wang & Yu, 2012). The finishes product will then be implemented
and launched in the last phase as the cutover phase.
Comparison & Contrast
Benefits
There will be several benefits that will be offered with the application of SCRUM
methodology for system development.
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System Development Methodologies
 The new features of the mobile application will be released at the end of every sprint.
The product will therefore be released very early in the development cycle which will
make it easier for the organization to estimate and understand the associated benefits
and revenues (Adi, 2015).
 Test processes will be carried out at every sprint rather than carrying out the testing
activities after the development phase. This will ensure that the systems are free from
defects and bugs and the user experience will be enhanced.
 Increased transparency and monitoring across all the sprints will make sure that the
potential risks are identified earlier and the risk management practices are also carried
out in accordance with the risks that may have come up (Kautz, Johanson & Uldahl,
2014).
 One of the most significant benefits that will be offered by using the SCRUM
methodology will be enhanced flexibility and scalability. There may be changes
required to be done in the mobile application. These changes will be made possible
through the SCRUM methodology as the end products will be extremely scalable. The
incorporation of the changes will be done with minimal rework.
 The use of the SCRUM methodology will allow the changes to be made in the scope
of the systems; however, the schedule and budget will not be disturbed. Cost control
and schedule control will be implemented in the project (Lukasiewicz & Miler, 2012).
 End-user satisfaction and engagement are placed at top priority in any of the SCRUM
projects. The satisfaction level will increase as there will be feedback collected from
the organization and the end-users at the end of every sprint.
RAD methodology will also offer several advantages to the organization.
 The tasks associated with the development of the mobile application will be broken
down in to smaller sets. It will then be easier for the development team along with the
organization to manage and handle these tasks.
 There is a task-oriented structure that is followed in the RAD projects and the
application of this methodology will allow the Project Manager to allocate the roles
and responsibilities as per the skill set of the employees. The productivity and
efficiency levels will automatically improve as an outcome.
 The overall timeframe that is involved in RAD projects is short. The client will be
able to receive the working product in shorter time period (Dissanayake, 2014).
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System Development Methodologies
 There will be regular communication that will be carried out and maintained between
the development team and the end-users & client. End- user satisfaction and
engagement are placed at top priority in any of the SCRUM projects. The satisfaction
level will increase as there will be feedback collected from the organization and the
end-users at the end of every sprint.
 A prototype will be built by the development team which will be tested by the client
and the end-users along with the development resources. The gaps will be refined and
the cycle will go on unless the required prototype will be deisgned.
Drawbacks
There are a few drawbacks that are associated with the SCRUM as well as RAD
methodology. These drawbacks will be required to be considered before making a decision
on the selection of the methodology for the project.
The following drawbacks associated with the SCRUM methodology that shall be considered
and paid attention to.
 There is no definite end-date that will be set up for the project as it is an adaptive and
ad-hoc methodology. The number of sprints and their occurrence will determine the
end-date and the introduction of changes in the scope may bring up the situation of a
scope creep (Rajasekaran, 2015).
 It will be necessary to have the resources in the project team that may be self-
motivated and disciplined. Otherwise, the productivity levels will drop and the
chances of project delays and failure may go up.
 There are resources that leave the organization during the project lifecycle. In the
SCRUM projects, there is a lot of dependency and reliance on every team member
and in the case of an employee leaving the organization in between, the nature of
impact on the project may be too high.
 It will be difficult to quantify and measure the project quality unless there is a round
of regression testing carried out at the end of each sprint in the project.
The following drawbacks are associated with the RAD methodology that shall be considered
and paid attention to.
 The success and failure of the project will depend upon the skills and productivity
levels of the project team members. It will be necessary to have the resources in the
5

System Development Methodologies
project team that may be self-motivated and disciplined. Otherwise, the productivity
levels will drop and the chances of project delays and failure may go up
(Viswanathan, 2008).
 Extremely high dependence and reliance on the modelling skills of the resources
 There will be several technical tools that will be used in the project for the purpose of
development, design, and testing. These technical tools will have technical risks
associated with them. The methodology will not be able to function correctly in the
case of enhanced technical risks.
Comparison of RAD and SCRUM Methodologies
The two methodologies, SCRUM and RAD have various differences between each other.
These differences have been illustrated in the table below. The point of difference has been
included to explain and compare the two methodologies.
Point of Difference SCRUM Methodology RAD Methodology
Development and Delivery
Time
Shorter delivery cycles and
the development time will
also be short
Shortest delivery and
development cycles
Clarity among the team
members
Best Good
Daily stand-up meetings Carried out under this
methodology
Not carried out as per the
guidelines
Shared Workplace Yes No
Involvement of testing
processes
High Higher
Work Prioritization Yes No
Level of adaptability and
scalability
Very High Good
Level of Reliability Very High Moderately High
Quality Factors Yes No
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System Development Methodologies
Recommendations & Conclusion
The two methodologies that have been discussed for the project are SCRUM methodology
and RAD methodology. Out of these two, the methodology that is recommended for the
project is SCRUM methodology for system development. The decision has been taken as the
team members under SCRUM will have enhanced clarity levels as compared to RAD. Work
prioritization, reliability levels, scalability, and adaptability are also the features that are
offered better under SCRUM methodology. The new features of the mobile application will
be released at the end of every sprint. The product will therefore be released very early in the
development cycle which will make it easier for the organization to estimate and understand
the associated benefits and revenues. Enhanced transparency and monitoring across all the
sprints will make sure that the potential risks are identified earlier and the risk management
practices are also carried out in accordance with the risks that may have come up. The use of
the SCRUM methodology will allow the changes to be made in the scope of the systems;
however, the schedule and budget will not be disturbed. Cost control and schedule control
will be implemented in the project. The changes will be made possible through the SCRUM
methodology as the end products will be extremely scalable. The incorporation of the
changes will be done with minimal rework. Test processes will be carried out at every sprint
rather than carrying out the testing activities after the development phase. This will ensure
that the systems are free from defects and bugs and the user experience will be enhanced.
SCRUM is a sub-set of agile methodology for system development and it is an ad-hoc
methodology that is adaptive in nature. It is a methodology that is currently being used by a
majority of the business organizations as it provides agile, flexible, and scalable products as
the outcome. Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a part of the agile family and offers
fast project turnaround. It comprises of the phases as requirements planning, user design,
construction, and cutover.
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System Development Methodologies
References
Adi, P. (2015). Scrum Method Implementation in a Software Development Project
Management. International Journal Of Advanced Computer Science And
Applications, 6(9). doi: 10.14569/ijacsa.2015.060927
Carvalho, B., & Mello, C. (2011). Scrum agile product development method - literature
review, analysis and classification. Product Management & Development, 9(1), 39-
49. doi: 10.4322/pmd.2011.005
Dissanayake, N. (2014). Essential Features a General AJAX Rich Internet Application
Architecture Should Have in Order to Support Rapid Application Development.
International Journal Of Future Computer And Communication, 3(5), 350-353. doi:
10.7763/ijfcc.2014.v3.325
Kautz, K., Johanson, T., & Uldahl, A. (2014). The Perceived Impact of the Agile
Development and Project Management Method Scrum on Information Systems and
Software Development Productivity. Australasian Journal Of Information Systems,
18(3). doi: 10.3127/ajis.v18i3.1095
Lukasiewicz, K., & Miler, J. (2012). Improving agility and discipline of software
development with the Scrum and CMMI. IET Software, 6(5), 416. doi: 10.1049/iet-
sen.2011.0193
Mahnic, V. (2012). A Capstone Course on Agile Software Development Using Scrum. IEEE
Transactions On Education, 55(1), 99-106. doi: 10.1109/te.2011.2142311
Rajasekaran, V. (2015). Issues in Scrum Agile Development Principles and Practices in
software development. Indian Journal Of Science And Technology, 8(35). doi:
10.17485/ijst/2015/v8i35/79037
Viswanathan, V. (2008). Rapid Web Application Development: A Ruby on Rails Tutorial.
IEEE Software, 25(6), 98-106. doi: 10.1109/ms.2008.156
Yang, X., Wang, D., & Yu, D. (2012). Development and Application of Four Typical Rapid
Prototyping Technologies. Applied Mechanics And Materials, 160, 165-169. doi:
10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.160.165
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System Development Methodologies
Yu, D. (2011). Towards the Rapid Application Development Based on Predefined
Frameworks. Journal Of Software, 6(9). doi: 10.4304/jsw.6.9.1795-1804
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