Question

Explain traditional IT project management, Agile project management, and the DevOps methodology. How and why are organizations shifting how they are treating IT projects and capabilities?

How did the shift in practices in the book ( The Phoenix Project) lead to success for Parts unlimited?

Answer 1

Traditional project management is a universal practice which includes a set of developed techniques used for planning, estimating, and controlling activities. The aim of those techniques is to reach the desired result on time, within budget, and in accordance with specifications.

Traditional project management is mainly used on projects where activities are completed in a sequence and there are rarely any changes.

The concept of traditional project management is based on predictable experience and predictable tools. Each project follows the same life cycle, which includes five stages: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing.

Agile Project Management (APM) is an iterative approach to planning and guiding project processes.

Just as in Agile Software Development, an Agile project is completed in small sections. These sections are called iterations. In Agile Software Development, for instance, an iteration refers to a single development cycle. Each section or iteration is reviewed and critiqued by the project team, which should include representatives of the project's various stakeholders. Insights gained from the critique of an iteration are used to determine what the next step should be in the project.

The main benefit of Agile Project Management is its ability to respond to issues as they arise throughout the course of the project. Making a necessary change to a project at the right time can save resources and, ultimately, help deliver a successful project on time and within budget.

Agile project methodology breaks down projects into small pieces that are completed in work sessions that run from the design phase to testing and quality assurance (QA). These sessions are often called sprints, the term for iteration used in one specific and popular Agile development method known as Scrum.

Sprints are generally short, running over days or weeks; they're typically two to four weeks long.

How APM works

Agile teams build rapid feedback, continuous adaptation and QA best practices into their iterations.

They adopt practices such as continuous deployment (CD) and continuous integration (CI), using technology that automates steps to speed up the release and use of products.

Additionally, Agile Project Management calls for teams to continuously evaluate time and cost as they move through their work. They use velocity, burn down and burn up charts to measure their work, instead of Gantt charts and project milestones to track progress.

Agile Project Management does not require the presence or participation of a project manager. Although a project manager is essential for success under the traditional project-delivery methodologies, such as the waterfall model (where the position manages the budget, personnel, project scope, quality, requirements and other key elements), the project manager's role under APM is distributed among team members.

DevOps is a software development methodology that combines software development (Dev) with information technology operations (Ops) participating together in the entire service lifecycle, from design through the development process to production support.

The goals of DevOps

Fast Development Methodologies

Fast Quality Assurance Methodologies

Fast Deployment Methodologies

Faster time to market

Iteration & Continuous Feedback (strong and continuous communication between stakeholders — the end users and customers, product owners, development, quality assurance, and production engine.

organizations are shifting methodologies because:-

1)for developing High quality of products/apps

2)Pro identification of issues/bugs

3)Modification is easy

4)Lower Risk Involved

5)Easy to supervise

success of shift practices includes:-

1) Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software.

2 ) People and interactions are emphasized rather than process and tools. Customers, developers and testers constantly interact with each other.

3) Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months).

4) Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication.

5) Close daily cooperation between business people and developers.

6) Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design.

7) Regular adaptation to changing circumstances.

8) Even late changes in requirements are welcomed.