How Software Consulting Services Help You Choose the Right Project Model?

What factors drive the success of your software development initiative? Hiring a software development company stands at the top, while it’s safe to say that project planning is equally important.

Your project’s outcome hinges entirely on clearly defining its scope, team roles, duties, deadlines, and tasks. Q2M’s 25+ years of experience in software consulting services helps organizations of all sizes to create effective software development plans and deliver high-quality solutions within time and cost constraints. Here is a detailed description of how we plan a software development project.

Planning in Agile Models

1. Scrum

At Q2M, we leverage the Scrum framework to organize software development project planning in short development cycles, known as sprints. The duration of each sprint is between one and four weeks. During this time, one or two pieces of the app are built to address a user story.

The end goal is to build a solution that solves a specific user story. User stories are simple descriptions of what a real user wants to do, for example: As a user, I want to edit a video. This structure keeps everyone aligned and enables top-tier delivery. For regular check-ins, sprints repeat until the full project is delivered.

Planning Participants:

In Scrum, a collaborative, multi-skilled group including the product owner, analysts, testers, developers, and QA experts drives the project roadmap.

The Planning Process:

Before the sprint kickoff, the product owner refines the backlog. In this process, new user stories are added as new business needs are discovered, user stories that are no longer needed are removed, and user stories are split if they are too big for one sprint.

In the initial stage of a sprint, a meeting is set among the planning participants to come to a common goal for the new sprint. Teams then review sprint specifics, like deliverables and timelines.

2. Kanban

The core philosophy behind the Kanban Agile management method is continuous improvement. Q2M adopts this popular approach for the planning of software projects that are not constrained to fixed timeframes or cycles. The Kanban methodology is about daily workflow and processes. 

This framework is applied using Kanban boards, a visual project management tool, where each task is displayed as a card. The columns represent the status of tasks.

Planning Participants:

A project owner, project manager, business analysts, team lead, and other project members, including designers, testers, developers, and data analysts.

Planning Process:

Q2M’s project manager decides the chronology of tasks that are to be completed, based on the needs of the project. For instance, UI designers craft e-commerce landing pages with fresh ideas, coders implement shopping cart features, and testers validate user-friendliness. High-level tasks are broken down into smaller pieces so that they can be completed as quickly as possible.

3. Extreme Programming (XP)

This is one of the most important and popular software development frameworks, which is why Q2M uses it to deliver high-quality software. This method focuses on providing continuous feedback, collaboration, and adaptation.

Planning Participants:

Project owner, project manager, and business analysts are involved in the planning process.

Planning Process:

The life cycle of Extreme Programming (XP) consists of three core phases:

• Planning: The initial stage is known as planning. The client and team at Q2M sit together to discuss the business needs and how this project will help them achieve these needs. The in-depth description of each need is known as a user story, and the team looks into them and comes up with a schedule to release these efforts.

• Design: Using simple analogies, only the required design is created by the Q2M team.

• Testing: Extreme Programming (XP) places great emphasis on rigorous testing to build robust software in less time. The team performs two types of tests: unit tests and acceptance tests.

Planning in Linear Models

Waterfall Methodology

The waterfall methodology is best used for projects that depend on a fixed outcome. Due to rigorous planning, there is no room for confusion, allowing completion within time and budget constraints.

This is a replicable process, which means that if your project succeeds, the process can be used again for projects with similar requirements.

The waterfall methodology is perfect for teams such as startups and small businesses with simple requirements. Since these projects won’t have complex requirements, they are best suited for the waterfall model, with predictable outcomes.

Planning Participants:

The planning participants include a project owner, a project manager, business analysts, and a test manager.

Planning Process:

There are five phases in the waterfall methodology, including requirements, design, implementation, verification, and maintenance.

How Q2M Avoids Potential Planning Pitfalls?

Q2M’s experience and expert planning of software revolve around the following two major aspects: following instructions properly and considering potential planning pitfalls.

• At Q2M, we have a shared definition of success and ‘done,’ so that from product designers, engineers, QA, to leaders, everyone knows when the project is ready to go, and how to measure its success.

• We empower cross-functional teams that focus on providing the best solutions rather than just completing the task. The skills, experience, and expertise of our team empower them to make decisions, do what’s needed the most, and take full responsibility for the final products.

• Leaders at Q2M provide a sense of safety and support to their team by having executives model Agile behaviors, sponsoring Agile training, and aligning KPIs.

• With feedback loops, we discover patterns that need correction or improvement.

Which Planning Approach Is Best Suitable for My Project?

If you are still confused about which software development initiative will suit you better, you can get in touch with us. Q2M, a software development company, helps you choose an approach that is tailored to the nature and needs of your project.