Preamble

Fulfillment of the project on time is a key factor in a successfully completed project, as poorly planned project leads to cost overruns and financial losses on the client side. It is necessary to establish the boundaries of project development with the help of the following methodologies:

Waterfall and Agile (Scrum)

Project development methodologies significantly affect project implementation timelines.

Waterfall Work Planning (Waterfall Methodology)

This method implies a strictly consistent implementation on each stage of the project. The transition from stage to stage is possible only after the successful completion of the previous stage. There are no requirement changes while project development.

These sequence constraints allow you to build a transparent development process.

Pros:

• High transparency of development and project stages
• Clear sequence of stages
• Stability requirements

Cons:

• The Customer has no opportunity to get acquainted with the system in advance and even with the “Pilot” of the system
• The user does not have the opportunity to get used to the product gradually
• All requirements must be known at the beginning of the project life cycle

Work planning with agile Scrum and Agile methodologies

The team works in short cycles called sprints. Sprint lengths are usually between two and four weeks. At the end of each sprint, the team shows a new working version of the product.

Sprint structure consists of:

Sprint planning, implementation of new functions, testing, release of a new version of the product.

Pros:

• opportunity to make changes in requirements at any time;
• a new version of the work product every 2-4 weeks;
• the ability to quickly launch a project with the highest priority functions.

Cons:

• Difficulties in concluding contracts. Scrum does not imply a fixed budget and a fixed technical task, which makes it difficult to legalize such agreements.

How to determine the duration of work?

The formula for determining the duration of project development is the same for both methodologies, but it is used in different ways. For the waterfall methodology, the formula is applied for all stages at once, and for the Scrum methodology for each sprint separately.

Formula:

Duration of work = (volume of work) / (productivity)

The scope of work is determined after the preparation of technical specifications or aggregation of requirements. The project is divided into UserStory (functions), and functions are divided into smaller tasks. The team that is involved in the development of the project, becomes responsible for the evaluation of the tasks.

Efficiency. People’s productivity can vary and depends on a large number of factors.

What methodology should I choose?

The waterfall development method is used in large and average projects, when several programmers are working on a project at once, in government projects or in projects where the requirements and boundaries are transparent and precisely known at the beginning of the project life time.

Scrum should be used when it is necessary to release the finished product quickly and update it, focusing on user reviews. It is usually applied in startup or dynamically developing projects.

Methodologies overlap in terms of means and are partially alike.

1. Where does each project start?
   The project starts with meeting managers, finding out the goals and objectives of the project. Managers conduct an initial briefing and you tell them what project you want to get.
2. Analysis of the information collected
   Aggregation of requirements is a stage where the “skeleton” of the project is created. The goals and objectives of the project are clearly indicated and the structure of the project is created.
   If we use the waterfall methodology, the development of the Terms of Reference is ongoing right after the aggregation of requirements.
   When applying the Scrum methodology, a backlog is compiled and then we have the transition to the next stage.
   The aggregation of requirements duration: 2-4 days, depending on the complexity of the project.
   The duration of the technical task: more than 4 days, depending on the complexity of the project.
3. Design. At this stage, the logic of the software is agreed upon. The operation of all sections of the application is described. At the output, the developers can already imagine how much time and staff the project will take.
   If we use the waterfall methodology, this stage is done for the entire project and lasts from about 10 days.
   If we use the Scrum methodology, this step is done for each sprint.
4. Project implementation. Depending on the chosen methodology, the development takes place in different ways:
   

   Waterfall methodology - Software implementation. The embodiment of a full-fledged project. - Product testing. Test operation of the product. - System integration. Product introduction (installation and commissioning).

   Scrum There are 4 stages in each sprint: - Planning. The team checks the tasks and selects the highest priorities. - Performance. Specialists work altogether: while the programmer creates the code, the tester writes tests, and the technical writer writes documentation. - Release.The team presents the results of its work. - Retrospective. The team discusses sprint and problems encountered. All together they think how to improve the work and do more in the next sprint.

5. Project completion:
   Documentation - the transfer of accumulated knowledge to users and other developers.
   Implementation - software installation, user training.
   Maintenance - correction of identified errors, user support.

Conclusion

The work with Scrum is done with a lower price and with the portioned issue of ready-made product updates. The waterfall methodology implies a fixed large payment for the final version of the project, usually without demonstration of intermediate results.