The Economics of Iterative Software Development (paperback): Steering Toward Better Business Results by Walker Royce

by Walker Royce

Results-Based Software Management: Achieve Better Outcomes with Finite Resources

Effective software development is no longer merely an IT concern: today, it is crucial to the entire enterprise. However, most businesspeople are not ready to make informed decisions about software initiatives. The Economics of Iterative Software Development: Steering Toward Better Business Results will prepare them. Drawing on decades of software development and business experience, the authors demonstrate how to utilize practical, economics-based techniques to plan and manage software projects for maximum return on technology investments.

The authors begin by dispelling widespread myths about software costs, explaining why traditional, "engineering-based" software management introduces unacceptable inefficiencies in today's development environments. Next, they show business and technical managers how to combine the principles of economics and iterative development to achieve optimal results with limited resources. Using their techniques, readers will learn how to build systems that enable maximum business innovation and process improvement-and implement software processes that allow them to do so consistently.

Highlights include:
How to repeatedly quantify the value a project is delivering and quickly adjust course as needed
How to reduce software project size, complexity, and other "project killers"
How to identify and eliminate software development processes that don't work
How to improve development processes, reduce rework, mitigate risk, and identify inefficiencies
How to create more proficient teams by improving individual skills, team interactions, and organizational capability
Where to use integrated, automated tools to improve effectiveness
What to measure, and when: specific metrics for project inception, elaboration, construction, and transition

Paperback

First published March 17, 2009

Reviews

[Bob Schatz]

Congratulations Walker for communicating what your father Winston tried to tell the software world 40 years ago. The waterfall was a "virus" wrongfully extracted from Winston Royce's famous 1970 paper "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems". You should have dedicated the book to him!

While some things in this book may be misleading for the agile novice, it contains the sound advice and core reasons why companies need to improve by implementing agile processes. The basic premise is sound and the key factors of reducing complexity, getting the right people, improving the process, and creating a great development environment will help companies ready to make that commitment have a much better chance of beating the odds.

[Ben Linders · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book covers iterative development, and how companies can apply it. It didn't give me real new insights or ideas. Also, in a book with "economics" in the title I would expect more data or examples on how to define the business case for iterative development.