Could anyone please suggest a software process suitable to the work our team?
- We are a team of 6 developers (mostly juniors).
- We are supporting the ordering system for an online book store (similar to Amazon books).
- The system is already online and functioning.
- Most of the work is task based. Sometimes there is a bug that needs immediate fixing or a new module that needs to be added to the system.
- Most of the time each developer is working on a separate module of bug which it’s estimated time could range from few hours to few days.
- Our customers (the management department) are located in another country (we are being outsourced) so requirements take a long time to verify or discuss.
You can view us mainly as a team of freelancers each waiting for a task to be handed to him. Sometimes if a big module is required 2 or 3 developers start working together on it, but that’s when things starts going bad as we lack a well defined software process to adhere too.
Notes:
- The Waterfall model clearly fails in our case as our team is responsible for gathering the requirements, designing, coding and testing everything.
- We tried adopting Agile practices, but it was a complete failure mainly because of points 4, 5 & 6. There is no iteration or prototypes in our work.
So We are looking for a software process that can help us organize our work and provide an acceptable output.
You say you’re mainly Juniors. So, learn to walk before you try to run. I suggest you try a staged delivery model. And I also suggest you try reading this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Software-Project-Survival-Guide-Practices/dp/1572316217