Why Distributed Agile Method?

• Start test cycles early
• Make 100% test coverage easier to attain
• Incremental addition of complexity

• Actual velocity can be measured early in the process
• Delivery of working software is repeated several times within a release
• Progress can be measured without requiring faith in the method itself

• Shorter cycles force engineers to automate builds, unit tests and deployments
• Repeating the same process several times within the release cycle increases accuracy

• Team communication is structured around short meetings and more disciplined use of tracking and wiki systems
• Product Requirements and Design processes are more intense and detailed
• Design and Code Review processes utilize more automation and asynchroneous steps
• Product Release processes are included to bring quality products to market - not only applications to users
• Product Maintenance and Support processes are included to cover the complete SPE lifecycle
• Simple implementation due to wrapping existing engineering practices (Extreme Programming, RUP, etc.)
• 80-20 Agile-Waterfall infrastructure
• Clearly documented work practices
• Simple but effective tools

Phases of Method

Product Management
Adaptive product requirement and release management programs

Engineering Planning and Design
Combined waterfall and iterative processes to define product scope, schedule and design

Engineering Development and Test
Iterative processes for flexible and measurable software development. Iterations of 3-5 weeks include all design, coding and test work to deliver a testable system satisfying specified business requirements

Quality Assurance
Combined waterfall and iterative processes to plan, develop and execute thorough quality management practices

Post Release Development Processes
Product maintenance and support processes

Roles
The minimal set of job roles needed to execute the Method