Software development methodology is actually the whole process undergone in the development of software. This involves series of steps like researching, planning, analyzing, designing, coding etc. In short we could say the developers are working on customizing software to the needs it has to serve. Leveraging experience, industry knowledge and technology to create software, are some of the basic norms involved in the development methodology.

Have you ever wondered how fast technology has been developing in the recent years compared to earlier times? Just imagine what technology we had just two years back and how different it is in the present day. Even our life styles have changed beyond recognition because most of our tasks have become simpler and easier, we can get things done much faster and more efficiently. One of the reasons for this is the advance in software development. Things have started happening all around us, things which were once in our wildest dreams has come in reach of our finger tips. What causes all this? You will again come up with the very same answer software development? All these happenings are due to the hard work and toil put in by teams of software developers

When we speak of software methodology what comes readily to mind is agile methodology which is a more recent term in the software industry. Meaning, just as the word suggests the ability to be agile with technology. It may also be described as being versatile with the practice or more fashionably put as changing with the changing trends. Not every industry can boast of advancing from well established practice and being accepted widely. But with software development if you can provide value then everyone will look forward to embracing you.

When particular software is developed hundreds of similar ones crop up every where so selecting the best could become an ache in the back. So if it is quality you require please stand by the time tested and experienced developers who do not compromise on quality. They will also see to it that the software is updated with newer versions and will not let you bother with such details. It is common now to see one software technology being replaced with another more advanced more developed and simpler products. Every industry has its share of software and technology developments and most of them are eagerly looking forward to what new product the software development methodology is bending on providing them.

In our experience, agile and iterative methodologies are more reliable and lower risk than using more traditional ‘waterfall’ style methods for software development. We have also found that various Agile software methods such as eXtreme Programming (XP), Scrum, Unified Process (UP) and Evo supply important and useful paradigms for reliable delivery of software development projects.

We believe that one potential weakness of these methods is the reliance on regular ongoing testing between iterations to ensure software quality, without providing specific processes or tools to define or facilitate this testing. We have successfully utilised the Six Sigma problem solving methodology DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) within each iteration to improve the reliability of the software development process. The key to the success of this methodology is its focus on using data-driven tools to identify what is to be changed and then to monitor the actual impact of changes in a feedback loop.

Most software project failures are the result of business needs not being correctly understood or by overly optimistic software development estimates. These errors lead to long delays and large cost overruns. The traditional mechanism for ensuring that requirements are understood and that estimates are accurate is to engage in lengthy up-front analysis, design and planning. Unfortunately this approach is inflexible and is inappropriate for the majority of real-world projects. Agile methods use an iterative approach to ensure that flexibility is an inherent component of the project however this can lead to a lack of clarity as to whether the deliverable is tracking to goal. By applying Six Sigma concepts of defining, quantifying and measuring key delivery factors we can monitor overall delivery and quality of the resulting software without resorting to “analysis paralysis” in the early stages.

The specific parameters to be measured and analysed will be project dependent and should relate directly to the ultimate end-user functionality of the software being developed. In addition, we have found that some useful key indicators for software quality include measurements of numbers of defects found in a test cycle, the percentage of rework per iteration (the number of requirements which need to be re-implemented during one cycle) and the number of new features which are logged after one cycle.

We believe that Six Sigma provides a framework and effective tools that support reliable Agile software development project delivery. Based on our experience, we strongly recommend combining Six Sigma with Agile and Iterative software development methodologies.