Project Plan

Methodology

The project will follow a Scrum development process. The team's client is almost always available for discussion, so they can use this to receive constant feedback on the quality of the product. The client also has access to our code repository, so he is able to review the program's functionality any time he pleases. The client will be able to test the application on his own system, so the project team will know ahead of time of their program works correctly on the system on which it is to be deployed.

The team favors individual work with periodic coordination meetings. They use weekly meetings to task out objectives to each member. These weekly "sprints" allow the team to focus in on specific aspects of the project, breaking it up into smaller pieces steadily over a regular time period. Smaller objectives also make new requirements easier to handle, as the shorter task periods make for quicker adjustments to the application.

Testing

The project will use a test-first policy to in order to assert that all code meets the client's requirements. The interface is simplistic and consists of basic web forms, so testing it is a lower priority than testing the framework of the program.

The time and resources it takes to create and configure a virtual machine is too great for testing purposes. Instead, it is advised that the project team use mock components to test the program and how it interfaces with VMware. This will allow them to both automate testing and complete it within a reasonable amount of time.

Change Requests

All communication with the client is done either through email or recorded conference call, so any change request will already be in writing. The intent is to have a table with the documentation that lists all of the required features and their statuses relative to being completely implemented. When the client requests a new feature or changes to an existing one, the team will update the table to reflect the changes made by the client.