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Software development cycle for a support team


Could anyone please suggest a software process suitable to the work our team?

  1. We are a team of 6 developers (mostly juniors).
  2. We are supporting the ordering system for an online book store (similar to Amazon books).
  3. The system is already online and functioning.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.


Solution

  • 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