At DSoft Technology, we subscribe to the Agile Scrum Methodology commonly used in software development. Agile methodology has been around for decades and has matured into a flexible, acceptable, and preferred method for creating software. When it fits the client, we use a hybrid approach incorporating some additional deliverables from traditional Waterfall methods.

We do not recommend using a strict Waterfall approach, but the project team should keep an open mind and include Waterfall artifacts when appropriate. For example, sometimes a Waterfall Use Case rather than a User Story is most appropriate. Some of our deliverables come from the Waterfall methodology.

We use the Scrum framework to develop software and manage projects. It is considered a best practice approach for software development. Scrum helps teams' structure and manage their work following an iterative, incremental approach. It is made up of a series of sprints that are time boxed into two-to-four-week increments. Ideally, sprint time frames are decided upon by the project team at the start of a project.

A Sprint Planning or Product Backlog Grooming Session is held at the beginning of the project and sprint. Estimates for tasks are then given by the respective teams such as business analysts, database administrators and software engineers.

A Sprint Retrospective follows each sprint to make sure the team accomplished what was expected in a sprint. During the sprint, work is accomplished by all roles and contributed to the overall effort of the project.

The purpose of having short increments of time to work within is to break the work out into reasonable efforts. Some kind of functionality or other requirement is to be completed within a sprint. Added benefits include providing constant accountability to the project sponsors and to end users.