Rapid and flexible product development : an analysis of software projects at Hewlett Packard an Agilent

Abstract

Before companies started competing on Internet time, most companies involved in software product development carried out the different phases of the product development sequentially. If, during the later stages of product development (ex: coding), the company came across new information or the user needs changed then these changes would be incorporated into the next version of the product otherwise risk shipping the product late. Rapid innovation in the technological areas and the Internet has created very dynamic environment in all walks of life. In this environment, the user needs are changing very rapidly resulting in new challenges for the companies and its product development managers. They have to respond to the changing needs of the users very quickly either with rapid product releases and/or incorporating the changes into product under development. To achieve this, companies need a product development strategy that allows them to incorporate changes at any stage in the product development without affecting their time-to-market. This thesis focuses on strategies for rapid and flexible software product development. This research will study systematically the range of approaches that producers of software and hardware use for product development.