Overview of the Current Project Execution Methodology (“The What?”)

Avanceon’s existing Project Management Methodology is V Lifecycle, which is a methodology and framework for the software development life cycle. It is based on step by step approach – in line with Waterfall Project Methodology and sometimes it is also called the Verification and Validation model. V Lifecycle Model is defined in many software and safety standards such as EN 50128.

Moreover, V Lifecycle has many well-defined phases with each phase interlinked with downstream and upstream phases. Importantly, a new phase can only start once the previous phase has been completed and approved.

V Lifecycle begins with the Verification Part on the Left side of V Lifecycle and has the Requirements Gathering Phase, followed by System Analysis, System Design, and Software Development Phase. The Right side of the V Lifecycle consists of the Validation Part and has Unit Testing, Integration Testing, System Testing, and Final Acceptance Phases.

In Avanceon’s V Lifecycle framework – the Proposal Process is the start of the V Lifecycle and it leads to Development and Design Activities. Based on the formal approval of Design Activities – The development of Software is completed which leads to Verification Activities which include, Unit/Module Tests, Integration and Pre-FAT (Factory Acceptance Tests), FAT, and SAT (Site Acceptance Tests). V lifecycle is concluded once formal Training is imparted and Project Acceptance is signed off.

Key Shortcomings of Existing Project Execution Methodology (“The Why?”)

1. Shift towards Agile methodology, as well as Projects including very frequent changes and unclear Scope as well as Requirements. Moreover, this can potentially enable Avanceon to align Payment Milestone with the completion of each Sprint (Scrum Sprint)
2. Avanceon’s business shift to more Software/SCADA-based Projects, which is a clear deviation from conventional Projects – such as SCADA projects, Cloud Based Projects, OC Projects, Complex Software Integration Projects etc. require an Agile Project approach.
3. Feedback from Internal Users, indicates that there is a need to update V Lifecycle as the existing Model is linear with no option of incorporating frequent changes as well as lots of wasted man-hours on Documents instead of Development.
4. Feedback from End Clients, shows that with time their expectations have changed and they don’t want to review long Design Documents and instead are more interestedin reviewing working Software.
5. Potential to Improve Project Cash Flows, Moving to Agile approach – will result in 4-6-week cycle of Invoicing and Collection based on a pre-decided Backlog of deliverables

What is Agile and Key Value Proposition (“The How?”)

The Agile methodology is a project management approach that involves breaking the project into phases and emphasizes continuous collaboration and improvement. Teams follow a cycle of planning, executing, and evaluating

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan
5. That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.