Mobility Projects and Project Mangement Methodologies : Adapt alongwith Agile

            The proliferation of mobile devices, advancement in technology, advent of Cloud, demand of people and mobile workforce have imposed a new challenge on enterprises to think and launch multiple projects in Mobility to cater to the demand. At the same time, it is evident that, the success of projects will depend on how the enterprises and data are structured and processed in the backend and how seamlessly the new channel of mobile can fetch and render the data to the end users. 

            Hence, in this aspect, the projects can really be divided in 3 phases and in my view different project management models need to be adapted to meet the requirement with the core phase aligned towards Agile methodologies. There cannot be a single sacrosanct model for success for all phases.

Explore Phase :

In this phase, enterprises try to explore the real need, establishing the customer base, ROI model and business value. It is time to cut the flab, establish the reality from the myths which are doing rounds in the nascent stage of Mobility. This is a long cycle and highly debated and is best managed by Strategic leadership in consultation with SMEs. It also needs to be strongly backed by collaborating efforts from Marketing Departments insights and research, funding allocation from Finance and supported and governed by Portfolio management.

Develop Phase:

Once the customer base and high level projects are approved, it is time to turn the vision into reality and the real projects come into life. Organizations need to choose the right model for the execution of the projects. 

i ) Project Management model :

Lets consider the scope of Mobility projects as the projects which will deliver the value of access of data to the devices. In that case, in my opinion, Agile methodology should be adapted by the orginazations. If the projects need a transformation project in the infrastructure itself, traditional waterfall models/iterative models should be right fit for the transformation part which can be further sub-contracted and the presentation to devices should be taken in the Agile way. My viewpoint are driven from the challenges of projects and which are handled better in what methodologies : 

Parameters	Value	Agile Methodology	Waterfall Model
Requirements Volatility	High	Y	N
Availability of SMEs	Low – pair programming will ensure “first time right” and cross-pollination of knowledge	Y	N
Stability of Technical Blueprint	Low – This enforces frequent change of requirements and quick adaptability and flexibility is favoured more in Agile compared to Change Requests.	Y	N
Duration of projects	Short – though the small duration projects can be handled in both methodologies, but other factors weigh in more for Agile. But, from this perspective, the effect is somewhat neutral.	Y	Y
Value delivery and customer touchpoints	High – The profile of projects require continuous delivery to customers for early feedback and hence, continuous integration is also mandatory, which weighs more in favour of Agile.	Y	N

2. Financial model
   If the projects are run under contract, better financial model will be “Time and Material” compared to “Fixed Price Project” as the former will provide better flexibility to accommodate requirement volatility.

3. Project Manager or Technical Manager

If the projects are run in Agile mode and teams are self-managed, there is a question whether a full time Project Management Professional is required or not. In my opinion, Technical Project Manager who is well connected with Technology nuances and can connect with the team on ground and well versed in management techniques will be a right fit for the role of Project Manager.

3. Support Phase 

Designing the right model for Support for the products/services offered is also extremely critical. As the size of the projects are small, but the variety of support requirement for different apps for different platforms are high, keeping dedicated people with right skillset becomes an enormous cost for the enterprises who offer the services. So, unless the number of projects and customers are high, time-sharing will not work and setup of Helpdesks become a costly affair. This is where, niche Mobility players struggle and traditional Service Providers working on an outsourced model score higher. Before embarking the journey of mobility, enterprises must think of the Support and maintainability structure considering the following parameters.

• Requirement of users and volume

• Criticality of the mobile channel (e.g. if it involves financial gateway integration etc)

• Availability of alternative channels like web
• IP Protection

• Total Cost of Ownership etc.

© Pallab Sen, 2012

Disclaimer : The views are personal and based on my experience.