Using Extreme Programming to Manage High-Risk Projects Successfully

Abstract

Today, software development and its process management is a demanding task. The development company must reach the project goals on time and in budget. On the other hand, requirements change daily, developers are not domain experts and customers want to maintain close control of the project. Web application development has increased this challenge as new project-management issues have to be met. Extreme Programming (XP), a lightweight development process, is designed to meet the challenge. We have used XP successfully in a number of projects and attained the goals mentioned above. Using XP enabled us to deliver software on time and in budget, while supporting close communication between the (potential) customer and the development team as requirements changed daily. One to two releases per customer per week (two per day at the peak) indicate the flexibility and risk-minimising capabilities of the process. This allowed optimal control and planning of the projects by the development company. We illustrate our experiences using one particular time-critical project.