Question

1. What are some of the Advantages and disadvantages of a parallel development process? What Obstacles might a firm face in attempting to adopt a parallel Process?

2. Can you identify an example of a development project and what type of team you believe they used? Do you think this was the appropriate type of team given the nature of the project?

3 .Can you identify one or more circumstances when a company might wish to delay introducing its product?

Answer 1

(1)

The advantages of a parallel development process are :

• Eliminates the need for iteration between the product design and process design stages .For instance ,if there is any change in the product requirements originating from the suppliers or the end customers,the process can be appropriately tailored to address the need.Thus leading to shorter cycle time and faster time to market.
• The product/service provided by the organization can be relevant or current in the market and adopt latest trends and technologies which is critical for the organization's growth and success.

The disadvantages are as follows:

• The parallel development process incurs cost to the organization to address the change in the requirements arising after the process has been started.The company should bear the rework production costs leading to loss of profits for the organization.
• Also,the organization need to have huge and highly skilled resource pool to harness the advantages of parallel development process.This may not be ideal for small organizations.

(2)Taking software development project(web development) for a major banking client as an example.

The team was cross functional team composed of Technical Architect,Program Manager,Project Manager,Project Lead and Software Developers.This team was appopriate because any changes in the project from the end users was captured by the technical architect who would then redesign the entire workflow of the project.The team employed agile development methodology which is very essential for a client in the banking industry.

(3)The company might wish to delay introducing its product:

a) If the company finds a similar product launched recently in the market with better or enhanced features than its product.The company would thus need time to add these features into their product as well.

b)If the company produces a product in new category ,the company delays its product until consumers are aware and educated about the specific product.

c)If the product/service cannot live upto the expectations of the market.The company might continue to delay its launch in a move to increase the chances of success.