Selecting a Contractor Proficient in the RUP


Suppose you are a manager in an outsourcing organization, and you have read enough about the RUP to believe that it is a better process for developing software. How do you select a contractor that is fluent in the RUP? How can you be sure the contractor really follows the best practices? Consider these points when evaluating contractors:

  • Look for contractors that have established a partnership with IBM Rational. One way to do this is to attend the annual IBM Rational Software Development Conferences. Many partners of IBM Rational present papers regularly at these conferences on a variety of topics. Some also have booths at the exhibit hall where you can speak to representatives of the company.

  • Find out if the contractor certifies its engineers. IBM Rational partners can obtain many certifications for their engineers. Certainly, certification in the RUP is valuable, and also for the supporting tools.

In addition, ask the contractor questions about previous projects on which it has applied the RUP. Some of the suggestions in the following list do not necessarily have right or wrong answers, but they can provide insight into the contractor's philosophy regarding the RUP:

  • How do you tailor the RUP for individual projects? What factors do you consider when tailoring the RUP for a given project?

  • Give examples of projects in which major problems were averted as a result of uncovering risk early through iterative development.

  • How long are typical iterations on a project?

  • How do you identify the appropriate architecture for a project? What factors do you consider, and how do you prove that the architecture is viable?

  • What process do you use to elicit and manage requirements? How are changes to the requirements managed? How do you manage changes in scope to the project requirements?




Project Management with the IBM Rational Unified Process(c) Lessons from the Trenches
Project Management with the IBM Rational Unified Process: Lessons From The Trenches
ISBN: 0321336399
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 166

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