In the software world, solutions development takes place as a response to a specific problem statement. However, if the initial problem statement remains unsolved, all the money, effort, and time spent on software development is a waste, regardless of how efficiently it was invested.
For massive IT projects, where cycle times are longer, and feedback loops are much larger, the volume of waste increases exponentially. With IT integrated into so many aspects of the organization, these colossal wastes can sink the entire enterprise.
So, what are these wastes, and how can software teams efficiently manage them? Let’s find out!
In the software world, solution development happens in response to a specific problem statement. If, after all the money, effort, and time going into software development, if the initial problem statement remains unsolved, all the effort, irrespective of how efficiently it was invested, is a waste.
For massive IT projects, where cycle times are longer, and feedback loops much larger, the volume of wastes goes up incrementally. With IT touching so many aspects of the organization, these colossal wastes can sink the whole enterprise.
So, what are these wastes, and how can software teams efficiently manage them? Let’s find out!
Given the number of activities that application development entails, any activity that utilizes resources but does not add value to the end product/application is considered software manufacturing waste.
When looking at the bigger picture, the culmination of such wastes can spell doom for a project's delivery, and if left unchecked, can take an entire IT organization down. Being aware of the various software manufacturing wastes can help you to understand their impact and devise ways to curb them for better software development practices
Listed below are the seven most common software manufacturing wastes:
When you gain awareness of the various sources of waste you will be in a better position to not only understand them, but to work out strategies for their elimination.
Here are a few things you can do to effectively manage software manufacturing waste:
• Reduce feedback cycle time: As software projects get increasingly complex, the size of a batch, or a unit of work starts to increase in size. Larger batches directly impact the risk profile; the bigger they are, the longer it takes to receive feedback. Longer feedback cycles will lead to a pile up of tasks or tickets in the queue, exponentially increasing the risk profile. Therefore, it is advisable to switch to lean product development, driving teams to reduce batch sizes, thereby reducing cycle times while increasing potential learning points over time. Since smaller batches clear the way for the prioritization of work, there is a continuous flow of development with shorter, predictable feedback cycles. Reducing batch sizes also helps constrain work in progress while accelerating time to market.
• Drive Enterprise Agility: New technologies are continually disrupting the software development landscape; customer demands are evolving, and the market is getting more and more competitive. Enterprise agility can enable IT teams to move faster, be more adaptable, and responsive to changing business dynamics at a reduced cost. For software teams that are looking to keep work in progress or inventory levels low while releasing to production as soon as possible, methodologies like Agile, Scrum and automation of CI/CD are your only weapons. Enterprise agility provides much-needed visibility into the software development lifecycle while allowing teams to leverage prioritization framework, achieve integrated traceability while driving continuous communication and collaboration. Through automation and integrated dashboards, teams can combine the efficiencies of scale with speed, flexibility, and resilience, allowing them to achieve unprecedented software manufacturing enterprise agility.
• Enable Integrated ALM: A more efficient way of curbing software manufacturing waste is to have Integrated ALM and DevOps in place. DevOps-enabled ALM ensures software products are supported well beyond initial development. It helps the teams manage product development more comprehensively and ensures operational delivery excellence by integrating governance, development, and maintenance activities. With a single view into the development process, teams are in a better position to define the workflow across the software development lifecycle (SDLC), including deliverables and milestones. Such transparency enables teams to drive better communication, align software objectives with business goals, improve traceability, and get their software up to speed in a competitive environment.
The software delivery world is constantly undergoing transformation. Teams must do what it takes to keep pace with these transformations; those who cannot adapt will end up losing the battle.
As every organization looks to maximize customer value, understanding and curbing software manufacturing waste becomes a priority. Several types of waste are caused due to motion, inventory, waiting, rework, overproduction, transportation, and underutilized resources.
IT organizations and software teams need to embrace policies and practices that can help them quickly identify and rectify sources of waste to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of software delivery. This includes shortening feedback cycles, driving enterprise agility, and enabling integrated ALM. By discarding features and activities that do not add value to the end product, you can minimize wastes, maximize customer value, and improve the effectiveness of delivery for your teams.