Usage of agile methodology tops the chart, when discussing about reducing time to market in development process.
Of course agile methodology gives the framework for reducing time to market.
There are lots of other areas within the R&D domain that can be worked on to reduce “Time to Market” in a short and long term.
1. Reuse of Code/frameworks/tools/test cases/ etc.
- Reuse will reduce the time to write new code/test case/ etc.
- Reuse can be achieved in many ways – By using reuse repository for assets, knowledge sharing sessions, discussion groups, competencies, etc.
2. Automation testing (early the better)
- It will help to reduce the time to verify the effect of the changes done to the code base.
3. Use easy to develop frameworks, language, tools
- It’s difficult to get developers, testers with expertise in proprietary languages, tools.
- It’s also faster to develop the code in most cases with non-proprietary frameworks, tools and languages.
4. Regular retrospective
- Improve on continuous basis the areas that are hampering “Time to Market” and come up with new ideas to improve “Time to Market”
5. Design principles/Good coding practices – define at the start and review them on frequent basis
- Logging, threading, etc. Its saves time by doing it right the first time. More time will be spent on fixing the code, if done after much development is done.
6. Review by experts
- (Weekly) Frequent Review of code, design by experts to find the issues early rather than at later end of project.
- It also helps to share the knowledge across members.
7. Acceptance test driven development
- Acceptance test scenarios to be defined before start of the development/coding/.. This will help to reduce the defects.
8. Fast impediment solving
- Management team needs to resolve the impediments faster to improve teams productivity
9. Cut down or eliminate Dependencies
- Inspect all the dependencies that is causing the wait – Dependency of people, resources,
- Easy and transparent way to log the issues, dependencies to highlight and get it resolved.
10. Better Collaboration Tools and Practices (video conference, wiki, messenger, travel across centers …)
- Relevant for distributed R&D teams
- Clarification with business team , other dependent teams faster – reduce the wait time and increase the clarity of understanding the discussions
Please share what other practices worked for you in reducing time to market.
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