Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

In this chapter, we will consider how some of the agile techniques talked about thus far can fit with more traditional software engineering methods. In particular, we will focus on the Unified Process (also known as the Rational Unified Process or RUP) and PRINCE2.

Okay, so if you have got as far as this in the book, it is likely that you are quite keen to implement an agile approach. However, youmust now persuade people within your own organisation that they should consider doing this. This may be no mean feat in its own right. To help you, this chapter discusses how you might approach the process of persuading an organisation that they should consider applying agile practices.

As with many things in life, the right set of tools can make a huge difference to an agile development project. There are a number of tasks that can be made much easier and simpler by employing the correct supporting tools. In this chapter, we will look at some of the tools available and how they can be used. All the tools we will look at are open-source and freely available. This is not to say that only open-source tools can be of help, merely that these tools do not cost anything to obtain and therefore the initial up-front costs involved are minimal. This means that if you wish to experiment with an agile project and want some tools to help you do that you should have little trouble obtaining them. In some of the cases, they are also commercial tools that can be used instead and depending upon your environment you may decide to/need to use those instead. Personally, I have found these open-source tools more than adequate.

In this chapter, we will consider some of the obstacles that can be encountered when trying to introduce an agile approach into an organisation. We will also try to suggest some approaches to overcome these obstacles (although the suggestions made in Chapter 12 regarding introducing an agile project are still important).