PAGE 62

| | Z SWAT team works within a fixed inter-
nona Small, highly val of time, known as the Timebox.

tratned teams of The goal of SWAT team management
IS personnel, is to group together high performers
sometimes called and train them intensively in the use of
SWAT teams, are the most powerful tools. A SWAT team
being used more  skilled with a powerful I-CASE tool set
] freguently to de- should be able to generate, on average,
velop applica- 600 lines of COBOL, or the eguivalent,
II PRAOČJA Ho tions much fast- per person-day.
| KRA " ZAE Cer than with In 60 working days, three people can
l traditional generate 108,000 tines of COBOL. CIn
| JAMES technigues. many cases, a skilled SWAT team.
information: achieves substantially more than this.)
MARI IN systems (IS) or- Most data-processing applications con-
| ganizations in tain fewer than 100,000 lines of COBOL,
the 1990s will or the eguivalent. These may be tackled
| have to work more guickly, with fewer -
| development, personnel, to meet the de-
mand for new applications and enhance- one b OPRANO ati.
| ments to existing applications. A pivotal |... Prototype Me a
technigue for building applications fast: TRE EIN iji
ih er with fewer personnel is the use of ———-
small teams of highly trained develop-
ers. These teams are sometimes called
| SWAT teams, with SWAT standing for |
| specialists with advanced tools.
| | o SWAT teams typically consist, of three
or four highly motivated IS development
| personnel armed with the most power-

thoroughly trained in high-speed devel-
opment technigues. The use of powertful
tool sets can allow a small team of
skilled developers to create a substantial
system in two or three months.

New development; methods, such as
rapid applications development; (RAD)
and Du Pont,s Timebox, are based on
iš | " he use of small development teams. As
described in previous articles in this se-
ries, the RAD life cycle has four phases:
reguirements planning, user design, con-
struction and cutover. m

A Skilled Facilitator

Reguirements planning is performed
in a workshop session with well-struc-
tured procedures under the guidance of
a skilled facilitator. High-level, knowl-
edgeable end users determine the func-
tions to be performed by the system in
combination with IS professionals.

The application is specified in more de-
tail during the user-design phase, which
typically consists of two joint applica-
tions design (JAD) workshops. In the
JAD sessions, users define the reguire-
ments of the system under the guidance
of a JAD leader. IS personnel in the JAD

>esslons Capture the specifications using
rated computer-aided software

ful, integrated tool sets available and
|
|

ki

— by one SWAT team.
pes of Projects of more than 1,000 or 2,000
pedale, ia right be split into
ver to the SWAT. zom »epend upon experience with the
( Mnosen tool set. Some SWAT teams
seg in Rn ore than 2,000 function points

PC WEEKNAPPLIGATION DEVELOPMENT

Stages of SWAT Team

Ne. — p
PL o ožje bule SE bm oj vi. k,
Il ti s O
] di Pe
i ai og 8
Y, fara la
! | Ha gave h
i čle PO
| ng Ni | TV Ie -i
BA ni KE kai | gi
ai ba o" li di ši sea
- zm, di oreieo Ml, mai s A EP OBE AI ; ki : PEŠ Mi
ai ; kri a a A A:
| roki T; g, zaka k ali P a Kočna ši ai ČE: Pe ra i s
'
Ča klaite ude kaki, kaka s Po a
!
| i
pa sm rib ur si mg Ia. dd m7 v x
h !
|
oda ci Jej S merih pe ani nja. j
| p Y
d Y
! pi
- le mo
pa

H "a h J Ča F ši
m < dd. m aa, dia pe -u di E sa x.
! ' z si -
' ak ala i nori toge DASTA za a noj ši moi ee o
mi MJ m z j i £: je Primi Za o A EX ; lie mih K pi bdjee Ul 1 k ne A a 1
Pay inda a se na obča Le KAŽ s 4 i ple K rio,
di] ' rs an njo! "dli a v
P ge | j 4 ne: a ii L ai SEA č 13 h doge Pali! Pas
Ee," P- | i h yu opi vara ' Ke JI
EŽ ji : | PREJE čji ee STIL Ra
k | piči ri opo, zem .
de - ] : i k m Ne k ru Sa kaj !
P ' —a 1 h uče. h di rt Pat t s
i A Pa . nei pe j sie me |
Bla so (VE " umi RPM za a k j |
x << ME, PRE Pe elan, ve, HE! Vi PRE PIA d [
i ra si ' a ole AR o ea eg EI |
z i dis Nalo A caj za, i ; si P Ča zani pad . : ak de RE oe s |
oči S uši kuli posne poln a da NI dani sjiss

SWAT teams typically consist of three or four highly
motivated personnel trained in high-speed development and
-armed wiih the most powerful integrated tool sets available.

MIAACH 5, 1990

APPLIED INTELLIGENCE

SWAT Teams Will Play Pivotal Role in '90s Development

Building the most effective SWAT member, such as database modeling,
teams is an art that reguires careful ob- physical database design and end-user
servation of human personalities and in-  interfacing technigues.
teraction. The goal is to combine the A member of a RAD SWAT team uses
most capable people with the most pow- a different mix of skills from the tradi-
erful tool set, but those people must en- tional systems analyst or programmer.
joy working together so that the team is. These skills include analysis; design, —
greater than the sum of its parts. code generation; testing, skill with the I-

Each team member must be able to CASE tool; good interaction with the
work fast and constructively, working end users; the ability to translate end-
well with the other team members. He user statements into working proto-
or she should be able to work long types; and effective interaction with
hours when necessary. The team mem: other team members.
ber must be fully familiar with the tech- Whereas the Joint reguirements plan-
nigues that are used, and must be as ning and user-design teams stay together
skilled as possible with the tool set and for a week or two, the SWAT team
be able to operate fast with it. should stay together for years if it
" | | works well. Team members may occa-
sionally leave and be replaced, but the
team retains its skill, reputation and
character. Much more time can be taken
in selecting the team members and mak-
ing sure they really gel into the most ef-
fective team.

A team must be free to do its own
thing. Its effectiveness will be lowered if
an outside authority tells it how to
work. |

SWAT teams will sometimes make
mistakes and learn from those mistakes.
But the power of the team will be
sapped if it is not free to do what; its
members think will work fast.

% A Fortified Island

| A SWAT team is sometimes irritating
to other developers or managers. The
team can be exclusive and self-suffi-
cient. But if it regularly achieves 200
function points per person-month, it is
one of the most valuable resources of an
IS executive. However self-sufficient and
aware of its own unigueness the team
becomes, its members must, listen care-
fully to what users need. The user inter-
action is an integral part of being effec-
tive in the RAD life cycle.

A SWAT team must have a realistic
target for project completion. If the tar-
get is hopelessly tight, the team becomes
tense and demoralized. Unachievable

Ema tea goals sap the developers' energy.
| | If management is pressing, regardless,
dohn Avakan for an unobtainable deadline, the team
becomes cynical and loses much of its
motivation.

SWAT teams that master modern
tools achieve results that, are very im-
pressive compared with traditional pro-
gramming, but if they are put into a no-
win situation, their pride is wounded.
At best, their productivity drops; at
worst, the team may break up. |

Next week | will discuss how applica-
tions can be built within a Timebox—a
rigidly defined period of time in which
the most effective team. The members' the development, deadline is immovable,
personalities and skills must comple- but the functionality may vary.
ment one another. Their work habits ——— o on nn
must, be compatible, and their attitudes The concepts embodied in RAD are de-
must be positive. sceribed in a new volume in the James

In combination, the team should con- Martin Report Series. For more infor-
tain all the skills needed to build the ap-  mation on this volume, call (800) 242-
plication. Each team member should be 1240. For information on seminars, con:
capable of analysis, design, action dia-  tact (in the United States and Canada)
gramming, code generation and transac- Technology Transfer Institute, 741 10th
tion testing. Each should have experi- St, Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213)

Development
Expirding the Prototype
HO či a A za

od o ai.os—V KEM m VE

Although many SWAT teams are as-
sembled guickly, it takes time to build

the > ence with the operating environment of 394-8305. In Europe, contact Savant, 2

i k
v LJ
nie dlje k A ENE] 1 -
i s E - : .
|! urad a, j ] mA, - z ih S Z s H | 4!
- f zan] stika — iza j ' 4 j
P H 1 i pali % o OP sma, z. ič HIL« ?
a ČI pi - 4 "a "4. m Y; 4" - N
g F st si ki Me ei aa pam 8 m ea JN - ' [ !
; g j a pra pe pa s z |
nej 3 i - i ai mo | 4
bi i s] zni li k 48 pom zel m mi s NARE h 7 ji
| gra 4 ' LA, rom HER ume k zid ka ki iji ij
Ba ie" sj. ži H 1 pek zak de Be IZ Ka aš Rei
HI und ud r z s" am pa 1" ] 3 d
k očeti Jah K " A h " s z
kipi; pi PETINE E ga Dave veri pe .
iza RELE PELE; rem Ti: nagli pas
k s Lak na fi ai pL. sš si me a Sa ko
; ž H ka PRAK 7 Ne f Wi:
mi u - i d s T osana m

New St., Carnforth, Lancs., LA5 9BX
United Kingdom (0524) 734 505.