Pace 62 Small, highly trained teams of IS personnel, sometimes called SWAT teams, are being used more Jreguentiy to de- velop applica- tions much fast- er than with traditional technigues. Information- systems (IS) or- ganizations in the 1990s will have to work more guickly, with fewer development personnel, to meet the de- mand for new applications and enhance- ments to existing applications. A pivotal technigue for building applications fast- 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. SWAT teams typically consist of three or four highly motivated IS development. personnel armed with the most power- ful, integrated tool sets available and thoroughly trained in high-speed devel- opment; technigues. The use of powerful 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 the use of small development teams. As described in previous articles in this se- ries, the RAD life cycle has four phases: MARTIN SWAT Teams Will Play Pivotal Role in '90s Development SWAT team works within a fixed inter- val of time, known as the Timebox. The goal of SWAT team management is to group together high performers and train them intensively in the use of the most powerful tools. A SWAT team skilled with a powerful I/CASE tool set should be able to generate, on average, 600 lines of COBOL, or the eguivalent, per person-day. In 60 working days, three people can generate'108,000 tines of COBOL: CIn many cases, a skilled SWAT team achieves substantially more than this.) Most data-processing applications con- tain fewer than 100,000 lines of COBOL, or the eguivalent. These may be tackled Building the most effective SWAT teams is an art that reguires careful ob- servation of human personalities and in- teraction. The goal is to combine the most capable people with the most pow- erful tool set, but those people must en- joy working together so that the team is greater than the sum of its parts. Each team member must be able to work fast and constructively, working well with the other team members. He or she should be able to work long hours when necessary. The team mem- ber must. be fully familiar with the tech- nigues that are used, and must be as skilled as possible with the tool set and be able to operate fast with it. Stages of SWAT Team Development Svi tič ho 53. ] Expand a i S MARH 5, 1990 member, such as database modeling, physical database design and end-user interfacing technigues. A member of a RAD SWAT team uses a different mix of skills from the tradi- tional systems analyst or programmer. 'These skills include analysis; design; code generation; testing; skill with the I- CASE tool; good interaction with the end users; the ability to translate end- user statements into working proto- types; and effective interaction with other team members. Whereas the joint reguirements plan- ning and user-design teams stay together for a week or two, the SWAT team 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- reguirements planning, user design, con- struction and cutover. č 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- tall 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 oa JAD leader. IS personnel in the JAD sessions capture the specifications using š an integrated computer-aided software engineering (I-CASE) tool set. The tool set coordinate Usability La kon Avakan 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 goals sap the developers' energy. If management is pressing, regardless, for an unobtainable deadline, the team becomes cynical and loses much of its 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. 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 I will discuss how applica- by one SWAT team. ne a oo oc 2000 en pev SWAT teams se as- tions can be built within a Timebox—a jects "000 or semi guickly, it takes time to build rigidly defined od of time in which function points might be split into the most effective team. The members' de the development deadline is immovable, that can be tackled by sepa- but the functionality may vary.H personalities and skills must comple- ment one another. Their work habits ——oooOoOO—O— a must be compatible, and their attitudes The concepts embodied in RAD are de- must; be positive. seribed in a new volume in the James In combination, the team should con- Martin Report Series. For more injfor- 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 10ih tion testing. Each should have experi- St, Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213) ence with the operating environment of 3994.8305. In Europe, contact Savant, 2 the target system. Some more special- New St., Carnforth, LA5 9BX ized skills may reside with one team United Kingdom (0524) 734 505.