Outside-in Software Development: A Practical Approach to Building Successful Stakeholder-based Products

By: 
Carl Kessler and John Sweitzer
Published: 
2007
Pages: 
240
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Book Description

Imagine your ideal development project. It will deliver exactly what your clients need. It will achieve broad, rapid, enthusiastic adoption. And it will be designed and built by a productive, high-morale team of expert software professionals. Using this book's breakthrough "outside-in" approach to software development, your next project can be that ideal project.

In Outside-in Software Development, two of IBM's most respected software leaders, Carl Kessler and John Sweitzer, show you how to identify the stakeholders who'll determine your project's real value, shape every decision around their real needs, and deliver software that achieves broad, rapid, enthusiastic adoption.

The authors present an end-to-end framework and practical implementation techniques any development team can quickly benefit from, regardless of project type or scope. Using their proven approach, you can improve the effectiveness of every client conversation, define priorities with greater visibility and clarity, and make sure all your code delivers maximum business value.

Member Reviews: 

Review By: Harry L. Kirkpatrick
08/04/2008

Outside-in Software Development is a necessary read for everyone with a major stake in software development. This book describes outside-in development (OID), which is a way of focusing the energy level of the team on the people who will ultimately engage with and benefit from the product.

Outside-in thinking asks you to be explicit about whom the stakeholders are for any of your development projects. Knowing that, you'll gain a clear understanding of their goals, which can reduce the chance of building code that won't be used. It adds visibility to prioritization decisions and which stakeholders are affected by them. And it also improves the effectiveness of conversations with the stakeholders, maximizing what you and the potential clients, partners, and end-users of your products learn throughout the project.

Outside-in thinking has the most positive impact when it is used throughout an organization. Success occurs when technical teams of every specialization, along with managers and executives, all understand and encourage outside-in development. So, whether you are a coder, tester, writer, product planner, team leader, manager, or executive, you'll find material that you can use.

This book provides a framework, a way of thinking about things, and some techniques. No additional preparation is required to utilize outside-in software development.

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