 |
SWA Enterprises is a distributor of
high-margin goods throughout the United States,
supplying specialty retail stores with unique goods that
are difficult to find elsewhere.
SWA Enterprises prides itself on identifying an
eclectic and ever changing mix of products.
Although the company has been successful to date
it wants to expand its presence to the Internet.
The following is the initial vision that senior
management has for the new system, called SWA Online,
which it wants developed. |
|
SWA Online will offer the entire
range of physical products sold by SWA Enterprises for
now, and we may want to sell virtual products such as
online music and videos at some point in the future.
Our target market will remain the USA for now, at
one point we considered all of North America but we
consider that too aggressive for our first release –
far better to focus on our existing market and get it
right before venturing into new territory. Eventually selling products internationally is our true goal.
We’ll use our current shipper,
Fly-By-Night Shipping, but we’re concerned that they
may not be able to handle our business in the future.
They have proven very effective shipping to
retail stores within the USA, overnight shipping is no
problem as are lower cost options such as multi-day
ground shipping. We’re
not sure how effective they are shipping internationally
and we eventually want to not rely on a single vendor
for key services such as shipping.
We believe that our system, a
commercial off the shelf (COTS) package that we
purchased several years ago which calculates taxes and
handles inventory-related functionality, should be
sufficient for the first release of SWA Online although
that is something that the development must confirm.
SWA Enterprises currently employees
eighty-seven people.
Major focuses of the organization include sales
to retail stores, buyers focused on identifying new
products to carry within our catalog, and shipping and
returns. We
have just hired a Vice President of Online Sales, Sally
Jones, who will be responsible for building the
organization required to support and operate SWA Online.
Sally will be actively involved with your project
team and will help you to obtain access to other
business staff within SWA Enterprises as you need them.
The primary responsibility of these people is
naturally their full-time, day-to-day jobs, but they
have been instructed to find a way to participate with
your development team as much as required.
The software process that SWA
Enterprises has adopted is the
Agile Unified Process (AUP).
 |
|
The Object Primer 3rd Edition: Agile Model Driven
Development with UML 2 is an
important reference book for agile modelers,
describing how to develop 35
types of agile
models including all 13
UML 2 diagrams.
Furthermore, this book describes the techniques
of the
Full Lifecycle Object Oriented Testing
(FLOOT) methodology to give you the fundamental
testing skills which you require to succeed at
agile software development. The book also
shows how to move from your agile models to
source code (Java examples are provided) as well
as how to succeed at implementation techniques
such as
refactoring and
test-driven development
(TDD). The Object Primer also includes a
chapter overviewing the critical database
development techniques (database refactoring,
object/relational mapping,
legacy analysis, and
database access coding) from my award-winning
Agile Database Techniques
book. |
|
|
|
Agile Modeling: Effective Practices for Extreme
Programming and the Unified Process is the seminal
book describing how agile software developers approach
modeling and
documentation. It describes principles and
practices which you can tailor into your existing
software process, such as
XP, the
Rational Unified Process (RUP), or the
Agile Unified Process (AUP), to streamline your
modeling and documentation efforts. Modeling and
documentation are important aspects of any software
project, including agile projects, and this book
describes in detail how to
elicit requirements,
architect, and then
design your system in an agile manner. |
 |
|
The Elements of UML 2.0 Style describes a collection
of standards, conventions, and
guidelines
for creating effective
UML diagrams. They are based on sound, proven
software engineering principles that lead to diagrams
that are easier to understand and work with. These
conventions exist as a collection of simple, concise
guidelines that if applied consistently, represent an
important first step in increasing your productivity as
a modeler. This book is oriented towards
intermediate to advanced UML modelers, although there
are numerous examples throughout the book it would not
be a good way to learn the UML (instead, consider
The Object Primer). The book is a brief 188
pages long and is conveniently pocket-sized so it's easy
to carry around. |
I actively work with clients around the world to
improve their information technology (IT) practices as
both a mentor/coach and trainer. A full description of
what I do, and how to contact me, can be
found here.
|
