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Tips for Creating Effective Software Development Budget [#AgileBudget #AgileDevelopment #AgileSoftware #AgileTips]

1. Introduce Agile Methodologies
2. Calculate Agile Velocity
3. Plan Ahead and Prioritize Essential Features
4. Do Not Forget to budget for Technical Debt

1. Introduce Agile Methodologies
Agile is an incremental, iterative approach to software development in which software engineers perform multiple sprints to quickly produce a functional minimum viable product (MVP) that delivers business value.

This translates to smaller payments per iteration, as opposed to larger sums at set intervals, which may bear little relation to the actual progress of your initiative.

2. Calculate Agile Velocity
“Velocity” is a measure of the amount of work that a team can perform work within each sprint. Velocity is calculated at the end of the sprint by totalling the story points (units of relative estimate) for all completed work within that spirint.

A smart software development budget is based on an estimate of how many units the team can complete in each sprint. These points will help determine the length of time it would take for completing the entire work and thereby the overall project cost.

3. Plan Ahead and Prioritize Essential Features
Whether you are budgeting for a brand-new deployment or the improvement of an existing platform, prioritize features and functionality that will guide the project in the short term.

With an MVP, the emphasis is on the “M,” for “Minimum.” Keep it simple by prioritizing the most essential aspects of the software and budgeting for them accordingly. This approach makes it easier to estimate the potential value of the software after each iteration.

4. Do Not Forget to budget for Technical Debt
Software development projects are continuous endeavors that are far from complete after version 1.0. This means it is important to budget for the continual evolution of your applications and set aside time and resources to handle your technical debt. Failure to address technical debt can lead to problems down the line, as you will be so focused on handling existing problems that you w will not be able to keep up with competitors who have a more nimble and flexible technical stack.

Adapted from:
Creating A Smart Software Development Budget For 2020
Forbes