13-16 What types of system-building methods and tools did SourceGas use for building its system?
SourceGas used an iterative approach and agile development methodology. Agile development focuses on rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into a series of small subprojects that are completed in short periods of time using iteration and continuous feedback. Each mini-project is worked on by a team as if it were a complete project, including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, and documentation. Improvement or addition of new functionality takes place within the next iteration as developers clarify requirements. This helps to minimize the overall risk, and allows the project to adapt to changes more quickly. Agile methods emphasize face-to-face communication over written documents, encouraging people to collaborate and make decisions quickly and effectively.
The company began with a requirements-gathering workshop with an outside vendor. The objective was to establish system requirements and develop business rules to guide the work order and scheduling processes. SourceGas’s biggest priorities were to 1) automate work scheduling; 2) maintain the company’s existing timesheet process; and 3) ensure minimal change required for field technicians to use the new system. For its solution, SourceGas chose SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization software package by ClickSoftware, which integrates with its existing SAP systems, including SAP ERP and SAP CRM. (Learning Objective 13.3: What are the principal methodologies for modeling and designing systems? AACSB: Analytical thinking.)