Software development in itself is complex. But managing software projects can be an even more difficult task when dealing with constant changes. Understanding the bigger picture of the project, and assessing current company culture and how that can either hurt the progression of the project or help it be successful. The three constraints of software development are the essential elements of this process. They dictate what is needed and what should be prioritized during software development and project management.
Every project has these three constraints:
Time
It takes time to build good software. Time is one thing we can never have enough. So we utilize people and their time to get the project done. During the development process, the software developer or engineer needs focused time.
Maker vs. Manager Concept: A manager can go to meeting after meeting and have very few issues. The context they need to know is in that meeting. A maker views long stretches of deep quality time as crucial to their work process. Limited distractions are needed to keep focused and efficient. When managing a project, it’s easy to blur the lines between being too involved and not involved enough. Giving the makers of a project (developers and engineers) allocated time to do their tasks undisturbed in their particular focused setting will help their software development be more effective. In project management, time is often not stagnant.
There is sometimes no way to estimate the duration of a project- It’s really on a project-to-project basis. No project is the same no matter if you’ve done something similar or think you understand what the client needs. Always expect the unexpected and focus on managing time to effectively deploy your project.
Cost/Budget
How much will this cost? Not wanting to throw money at a project you don’t necessarily understand or know the final budget is completely understandable.
Maximizing the budget available is crucial to the success of the project. Figuring out the budget helps define what can get done by when. Prioritizing what’s important when dealing with budgets helps release the best software possible for the particular budget and time. Throwing money at a project doesn’t mean a project will be successful. Adding money and people to a project has its overhead. It’s not linear. Just because you have able bodies who can do the work doesn’t mean the project will be a successful one. Adding more people to the team doesn’t mean your project will be finished in expected time or budget. Money is important in building software- It can help make or break the quality of code you have. But more is needed to deploy the project to your expectations.
Quality/Features
Quality references the number of bugs introduced, the code’s maintainability, etc., and features reference what the system does. With all software projects, you want to have a high-quality codebase. You don’t want to introduce a lot of bugs. You also want to make sure the code works well and is highly maintainable. But with some projects, the feature list is too great for the time constraints and the budget. So it’s easy to lose features that help the complexities that make up the software. And with the complexity of building software comes the unknown requirements that come after starting the development process. Sometimes unexpected necessities come up and change the time and budget needed to complete the project. This in turn can change the quality of your software and what it ends up doing.
Balance your Project
Usually, two out of these three points are used together during the development process. I always say you can’t have all three. Figuring out the right balance for your project is important because it will dictate how successful it will be. What a client chooses has everything to do with the outcome of the project. Apart of the software development constraints of ensuring high quality and desired features. This directly influences decisions regarding resource allocation and project prioritization.
Focusing on time and budget:
Won’t get as much done and fewer features than the client want/ needs for the quality of work expected.
Focusing on budget and features:
Takes way longer than anyone wants. Your budget conscious so who is working on the project might differ. (Part-time employment, one full-time employee, etc.) and affects the quality of work. Time always suffers. Deadlines won’t be met.
Focusing on features and timeline:
Have a high burn rate when it comes to the budget. Have as many needed experts for the project. Utilize their skills to get the project out as fast as possible with the wanted and needed features in place.
In software development, it’s important to bring constraints to the client early. Make it clear what needs to be focused on so that potential issues are known. Inform your clients. If issues do arise, you will be ready to figure out the best solution for the project.