DSDM Atern
What is DSDM Atern?
Atern is the new version of DSDM – the proven agile project delivery framework.
Atern helps to deliver results quickly and effectively. It concentrates on strategic goals and incremental delivery of real business benefits while keeping control of cost, risk and quality.
Business Agility is enabled through the encouragement of self-directed, empowered teams working together in a supportive and collaborative manner. Atern can be applied to a wide range of projects from small software developments all the way up to full scale business process change.
How can Atern help?
Managing business change and developing solutions are never simple tasks. The problems that often occur when people from varied disciplines come together are:
- Late delivery
- Reduced benefits
- Wrong solution
- Poor quality
- Cost overruns
Atern has been specifically developed to overcome these problems.
What is Atern?
Atern is an agile project delivery framework that delivers the right solution at the right time.
The right business solution is delivered because:
- The Project team and other significant stakeholders remain focused on the business outcome
- Delivery is on time providing an early return on investment and reduced risk
- All people involved with the project work collaboratively to deliver the optimum solution
- Work is prioritised according to business need and the ability of users to accommodate changes
- Atern does not compromise on quality
Importantly, Atern harnesses the knowledge, experience and creativity of end users. It uses an iterative lifecycle to evolve the most appropriate solution to satisfy project objectives.
Using planned, visible timeboxes with clearly-specified outcomes control is exercised throughout by the project manager and the team members themselves.
Roles are clearly defined (page 39) and work is divided into timeboxes (page 30) with immovable deadlines and agreed outcomes.
Atern agility
Atern’s agile approach avoids the cumbersome rigidity of ‘big design up-front’ without the inevitable risks of ‘no design up front’.
Since it is worth spending some early time examining the structure of the overall solution before building any components, Atern advocates that projects should do just ‘enough design up front’.
Atern flexibility
Atern can be used to complement other project management disciplines such as PRINCE2 and PMI without duplication of effort.
The Philosophy of Atern
The Atern Philosophy is that any project must be aligned to clearly defined strategic goals and focus upon early delivery of real benefits to the business.
This is best achieved when key stakeholders understand the business objectives, are empowered to an appropriate level, and collaborate in order to converge on the best possible solution. This solution will be delivered in the agreed timescale, according to the priorities set by the business.
The stakeholders must be prepared to deliver a fit for purpose solution. They must also be prepared to accept that change is inevitable as they understand more about the solution being developed.
The Atern framework details a set of eight working Principles which guide practitioners in the adoption of the Philosophy. They are supported by a Project Lifecycle (Process) with defined Products, Roles and Responsibilities (People), and recommended Techniques (Practices).
For more information on the method, please vist www.dsdm.org
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Extracts from the DSDM Atern Pocketbook.
DSDM and the DSDM logo are registered trade marks of Dynamic Systems Development Method Limited. Atern is a trade mark of Dynamic Systems Development Method Limited.