The software industry finds itself in a situation today similar to automobile manufactures in 1970s. Defects are sapping resources and angering customers. Defects and long cycle times are reducing our ability to respond to new business opportunities. The most heavily marketed solution is to add more bulky process steps and to do more testing at the end. This approach lengthens cycle times. Meanwhile the Lean approach is delivering successful projects using processes with unlikely names like: Scrum, DSDM, and Extreme Programming (XP). Lean Software Development reduces defects and cycle times while delivering a steady stream of incremental business value.
Cycle time for software development is measured in the number of days needed between feature specification and production delivery. This is called: Software In Process (SIP). A shorter cycle indicates a healthier project. A Lean project that deploys to production every 2-weeks has a SIP of 10 working days. Some Lean projects even deploy nightly.
Going to production every 2-weeks may raise fears of introducing new defects. Lets deal with that. In order to achieve short cycle time we need to eliminate defects. Doesn't that sound pretty straightforward?
Start by expecting zero defect software production.
