Category: Glossary

Cadence | Glossary

Diwakar Varadharajan Leave a comment

Definition

The flow of tasks/rhythm of events in a project, is defined as Cadence. Sprints of consistent duration, establish a Cadence for a development effort and the delivery of a viable software product. It establishes a pattern, that the team can follow to understand what they are doing and when it will be completed.

Origin

Cadence is a late Middle English word (in the sense ‘rhythm or metrical beat’): via Old French from Italian Cadenza, based on Latin phrase “Cadere” (to fall’). It was used in the context of software development, in the late 1980’s.

Further Reading

  • “The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development”, by Donald G. Reinertsen.
  • “The Art of doing twice the work in half the time”, by Jeff Sutherland.
  • “Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process”, by Kenneth S. Rubin.
  • “Kanban from the Inside”, by Mike Burrows.
  • “Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business”, by David J. Anderson.

Know more about Cadence by visiting our website.

Backlog | Glossary

Diwakar Varadharajan Leave a comment

Definition

The product backlog is a list of requirements that an Agile team maintains for a product. It consists of features, bugs, non-functional requirements mainly, to deliver a viable product. The product owner prioritizes those product backlog items (PBI’s) based on considerations such as risk, business value, dependencies, size, and date needed.

Origin

Combination of the words “Back” and‎ “Log”. Symbolized originally in the 1680’s; originally as “a large log at the back of a fire”. Used in figurative sense from 1880’s, meaning “something stored up for later use”. Backlog was initially used in the context of Product Development in 1980’s.

Pros

  • It’s a simple list of things to be completed by the team, decided collectively.
  • It’s subject to change according to priority and need of the hour.
  • It helps eliminate dependencies by putting items that are dependent on the completion of other items below the ones they are dependent on, the dependencies are resolved. It’s that simple, and both the team and the customer can understand it.
  • It gives the customer clarity, and control over the deliverables and he has a clear idea about what the team is currently working on.

Cons

  • Difficult to manage tasks which have external dependencies.
  • Backlog becomes difficult to manage when the teams aren’t co-located.

Further Reading

  • “The Art of doing twice the work in half the time”, by Jeff Sutherland.
  • “Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process“, by Kenneth S. Rubin.

Know more about Backlog by visiting our website.