Software Development Plan: Scrum Framework

Software Development Plan
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Software Development Plan
Executive summary
Although the tech industry has grown exponentially over the past decade, the last two years have marked its epitome. This is the case due to a rapid increase in the demand for tech-based solutions following the pandemic (Machado et al., 2020). In particular, software engineering has come out as a highly relevant field because of its applicability in not only the industries and businesses but also in daily functions. This trend has made the field a lucrative business option due to the decrease in new entrepreneurs’ limitations in establishing a foothold in the market. Furthermore, the software development industry has grown both in space and dynamics (Norman & Venter, 2016). In the modern world, people have become accustomed to advanced devices and gadgets, most of which are software-based. Following this, the industry has grown into a multibillion industry due to the high consumer expenditure on such devices (Ali & Knox, 2021). Despite the high number of players, the industry has room for growth since businesses are shifting to software programs for running their operations. Another plus for the industry is that tech developments such as virtualization and artificial intelligence have made software necessary in virtually all aspects of life. 
Today is a leading software development company established on March 20, 2021. It is located in Buffalo, New York, USA. The motivation behind its creation is a gap realized in the industry resulting from a noted inconsistency in the functionalities of mobile device software. Currently, the market is awash with software that has incomplete functions, which means that mobile device users are forced to download multiple programs to meet their needs. The company’s mission is to develop software solutions that provide a platform where the existing software functions can be integrated. One of the notable inconsistencies that led to the development of the idea is the functioning of the mobile calculators. Basically, their capabilities are limited to arithmetic calculations and lack unit and currency exchange conversion functions. Today’s founder Zhenyu Wu relied on this idea to come up with a proposal to develop a software ‘Today-Map’ with viewing, navigation, and positioning functions.  
Scrum Team
For the current product, the preferred implementation approach is through the scrum. Scrum is a framework where the project development team can address complex problems via an adaptive process (Hron & Obwegeser, 2018). It is a lightweight framework within which teams can generate value through adaptive methods that address complex issues. Like the agile system, scrum is a project management approach that prioritizes accountability, teamwork, and iterative project progress guided by pre-determined goals. Unlike the traditional project development designs, scrum does not conform to structural hierarchies but follows a self-managing and cross-functional style (Hanslo et al., 2019). There will be three different team distributions; scrum master, product owner, and development team, which will have five job types as discussed below. 
Scrum Master
The primary roles of the scrum master will be coaching, leading, and training the project development team and will be the lead consultant for the project’s scrum adoption (Noll et al., 2017). The scrum master will be the lead communication facilitator and will be the liaison between Today’s management and team players to ensure collaborative work. As the title suggests, the scrum master is the actual master of the scrum framework, and their role will be to ensure that the framework is adhered to. Besides setting the roles to be played by the team members, the individual tasked with this responsibility will provide methods and processes coaching to them as well as all other stakeholders. To ensure real-time compliance management, the individual will apply agile management (Supriyono, 2021). Agile is defined as a project management approach that is based on the iterative delivery of a project’s requirements in an incremental method throughout the project’s life cycle (Abrahamsson et al., 2017). This style is especially effective in software development, particularly with popular techniques such as scrum, extreme programming, DSDM, and scrum. For effective performance, the scrum master will be guided by agile principal values, including prioritizing individuals and interactions over processes and responding to change following a prescribed plan. 
Product Owner
The product owner is the individual who defines the what, who, and the why aspects of developing the project (Averrisdottir et al., 2014). Besides these, the individual will define the features of the proposed product. Overall, the product owner will be the person for whom the product is being developed, and in this case, Today, which the senior management team will represent. This implies that the Today’s management or the representative selected on their behalf will have the overall authority to make tactical and strategic decisions. The authority bestowed on the product owner defines their responsibility to maximize the Today-Map’s value to internal users, businesses, and external clients. Moreover, they will be tasked with championing the product to all stakeholders. Cumulatively, they will undertake tasks such as setting Today-Map’s goals, overseeing the product backlog in conjunction with the developers, and agreeing on sprint goals.
Development Team
The development team will comprise five different job groups, each of which will have a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 members. The job groups determined at the start represent the minimum requirements which will be adjusted accordingly as the project progresses. 
System Architect
This team will be charged with designing and configuring computer and network systems. They will also be charged with determining the desired project outcomes and advising the project development team on the appropriate information technology systems and components (Medoh & Telukdarie, 2017) to achieve Today-Map’s goals. The systems architect will also determine the structural design of the software, the technical infrastructure, and design both short and long-term goals for managing and maintaining it. 
Programmer
The programming team will include coders and software developers who will write and test code and scripts to allow Today-Map to function. Their primary role will be to actualize the design developed by the system architect into functional instructions that computer systems can follow (Anand & Dinakaran, 2016). The group will be subdivided into three subgroups; coders, modifiers, and testers; coders will write the code, modifiers will be responsible for analyzing the code’s suitability to the project’s needs, and the testers will verify the applicability of the code. Moreover, the team will assist the database administrators in troubleshooting and debugging the computer systems. 
Database Administrator
The team administrators need to be information technology experts responsible for troubleshooting, system support, and maintenance of general hardware and software elements. The minimum requirements for this team include a comprehensive knowledge of various operating systems, advanced programming skills, and hardware and software knowledge (Woolridge & Parks, 2016). Furthermore, they should be qualified as mid-level systems administrators, except for the team leader, who should be a qualified senior system administrator.   
User Interface Designer 
This team will be tasked with developing the visual part of the operating system through which the end-user will interact with the software (Larson & Meng, 2020). The team will design a command input system and data display. Overall, members will design the entire control mechanism to allow users to perform viewing, navigation, and positioning functions.  
Sprints
Sprints define time-boxed periods during which the entire project development team will complete specific tasks (Firdaus et al., 2019). Considering that the approach adopted for the current project is agile, sprints will range from 1 to 4 weeks, dependent on the complexity of individual tasks. Setting a short sprint horizon supports the validity of the project goals and decreases its complexity and risks. Furthermore, it will facilitate more learning cycles through which desired changes can be made, which in turn limits the risk of operational costs and effort. During the sprints, adaptation and inspection of the progress will occur while simultaneously clarifying and renegotiating the project’s elements with the product owner. In each sprint, review and retrospective will be critical. Sprint review will involve the various teams showcasing their work to the other groups and the scrum master (Kurnia et al., 2018). For efficiency, the review will be a casual meeting where teams demonstrate their progress and receive feedback. On the other end, a sprint retrospective will feature reflections by individual teams on the technical and non-technical aspects of the project to determine areas of improvement. For Today-Map, the sprints will focus on determining the specific features of the software that will be advanced and the ones to be eliminated. Notably, the initial sprint will be two weeks in which the entire team will be required to generate a clickable prototype. This will aid in determining several factors, such as the functioning of individual teams and the extent of collaborative work. In subsequent sprints, a period of two weeks will be allowed to ensure that the work being reviewed is substantial. Four documents will be generated; a design sprint insight draft, a post-sprint design adjustment plan, and a minimum viable product technical review report.     
Product Backlog
The product backlog is a prioritized list of tasks to be completed (Sedano et al., 2019) that is ...