Small enhancement process workflow manager

• US 8,484,065 B1
• Filed: 07/14/2005
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Issa, Philip, Ma, Lih-Jong, Arredondo, Barbara, Campbell, Gale Y., Vick, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Boyce, Andre
• Assistant Examiner(s): DICKERSON, TIPHANY B
• Application Number:
  US11/181,154
• Time in Patent Office: 2,917 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.27, 705/301, 717/101, 717/102
• US Class Current: 705/7.27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

A computer-implemented system for selecting a workflow path of a project is provided. The system includes an initial phase, an evaluation phase, a completion phase, and a criteria engine. The evaluation phase of the project includes a plurality of workflow paths for the project based on criteria of the project. Each of the plurality of paths include one or more steps of the evaluation phase. The criteria engine is operable to evaluate project criteria of the project at one or more steps in the evaluation phase and route the project to at least another step in the evaluation phase based on the project criteria.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for selecting a workflow path of a software development project comprising:

a criteria engine stored on a computer readable storage medium and executable by a processor to evaluate project criteria of the software development project at one or more steps in an evaluation phase of a first enterprise development process responsive to a change in the project criteria comprising at least one of a change request, a change in cost estimates, a change in a scale of the software development project, a change to a list of impacted enterprise applications, and a change reflecting that more than one enterprise application has been subsequently identified as being impacted,

wherein the project criteria comprises information about parameters of the software development project, and wherein the evaluation phase comprises a static workflow that includes a plurality of static workflow paths through the static workflow, each of the plurality of static workflow paths includes a static set of steps,

the criteria engine further executable to determine at the one or more steps whether the software development project should proceed to one of a next step in a currently selected path of the plurality of static workflow paths and a next step in a different path of the plurality of static workflow paths in the evaluation phase based on the evaluation of the project criteria responsive to the change in the project criteria and route the software development project to one of the next step in the currently selected path and the next step in the different path based on the determination;

wherein the determination and routing are based on an estimate of the number of hours needed to complete the software development project and a pre-approval by a sponsor to bypass one or more steps when the estimate is below a threshold,

wherein a first workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises a technical assessment step, an estimation level of effort (LOE) step, an information technology (IT) define review step, a define approval step, a discover planning step, a requirements modeling step, a contract LOE step, an IT discover review step, a discover approval step, and a design step,

wherein a second workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment and the design step,

wherein a third workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment, the estimation LOE step, and the design step,

wherein a fourth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the define approval step, and the design step,

wherein a fifth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, and the design step,

wherein a sixth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, the IT discover review step, and the design step,

wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth workflow paths are different,

wherein only small software development projects or ultra-small development projects are eligible for one of the plurality of static workflow paths of the evaluation phase,

wherein small software development projects are defined as in a range of about 2,000 or fewer hours and not impacting more than one enterprise application, and

wherein ultra-small development projects are defined as in a range of 300 or fewer hours.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein prior to the evaluation phase the software development project is in an initial phase that comprises a project staging step, a sponsor review step, and an IT review step, and wherein a completion phase comprises a develop step, a user acceptance step, a deploy step, a warranty step, and a complete step.

3. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the criteria engine re-evaluates the project criteria in response to the change request.

4. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the criteria engine re-evaluates the project criteria after each step.

5. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the criteria engine initially selects the currently selected path of the plurality of static workflow paths for the software development project, and in response to the change in the project criteria, the criteria engine routes the software development project to the different path of the plurality of static workflow paths.

6. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the criteria engine is further executable to route the software development project to a second enterprise development process based on another evaluation of the project criteria.

7. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the criteria engine is further executable to reroute the software development project to one or more prior steps.

8. A development system for a small software development project comprising:

a selection component stored on a computer readable storage medium and executable by a processor to evaluate a plurality of project specifications of the software development project at one or more steps in an evaluation phase responsive to a change in the plurality of project specifications,

wherein the plurality of project specifications comprises information about parameters of the software development project, and

wherein the evaluation phase comprises a static workflow that includes a plurality of static workflow paths through the static workflow, each of the plurality of static workflow paths includes a static set of steps,

the selection component further executable to determine at the one or more steps whether the software development project should proceed to one of a next step in a current path of the plurality of static workflow paths and a next step in a different path of the plurality of static workflow paths in the evaluation phase based on the evaluation of the plurality of project specifications responsive to the change in the project criteria and route the software development project to one of the next step of the current path and the next step of the different path in the evaluation phase based on the determination,

wherein at least one of the project specifications include that the software development project is in a range of about 2,000 or fewer hours and not impacting more than one enterprise application,

wherein the determination and routing are based on an estimate of the number of hours needed to complete the software development project and a pre-approval by a sponsor to bypass one or more steps when the estimate is below a threshold,

wherein a first workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises a technical assessment step, an estimation level of effort (LOE) step, an information technology (IT) define review step, a define approval step, a discover planning step, a requirements modeling step, a contract LOE step, an IT discover review step, a discover approval step, and a design step,

wherein a second workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment and the design step,

wherein a third workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment, the estimation LOE step, and the design step,

wherein a fourth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the define approval step, and the design step,

wherein a fifth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, and the design step,

wherein a sixth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, the IT discover review step, and the design step,

wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth workflow paths are different,

wherein only small software development projects or ultra-small development projects are eligible for one of the plurality of static workflow baths of the evaluation phase,

wherein small software development projects are defined as in a range of about 2,000 or fewer hours and not impacting more than one enterprise application, and

wherein ultra-small development projects are defined as in a range of 300 or fewer hours.

9. The development system of claim 8, wherein the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, the IT discover review step, and the discover approval step are bypassed when the technical assessment step determines that the software development project is ultra-small and a sponsor has pre-approved the bypassing when the technical assessment step determines that the software development project is ultra-small.

10. The development system of claim 8 wherein the IT define review step, the define approval step, the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, the IT discover review step, and the discover approval step are bypassed when the estimation LOE step determines that the software development project is ultra-small and a sponsor has pre-approved the bypassing when the estimation LOE step determines that the software development project is ultra-small.

11. The development system of claim 8, wherein the IT define review step, the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, the IT discover review step, and the discover approval step are bypassed when the estimation LOE step determines that the software development project is ultra-small and a sponsor approves the bypassing in the define approval step.

12. The development system of claim 8, wherein the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, IT discover review step, and the discover approval step are bypassed when the sponsor approves the bypassing in the define approval step.

13. The development system of claim 8, wherein the discover approval step is bypassed when the IT discover review step determines that an estimate from the IT define review step is valid and the sponsor has pre-approved the bypassing when the IT discover review step determines that the estimate from the IT define review step is valid.

14. The development system of claim 8, wherein when a step is complete, an appropriate party is automatically notified that a subsequent step can begin.

15. A method for managing the progress of a software development project through a development process comprising:

selecting, by a criteria engine stored on a computer readable storage medium and executable by a processor, a current path of a plurality of static workflow paths of an evaluation phase based on a project criteria of the software development project, wherein the project criteria comprises information about parameters of the software development project, and wherein the evaluation phase comprises a static workflow that includes the plurality of static workflow paths through the static workflow, each of the plurality of static workflow paths includes a static set of steps;

evaluating, by the criteria engine, the project criterion at one or more steps in the evaluation phase responsive to a change in the project criteria;

determining, by the criteria engine, at the one or more steps, whether the software development project should proceed to one of a next step in the current path of the plurality of static workflow paths and a next step in a different path of the plurality of static workflow paths in the evaluation phase based on the evaluation of the project criteria made responsive to the change in the project criteria;

routing, by the criteria engine, the software development project to the next step in the different path of the plurality of static workflow paths based on the determination; and

performing a development process on the software development project based on the routing,

wherein the determination and routing are based on an estimate of the number of hours needed to complete the software development project and a pre-approval by a sponsor to bypass one or more steps when the estimate is below a threshold,

wherein a first workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises a technical assessment step, an estimation level of effort (LOE) step, an information technology (IT) define review step, a define approval step, a discover planning step, a requirements modeling step, a contract LOE step, an IT discover review step, a discover approval step, and a design step,

wherein a second workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment and the design step,

wherein a third workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment, the estimation LOE step, and the design step,

wherein a fourth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the define approval step, and the design step,

wherein a fifth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, and the design step,

wherein a sixth workflow path of the plurality of static workflow paths comprises the technical assessment step, the estimation LOE step, the IT define review step, the define approval step, the discover planning step, the requirements modeling step, the contract LOE step, the IT discover review step, and the design step,

wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth workflow paths are different,

wherein only small software development projects or ultra-small development projects are eligible for one of the plurality of static workflow paths of the evaluation phase,

wherein small software development projects are defined as in a range of about 2,000 or fewer hours and not impacting more than one enterprise application, and

wherein ultra-small development projects are defined as in a range of 300 or fewer hours.