V-Model for Agile Software Development

The V-Model is a software development and testing model which highlights the need to plan and prepare for testing early in the development process (Watkins & Mills, 2011). It does this by listing the traditional waterfall development phases on the left-hand side of the “V” and lists the corresponding test phases on the right-hand side. Planning can begin for a testing phase once the corresponding traditional waterfall stage has been completed.

Waterfall development treats analysis, design, coding, and testing as discreet phases in a software project (“Agile vs Waterfall”, 2017). Each phase of planning corresponds to a testing phase in the V model. An Agile development strategy treats these activities as activities that happen throughout the development cycle. Each of the steps of the development cycle still occur but deliver smaller sections of functionality to end-users in iterations that typically last between two and four weeks as opposed to 6+ months.

The V Model can be adapted for an Agile team by considering each two to four-week iteration a complete Waterfall cycle. This may seem more like work due to needing to perform the same planning steps every iteration but because the scope of the work is smaller it should be manageable.

Using the V Model for software development can be useful for teams that are migrating from a Waterfall methodology to an Agile one. This way as the team becomes used to scoping and delivering smaller sections of features. Project managers and business analysts can retain their familiar tools for project planning while feature developers and test engineers understand the new development process.

Works Cited

V-Model and Agile Methodology. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://prescio.com/services/software-development/v-model-and-agile-methodology/

Watkins, J., & Mills, S. (2011). Testing IT: an off-the-shelf software testing process. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Agile vs Waterfall. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://www.agilenutshell.com/agile_vs_waterfall