GDS

The challenge

The Cabinet Office wished to appoint a software development organisation to deliver a digital system to support Government Digital Service (GDS) in delivering a number of Agile projects (‘Agile’ is a specific, flexible project management methodology).

The successful team was to provide developers, operations and maintenance for a Drupal framework on an ad hoc basis. A number of related aspects to the contract included product inception, estimation and selecting an appropriate technical approach, right through to successful delivery and quality assurance.

Therefore the provider needed to have a track record in operating Agile methods as well as the necessary expertise in using the Drupal CMS – an open source environment being essential. As well as being expected to work closely with - and indeed within - GDS, the provider would also need to offer training to the GDS Innovation and Services team, templates of Drupal products and knowledge sharing of projects. 

The solution

Affinity was hired by GDS to ensure the successful delivery of both current and future solutions to their requirements. 

As leading experts in Drupal Development and experiences gathered through numerous Agile projects, Affinity were able to offer GDS a methodology that works in the ‘real world’ and ensures success whenever it is adopted. 

A number of key stages are incorporated in the Agile method including budgeting, project initiation, an iterative development process, training, production launch and subsequent tuning and maintenance. Perhaps the most interesting and innovative part of the solution is the iterative development run as a number of ‘sprints’. 

Sprint planning involves reviewing the Project Backlog and collaborating with the business team to decide which user requirements will be included in any one sprint. This allows on-going prioritisation of requirements leading to some being assigned a higher value than others. The result is a flexible highly targeted approach giving maximum value for money and time. Development and Testing activity begins during each sprint and at the end of each sprint, the delivery team provides a demonstration to business team members. At this time, a vertically integrated version is presented to key business users.

This approach, combining experience, compatibility and innovation was one of the resons why Affinity was chosen to deliver this high-profile project.