ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY Selecting a Software Development Methodology based on Organizational Characteristics BY

This paper is dedicated to my husband, Chris Mintz. Without his support this project would not have been completed. i This essay provides a general guide for Organizations to select an effective Software Development methodology based on their organizational characteristics. A Software Development methodology is the model an organization uses to develop software and includes the process, tasks, and activities necessary for successfully developing software projects within specific project constraints such as time, cost, and resources. The activities required to produce software include project planning, development of requirements, development of specifications, technical design or architecture, software configuration, software development, testing, documentation, training and support, and maintenance. This essay provides an overview of Software Development methodologies and presents a high level analysis and evaluation of each methodology. An overview is presented of each individual methodology where th