Case Studies

National Packaging Waste Database

The National Packaging Waste Database is an on-line system which tracks how much Packaging has been put into the UK market and how much Packaging Waste has been recovered or recycled. It provides an easy way for industry to prove that they are meeting their legal requirements, and this, in turn, helps Defra prove that the UK is meeting our overall EU obligations. NPWD replaced a completely paper based system of regulation that had been open to fraud and did not provide the right information at the right time. This £2m project was funded by the Environment Agency, Defra, Scottish Executive, Northern Ireland EA and industry. The system is now managed by the Environment Agency on behalf of all stakeholders.
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Using an Agile Approach in a Large, Traditional Organisation

Can Agile approaches be used successfully in large organizations, where traditional methods and high levels of governance are the norm? Although the iterative, Agile approaches have been seen to work well in small, flexible organizations, or on smaller projects, they frequently fall foul of the larger organization’s need for governance, investment appraisal and control. The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) develops software for use by libraries and their users, museums, and academic institutions to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials. The software is in use in more than 54,000 libraries in 96 countries and territories around the world. DSDM was incorporated into a development culture at the OCLC that was deeply-rooted in 'traditional' software development methods. Examples from multiple projects illustrate how the adoption of DSDM helped OCLC change its culture and achieve success in software development and deployment.
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Earlier Case Studies

Deutsche Bahn (DB)/Carmen Systems

Deutsche Bahn needed to reduce its crew planning cycles, cut operating costs, create positive cash flow and increase business flexibility.The development was organised as a programme of three projects, each with aggressive timescales. To further complicate things, developers were based in Sweden and Denmark while users were from across Germany.  This case study deals with the first of these projects to deliver.
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Ladok Sweden

The old Ladok system was designed and developed in the mid-eighties and began to show the obvious signs of the need for a redesign in the mid 1990’s. A large re-engineering project called “Nouveau” was then started in 1995. Its focus was on the documentation part of the system, moving towards a new technology structure and a new graphical user interface. Nouveau also included new functionalities and a three-tier architecture. The development method used during the first 3 years of this project was a classic waterfall approach. However, by 1997 a number of issues were emerging that suggested a new approach was required. The new approach was DSDM.
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Tilney Investment Management

Tilney Investment Management is one of the UK’s largest independent fund managers. In order to further build on the fund management side of its business Tilney decided that it needed to develop processes, which would provide quick, detailed and accurate information about individual client portfolios. Tilney had only six months to implement the new processes and knew that user involvement would be essential. One of the principles of DSDM is active user involvement in the development process. Accordingly Tilney turned to DSDM to ensure that it designed and delivered the right application.

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There are also ten case studies in the book DSDM: Business Focused Development published by Addison-Wesley and available via the Webshop.

  1. Implementing DSDM In eBA - British Airways
  2. DSDM And Eliminating The Contractual Divide - Syntegra
  3. DSDM In A Non IT Project - P2 Managers, Netherlands
  4. An Object-Oriented DSDM Project - OO Training and Consultancy
  5. How DSDM Can De-risk Offshore Working - Xansa
  6. What Happens When It All Goes Horribly Wrong - Jennifer Stapleton
  7. A Measured DSDM Project -BT
  8. From DSDM Adhocracy To DSDM Factory - Atos Origin, Netherlands
  9. DSDM In Process Improvement - SchlumbergerSema, Sweden
  10. DSDM And Business Rules - Ness, Benelux

 Disclaimer: Some Case Studies have been commissioned by the DSDM Consortium and compiled by independent specialists. Other Case Studies have been supplied by member organisations and have not been verified by the DSDM Consortium. Please refer to the DSDM Consortium disclaimer on Case Studies.