Which are the best IT methodology standards for a web development company?

Question

IT methodology standards as ITIL and CMMI are by far the most popular standards for service delivery in IT companies.

Which IT standard do you think that applies best for a web development company?

Answer 1

I'd take a look at some of the Agile development practices. Some great sources of information are
- from Scott Ambler who has the AUP (Agile Unified Process)
- Alistair Cockburn with Crystal Methodology (Crystal Methodology & The Cooperative )Game

This will give you some good insights into adopting practices which deal with fast moving requirements and client demands; typical of a web development environment

Answer 2

And we need a "standard" why?

If the web development company is focused on fast release cycles, one of the flavors of Agile or Lean may be a good fit.

Answer 3

When I choose an SDLC, it depends on how rapid does the requirements change. At the end of the day, the purpose of any SDLC is so a team can deliver products successfully and repeatably. So if your organization is building an application that doesn't have a volatile set of requirements, then something like waterfall (yes, I said waterfall) may work just fine. However, if the set of requirements change on an hourly basis, then the key is to deliver often with an agile SDLC like XP, Scrum or crystal clear.

But specifically for a service delivery company (like a consulting firm), agile is not going to work for you. In my past experiences, when you are delivering a product for a customer, they expect you to delivery it on a specific date under a specific budget. With an agile SDLC, you really don't know when you'll be done until you are done. So using an agile SDLC at a service delivery firm is like a mechanic telling his customers their cars will be ready when they are ready and the cost will be unknown until pick up time. Obviously this doesn't work if you are a consultant (unless you are doing T&M). In the past what has worked well for me is using an agile SDLC BUT you sell customers by iterations. So for example, if estimate a project is 15 weeks long, you can give sell your customer 5 3-week interations. The advantage of this approach the customer gets to decide what's important and gets built first, and you counter scope creep by selling more iterations. This model has worked really well for me because it is fair for both you the consultant and the customer.