Log files in the DIVIS software, Tip of the Month and our colleagues in product development

In order to make the development and programming process of our software equally innovative, creative, but also efficient, DIVIS has relied on an agile approach in software development since 2016. The core of this restructuring is working in an self-organized team with equal rights.
The basis is intensive communication and close collaboration within the team and with the product management department.

Based on the experience that complex projects in their entirety, can hardly be assessed at once, in particular with regard to detailed problems, the agile way of working involves the further development in steps of intermediate goals (sprints). These are regularly determined, reviewed and adjusted. At the beginning of such a sprint, the goal and procedures are defined together in a meeting. A "real-time comparison" of the upcoming and already completed tasks is performed in quick daily briefings (Daily Scrums).

Another important component is the sprint review at the end of the phase. Here the results are presented for evaluation. The timely review of the respective development phase allows to assess progress (has the goal been achieved?), and further conclusions can be drawn from the experience gained, which can be used directly and very flexibly to eliminate errors and improve organization and procedures.

Advantages of the agile workflow in product development

All teams involved in product development are at the same level of information at all times since all are attending the meetings.

The close rhythm of exchange ensures that mistakes or less promising approaches can be quickly identified and corrected. Due to the short work cycles, the team remains very flexible in reacting to changing framework conditions (for example, at the customer or inspired by market developments).

Short partial goals also promote efficient processing.

This method puts much more responsibility on the team than more traditional approaches. However, by this everyone involved is "close to the product" and able to get involved creatively at the right time. The regular comparison leads to the team constantly optimizing processes and organization.

DIVIS' improved test procedures and the introduction of Code Reviews (meaning a proofreading of the written code) are resulting in slightly longer release cycles, but lead to a much better quality of our products on release. This increases the user friendliness of our products and especially the customer satisfaction.

Last but not least, the agile workflow allowed the DIVIS teams to create space to engage in innovation beyond their day-to-day business.

The concept is so successful that from August 2018, the DIVIS development department will also offer training for application development IT specialists in order to share the gained knowledge and to train young professionals for the fast-growing company.