The methodology pillar, as part of a Center of Excellence, is about defining the delivery process. Let’s focus on three core topics of this pillar.
1. How to Deliver
This step is about determining how projects will be delivered. What business processes will projects use, how DevOps is weaved into the conversation, and . Notice the emphasis is on the “how”, not the “what” or the “when”.
For example, will all features be reviewed, or are there some conditions in which hotfixes skip a few steps in order to be deployed faster?
2. Waterfall vs Agile
The two main ways of delivering Salesforce projects are waterfall and agile. Waterfall is the classic methodology, which has a series of steps. Each step is completed in full before the next step begins: discovery -> design -> implementation -> testing -> rollout. In contrast, agile is an iterative approach in which smaller features are passed through all steps as a unit of work.
These days, most organizations blend these two, in an attempt to combine the best of both worlds. For example, discovery could be mostly completed so the direction is set, but the design, implementation, test, and rollout could be completed using an agile format.
3. Setting Expectations
Selecting a methodology also involves the creation of a change management process. Note: The actual implementation of change management is another pillar, so we’ll cover that later. In addition, setting expectations means informing users so they know what new features are coming and when.
The takeaway
This is the process focused pillar of the Center of Excellence. A strong process ensures every person and every tool is following a standard and that delivery is reliable and consistent.