TCM 701 1
AGILE HOMEWORK
Exercise 15.1
Fitbit for Pets
Background
Fitbit, Inc. is a consumer electronics firm known for its products of the same name, which are
activity trackers, wireless-enabled wearable technology devices that measure data such as the
number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, steps climbed, and other personal metrics
involved in fitness. The company has sold 120 million devises with 29 million users.
Building on its success with the human Fitbit product, the company is developing a companion
fitness tracker for pets. The first product launch is a Fitbit for medium to large size dogs that
would be worn with a traditional neck collar or shoulder harness. Using the working product
development name FitDog, this new product is scheduled to launch in 18 months.
This will be a major research and development endeavor with significant veterinary science
research, biotechnology development, GPS tracking and data communication, website
application development, and product and marketing research. First to market, reliability, and
animal ergonomics are critical success factors.
Directions
Determine if agile is a best approach for this project. Assess the advantages and
disadvantages along with your chapter reading description of agile projects; and compose an
informative argument for or against an agile approach to the FitBit for Pets project.
Compose your argument in 500-words or less and submit as a PDF document.
Exercise 15.2
Retirement.gov
The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) operates the federal government’s social
insurance program that covers 173 million workers. There are 65 million people receiving
retirement, disability, or survivors’ benefits from a $920 billion annual operating budget
(source: U.S. Social Security Administration, www.ssa.gov).
Currently all social security tax contributions are invested in risk-free U.S. Treasury bonds and
bills, however under a proposed federal mandate, the SSA is launching Retirement.gov to
allow workers and recipients to control how their contributions are invested. Retirement.gov
would operate similar to HealthCare.gov where individuals can review and select a private
sector investment management company to manage their retirement fund, similar to how
private pensions, IRAs, and 401(K) retirement funds operate. Retirement.gov is scheduled to
launch in 24-months.
You are the project manager for the Retirement.gov project. This will be a major information
technology endeavor with significant software programming, website application development,
TCM 701 2
database equipment hosting networking, and financial transaction and personal information
protection. Quality and security are critical success factors.
Directions
Determine if agile is a best approach for this project. Assess the advantages and
disadvantages along with your chapter reading description of agile projects; and compose an
informative argument for or against an agile approach to the Retirement.gov project.
Compose your argument to 500-words or less and submit as a PDF document.
