I get asked a lot for my version of an agile project template. I suppose everyone has their own version, but I like this one:
- 0.1 Charter
- 0.2 Architecture
- 0.3 Non-functional requirements
- 1, 2, 3 iterations for product development
- 0.4 Release buffer
- 4 Release
- 0.5 Tech Debt
Of course, this template can be scaled for more releases, etc. And, if there is legacy product, then there are going to be integration tests therewith. Thus, the 'release' might be a couple of iterations -- or even more -- to cover the full scope of release-to-production testing.
A bit about the nomenclature, which is pretty simple:
--Iterations with no customer deliverables are often denoted with a leading '0'.
--Iterations with customer deliverables, including the release event, are numbered from 1-up.
--Each release is often 'buffered' with a '0'-scope iteration so that any spill over in the backlog for the release can be handled at the last minute, and
--A technical debt iteration is usually scheduled as part of the release, or immediately afterwords, to clean up small problems. You could expand this to cover customer support for some short period after release. That would depend entirely on the charter scope and your support model.
--Iterations with customer deliverables, including the release event, are numbered from 1-up.
--Each release is often 'buffered' with a '0'-scope iteration so that any spill over in the backlog for the release can be handled at the last minute, and
--A technical debt iteration is usually scheduled as part of the release, or immediately afterwords, to clean up small problems. You could expand this to cover customer support for some short period after release. That would depend entirely on the charter scope and your support model.
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