How do I secure budget in a Scrum app project?

Coffee IT regularly receives an app development request. This often asks about the required money and time budget. To determine this budget, it is important that the size (scope) of the project is clearly and completely defined. However, practice shows that the size of a project often changes during a project. To prevent problems, the Scrum methodology has been developed for this, but what is the basis of a Scrum app project?

Scrum has the power to transform project management across any industry, any company, and even life in general. By using Scrum you will become more flexible and discover how you can respond faster and better to inevitable change that comes your way. Scrum also offers the opportunity to collaborate and communicate better, so that what was initially envisioned can be achieved - with success. It is not entirely unimportant to know that Scrum is a proven working method and is used by universities, the army and the automotive world, among others.

A project consists, as it were, of three pillars: Time, money and scope. In a scrum project, the focus is always on one of those pillars. For example, do you have a money budget (Fixed budget) in which the project must be completed? In that case, it may be the case that less important functionality is cut during the project because the desired functionalities have changed during the project. This is what is meant by Agile (flexible) working, the flexibility in the development team is that they have to develop a different functionality than initially thought, the flexibility of the customer is that they have to drop less important functionality in consultation with the developers. It is also possible that the deadline for your project is fixed (Fixed time). If the time budget threatens to exceed, more manpower is deployed (money budget exceeds) or functionality is cut (size shrinks).

How do you still have a grip on your scrum app project? Unlike traditional projects, it is not only delivered at the end or in a few parts, but every two weeks. With each delivery, the interim result is displayed and a goal is set for the next two weeks. This ensures that the noses of all project stakeholders remain on the same page and that you are not faced with unexpected results at the end of the project.

It is important that budget changes are well discussed between client and developer. This ensures an open, flexible attitude and ensures that the result corresponds to what you initially envisioned. Why? Because in a classic waterfall project with fixed time, money and scope no changes are possible. For example, during the app development process, the app developer may better understand your underlying problem through user research. The app developer can then only respond to this after the predefined scope has been realised. It goes without saying that this is cost inefficient.