1.2 How Iterative Development Addresses Key IT Management Issues

To effectively build, deploy, and maintain an enterprise application, the project team should follow a proven process that supports an iterative development lifecycle, such as the Rational Unified Process (RUP).
Regardless of whether the development team follows a widely recognized process or creates its own, it should:
Focus on feasibility issues early in the development cycle— the project can be built incrementally by providing tangible value at each iteration in the cycle (Figure 1.1). The most difficult feasibility issues are addressed early in the process.
Figure 1.1. Iterative development process.
Build on early success— breaking the project up into smaller "chunks" allows the development team to deliver iterations early in the development cycle instead of waiting for the "big bang" delivery of the project as in the more traditional waterfall development process.
Ensure early participation and commitment by end users— while facilitating early discovery of requirements.
Reduce risk to the overall project— while increasing concrete deliverables risk can be reduced with each iteration