The major challenges Microsoft encountered in developing MS Office
Office 4.0
The development plan appeared simple, but there were several challenges. Major challenges were associated with delays, for instance, Word 6.0 was shipped six months late while Excel 5.0 was shipped three months late. Office 4.0 was launched with old versions of Excel and PowerPoint. The customer expressed dissatisfaction with the released product. Further, Office 4.2 was buggy and unstable. Overall, Office 4.0 did not meet its set targets.
Office 95
The product had a relatively shorter period for development to meet the new 32-bit architecture requirements and ensure compatibility with Intel’s latest microprocessor.
Office 97
There was tension between the OPU and the application teams because they could not share codes willingly or optimally. Different elements of Office seemed to have diverse visions without relation to each other. The code was given low priority in the integration unit.
Office 2000
Microsoft had learned from previous mistakes and decided to integrate different units. Thus, there were few notable challenges from management, development, and test. The product development process was extensive with wide consultation, but it shipped eight months late. It was difficult to produce a single stable product because of bugs.
The major strategies Microsoft introduced in addressing the challenges for the products
Office 4.0
The product failed to achieve its set targets and Microsoft embarked on the release of updates or maintenance versions to address the challenges (third one – Office 4.2c was successful).
Office 95
To meet the deadline, Microsoft focused on redesigning the product to perform well with the new version of Windows with Intel’s latest microprocessor.
Office 97
The teams shared codes unwillingly. Microsoft conducted a post-release analysis to improve its future processes.
Office 2000
The teams were integrated, there were inputs from industry professionals and wide consultations were conducted on market issues, organizational factors, and setting a clear vision and designing the process were all considered.
The pros and cons of checking codes with the main server every day in the development of Office 2000
Pros
Checking codes allowed developers to receive feedback on product features. Moreover, they provided rules for developers on what they could handle without code base checking-in.
Cons
Feedback from the release team took nearly five days, leading to delays and tracing of problems because of the dynamics of software development. Nearly 400 people had to use a single checking-in site.
Checking-in codes strategy was an effective strategy. Although the process was associated with delays, it allowed developers to identify bugs and improve upon them. This strategy contributed to the success of the Office 2000.
The most powerful role at the Microsoft Office 2000 project
Developers
The developers had less power relative to testers. They wrote codes and passed to testers for extensive, complex verification procedures.
Testers
This group performed complex analyses on codes from developers. Testers’ roles gave them more power than did developers.
However, the number of developers and coders was always the same.
Program Managers
They had greater responsibilities of integrating and coordinating activities of all individuals involved in the project than developers and testers. They also developed vision and product specifications. Managers shared their leads with other teams.
The differences between unplanned iterations and reworks
Unplanned iterations result from unplanned feedback loops due to unanticipated issues. They result from errors and unpredictable challenges. For instance, Office 2000 met conflicting messages because it was not exciting for end-users and focused much on system administrators. These issues were difficult to predict.
Conversely, rework is a possibly preventable work that results from correcting errors or fine-tuning a product during development. For instance, Office 2000 had to be reworked to get into a stable form because of bugs detected during testing stages or the team had to redesign Office 95 to work well with the new version of Windows