How to choose a software development method : a French company EDF´s experience report

The experiment detailed in this paper was carried out at the French company EDF. It gives both points of view, of the expert and of the client, on how the EDF CAD department made its choice of a CASE (computer-aided software engineering) method and tool. The CASE expert explains how the assessment was defined and then conducted starting from a rather wide request, and how a set of choice elements was established to help decision-making. The EDF-CAD client is an “a posteriori” analysis, involving the different steps from the identification of the need until the final choice. The conclusions show a large agreement on the main results: a maturation step, client and expert getting to know more of each other, thus establishing a mutual confidence relationship; the will to succeed to choose, remaining clear-minded, for a method and a tool will not solve all problems; an objective comparison approach and a joint assessment considering nontechnical criteria and mostly the client´s needs and requirements, a continuous help on behalf of the CASE expert not ending with the decision file, but going through integration of the method and tool in client projects