A Dynamic Programming Approach for Solving the IFM Based Project Scheduling Problem

A key factor in the development of software projects is the generation of added value to the business. The Incremental Funding Method (IFM) is a financial approach to software development aiming at maximizing the net present value (NPV) of a software project through proper sequencing and deployment of the software marketable features. This paper proposes the application of Dynamic Programming (DP) to address the complexities of the IFM method. We demonstrate that DP is a computationally efficient method that yields optimum development and deployment schedules for releasing the marketable features of a software product. The results show that the proposed approach is superior to other, previously presented in the literature, heuristic scheduling algorithms. The approach provides means for software project managers to plan and react dynamically in setting optimum development scheduling sequences.