Major Media Company Puts the "Team" Back in Software Development

Overview

Clear Channel Communications, a Fortune 500 media company, owns more than 1,200 radio and TV stations across the United States and 750,000 billboards worldwide. The company's Enterprise Application Development group lacked a standard development methodology, formal software testing, and requirements authoring standards. In addition, the group missed project deadlines because requirements changed late in development. This situation adversely affected business planning. Seeking a solution, Clear Channel deployed Microsoft Visual Studio Team System and defined its development model and framework based on the Microsoft Solutions Framework. The result was a complete culture change: formerly opposing factions became a cohesive, productive team. Besides completing high-quality applications on time, the team now shares common terminology, a common understanding of roles, and a common process.