Single Function Application
These are Applications or Software Products (SFAs) with a single and discreet main functionality. Any sub-functionality is closely related to and integrated with the main functionality of the app - this could be a particular Business Process or area of functionality used by an Enterprise, or everyday functionality such as a calendar app or computer game. There is also an implication that the codebase[2] is stable for each Tenant or User i.e. little or no Programming Code that is unique to an individual Tenant, although standard Configuration options may be set to differing values between Tenants. Therefore the functionality usually only impacts a single Value Stream in an Enterprise (or single area of functionality for an individual user e.g. Calendar but not the determining of daylight hours in current timezone and latitude).
From a Agile Software Development point of view, SFAs have a low amount of integration between discreet Business Processes and function areas, and their related individual groups of technical objects have little or no dependency on other technical objects in the same Instance. Such 'code stable' applications are common in Public and On-Premise cloud implementations of Software Products (aka Software as a Service[2]) and consumer apps downloaded from App Stores - where the codebase is the same for each Tenant (Enterprise software) or User (Consumer software and Enterprise software).
Therefore, the amount of Continuous Integration and Regression Testing is low and there is a low amount of dependency between tasks in the Backlog to create new Solutions (aka Changes). SFAs are highly compatible with traditional Agile as technical dependency does not strongly influence the order that the Backlog tasks need to be performed and Releases into Production/live use can be swift, without significant User Acceptance Testing or Business Verification Testing first.
In contrast, many Enterprise Resource Planning software applications cover multiple functionality areas and Business Processes in each Solution (or could regressively impact multiple), often with significant technical customisations. These require adapted Agile approaches, such as Activate for SAP ERP[3] and although the Agile Manifesto[4] can be upheld, additional practices such need to be employed to mitigate the interdependencies and Releases to Production are therefore usually monthly at best (i.e. after initial MVP[5] delivered over multiple weeks or months).
References[edit]
[1] Codebase on Wikipedia.
[2] Software as a service on Wikipedia.
[3] SAP ERP on Wikipedia.
[4] Agile software development#The Agile Manifesto on Wikipedia.
[5] Minimum Viable Product on Wikipedia.
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