Thanks Pamela and Matt. No, these guys are certainly not bleeding edge types -- the transition to a transactional web framework and
Java is quite enough. My thought was more around mentoring/knowledge sharing which could be done through pair programming, as well as rapid prototyping the first pilot applications. I like the XP approach, it has worked well for me in the past on singular projects, and I would like to pass it on to the client.
To Martin's comment, I use the
word "large" to really describe the amount of risk, the learning curve for the client, and the complexity of multiple dependent sub-projects. The programming team will be less than 10 (probably 6 people for application development).
I think it will all depend on the client's appetite for XP. I will use the resources kindly provided to outline XP, its pros and cons, and construct a high level project plan.