P&P August 2016

technology speaks By Carole Hussey and Joe Baile

Living in an Agile World Know Before You Go

T his has been the year of agility. We are going to build systems faster, cheaper, and better using an Agile methodology. There are some great elements of an Agile approach, however there are some things that you should be aware of before making the final decision. What’s All the Hype? First of all, Agile is not really new. It began in the mid 1980s at DuPont. Responding to frustrations with the heavyweight and often bureaucratic processes associated with waterfall methodologies, 17 practitioners came together to write the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” in 2001. In the manifesto they agreed to four core values: „ „ Individuals and interactions over processes and tools „ „ Working software over comprehen- sive documentation „ „ Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

cultural changes for any organization. If you decide to make this change, it is critical to understand the challenges and to have a plan for how to manage them. Some potential mitigation approaches include: Planning. The planning activities will provide a more accurate reflection of the investments needed, schedule, and resource requirements for imple- menting the solution into the business environment. Key activities for the funding, human capital needs, and ultimate decision-making. If the organization doesn’t see clearly the value and importance of the work, other priorities will interfere and make the process unsuccessful. „ „ Establishing a Governance Structure—This should include the right combination of business and technology teams, managing the planning phase include: „ „ Establishing Executive Sponsorship—Necessary for

„ „ Responding to change over fol- lowing a plan

Two of the primary benefits of Agile are the opportunity for more robust stakeholder engagement and the flex- ibility to change and adapt throughout the lifecycle of the project. In a quest to improve project outcomes, mitigate risk, and avoid increased costs, the market is shifting to Agile. Preparing for Agile Moving to an Agile methodology is not just a technical decision. There are significant business implications and “We are uncovering betterways of developing software by doing it andhelping others do it.”

See Agile World on page 43

Illustration via Shutterstock

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