Agile Development is becoming mainstream, but many companies still don’t use it. Agile teams produce high-quality software faster, better, and at a lower cost than using traditional methodologies. However, changing to agile development can be a challenge. Agile is a journey, and it may be an effort to get started, but it is a matter of constant improvement, and the journey never ends.
What does agile development mean?
Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Lean or Extreme Programming are lightweight but highly disciplined approaches to development.
Agile teams are generally self-organised and empowered to achieve business objectives without a project leader or managers guiding them. Also, agile teams frequently deliver fully functional software, so there is a fast feedback loop. With shorter feedback cycles, agile reduces the risk of misunderstanding requirements. This way, customers and users can correct issues early and avoid challenges late.
When using agile development, frequent feedback from customers or users ensures that such things are found early. Continuous feedback loops also help the team to try out ideas and see what works. Issues are found earlier in the project, which reduces overall project risk and stimulates innovation. Agile is not the same as traditional iterative development. Traditional development methodologies assume that requirements are defined at the beginning of the project. In agile methods, the focus is on “learning” what should be done. The philosophy is that it is impossible to know what works, so it must be tested. It can be seen as constant piloting and correcting using double-loop learning at every step of the process. It reduces risks and costs from start to end.
Scrum is the most used agile development method, and substantial evidence shows it works. Scrum was first mentioned in a landmark 1986 paper and was developed during the 1990s. The Agile Manifesto defined the Agile Manifesto in 2001, and we also have a special page about Agile Development.
How do you start to use agile development?
Any organisation will always be resistant to change. Therefore, starting with one team and supporting and protecting them may be better so they can learn and deliver using Scrum. If and when this works, the method can be scaled inside the organisation.
Is there any evidence that agile development is better?
It is hard to compare software development in ways that show beyond any reasonable doubt that agile development is better than traditional methodologies. In fact, at Gislen Software, we don’t claim to believe agile development is best for all types of projects. When requirements are unclear or emerging, agile is the best. Several surveys show that Agile is better in the sense of success rate, productivity, quality, stakeholder satisfaction and cost-
Atlassian, the developer of Jira, conducted an online survey about Agile, showing that most software teams use their software in Agile development. Scrum Alliance conducted a study that showed a very high success rate for Scrum.
How long does it take for a company to become agile?
While Scrum is lightweight and easy to learn, individuals may not fully understand the underlying principles, and there may also be some resistance. It is always demanding to do things in a new way. Customers and managers may resist the idea or see agile as another fad. Hence, expect some resistance! However, with proper commitment from all stakeholders, you should be able to see tangible results within 3-6 months.
How to start with Agile development?
Agile methodologies are not proprietary methodologies (e.g. RUP, PSP/TSP, CMM and TickIT) and are not owned by anyone. Anyone can use the methods, and certification is not required to use them or call them Agile or Scrum.
Get a few staff members to go through the Scrum Master certification course and get certified. All team members should read the Scrum Guide. First, create a product backlog and then a sprint backlog. Conduct a sprint planning meeting and run your first sprint. Only use some critical aspects of Scrum the first time. It is essential to conduct the review and retrospective meetings at the end. Implement all aspects of Scrum over time. We also recommend using test-driven development together with Scrum, having developers start to write test cases before writing the code and using a build server to continually verify that the code doesn’t break and that unit tests pass.
How we made the journey
Gislen Software is a Swedish-owned Agile software consulting company located in India. We work predominantly with clients in the UK and Scandinavia. Gislen Software has used Agile for almost ten years. We started without really understanding the paradigm. The result came once we got the hang of the agile philosophy. Over the last five years or so, we have learned to become more and more agile. Before we started our agile journey, there was a lot of stress and challenges. While Scrum does not solve all problems, it certainly makes life simpler. We have found that a lot involves building an agile culture. In our experience, Scrum and agile development delivers! Contact us to discuss how we can do Agile together!