Agile continued

Today we continue our exploration of Agile...

The Agile manifesto

The principles of the Agile Manifesto refer specifically to software development; however we will consider the effects of trust, embracing change, motivation, empowerment, communication and delivery focus in the context of our e-commerce businesses and how they relate to our goals.

Welcome back! You just opened a new tab (or browser if you aren’t yet fully 2.0) and had a quick read of the manifesto didn’t you? If you didn’t - come back in five when you have done so - if you did, Well Done and on we go. You have seen that far from being a strict ‘Thou shall/shall not’ set of policies, the manifesto reads like a set of aspirations or goals. We can see how these principles relate to our own goals – not necessarily in a software project sense of course but the parallels are obvious, for example:

• Reducing risk
• Enhancing communications
• Reducing project delivery time

There are some interesting examples that are worthy of note that may not be in common usage:

• The self tuning team – review and act on past performance metrics
• Delivery as a measure of progress
• Constant/sustainable delivery as the goal – not peaks and troughs

Clearly the drive is towards repeatability and reuse implying, correctly that Agile engagements are heavily cyclical. Revisiting, revising and refactoring towards the desired outcome are key Agile concepts.

Can Agile save money?

Rudiger, the star of our introduction is of course concerned all about the bottom line: Cost reduction through use of Agile methodologies is a partly symptomatic of time saving which in turn is attributable to reduction in complexity of systems, bureaucracy and process. All Agile aims…

The Independent research that Rudi received earlier has measured the impact of adopting Agile methodologies on ThoughtWorks complex software projects:

• Reduced cost by 57 percent compared to other IT solutions for similar complex projects.
• Reduced effort by 62 percent compared to alternatives, including in-house development and previously employed consultants.
• Reduced critical defects by nearly 80 percent.
• Reduced overall defects by more than 60 percent.

Whilst reading the remainder of this article, bear in mind how business benefits for Rudiger and yourself can be derived from the other features described:

• Fewer defects reduces the number of test-fix cycles
• Clearer lines of communication mean important features are prioritised and dealt with accurately
• Embracing change is motivational and fuels innovation
• Closing the gap between business and technology people
• See working products with key features sooner
• Focus on quality
• Make testing easier and more accurate

...more next time folks