Agile Advantages
Why Agile? What's the advantage?
Revenue & Speed to Market (faster)
The iterative nature of agile development means features are delivered incrementally, enabling some benefits to be realized early as the product continues to develop. The philosophy also supports the notion of early and regular releases, and 'perpetual beta'. This gets a working product out the door faster.
Quality & Visibility (better)
Testing is integrated throughout the lifecycle, so your application is always rock-solid. Continuous integration means there is always a working version to put hands on. We make adjustments along the way and this gives the product team immediate feedback on quality issues. We encourage active 'user' involvement throughout development. This provides high visibility for key stakeholders, and helps to ensure that expectations are effectively managed all around.
Less Risk
Because we identify any issues, early, this make it easier to respond to change. Helps ensure that necessary decisions are made at the earliest possible opportunity, while there's still time to effect the outcome.
Cost Control
With Time and Materials pricing, there are two scenarios:
- if time (due date) and cost are fixed, then the deliverable is variable
- if the deliverable must be fixed, then time and cost are variable
Either way, the budget is managed via the process. As an iteration is planned, and conversations divulge more detail, we will continue to update and massage your budget under your direction. Our aim is to assist you in controlling it, while maintaining flexibility for your project.
Flexibility/Agility
In traditional development projects, you write a big spec up-front and have a complex change order process—it's adversarial at best. With agile, change is inherent and expected. User stories are added and changed as the product is developed. Iterations let us adapt to those changes frequently. At the start of an iteration and throughout the process we have detailed conversations with the project team about each user story slated for that iteration. You may add, delete or re-prioritize user stories at any point throughout the process. You make the necessary trade-off decisions (we'll help). We aim is to trade existing scope for new vs increased scope.
Right Product
The ability for agile user stories to emerge and evolve, and the ability to embrace change (with the appropriate trade-offs), ensure the team builds the right product. In contrast, traditional projects can deliver a "successful" project in IT terms and then find that the product is not what was expected, needed or hoped for.
Team Approach
Instead of big specs, we discuss user stories. Instead of lengthy status reports, we collaborate do daily stand-ups around a task-board (Story wall) discussing progress. Instead of long project plans and change management process, we discuss what's right for the product and project and the team is empowered to make decisions.
Agile may be the way for you. Request a free RaddOnline® proposal today.
