Agile in software development is a collection of methods or methodology which ensure agility and fast adaptability throughout a project. It involves splitting the software development project into multiple iterations or sprints, and delivering a working product at the end of each one of these iterations. One sprint can last from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the workload and complexities of the project, and usually includes establishing goals, the development process itself, testing, delivering and the client’s feedback. The most popular agile methodologies are Scrum, Crystal, Extreme Programming and Lean Development. Studies show that software development projects that use agile have higher success rates than those that use waterfall or any other traditional approaches. So let’s illustrate the importance of agile and just how it benefits software development projects.
Flexibility and adaptability
By dividing the project into iterations, and receiving a usable version of the product upon each one’s completion, changes can be made more easily. New or modified features can be added at the start of each sprint, even at a far along stage of the development process and with little cost.
Reduced risks
At the end of each sprint, the client offers feedback and can identify issues early on. Testing every version of the product also helps in reducing risks and offers the agile team the possibility to right wrongs before they affect the next version of the software development product.
Customer satisfaction
The client is involved every step of the way, offering suggestions, feedback and opinions regarding the project. And agile is very important in building a strong and close working relationship between the client and the agile team, that has a clear vision of the project’s goals and can focus and prioritise accordingly.
High quality results
Having specific goals for each iteration helps the team to be organised, avoid being overwhelmed, and thus having more time to pay attention to details. Regular testing also encourages the team to deliver high quality results and a positive feedback from the client is always a good motivation.
Predictability
The agile ways of approaching software development give predictability from both delivery-time and costs points of view. The client knows when each version of the software product will be delivered due to time-bound iterations, and is aware of the costs involved, before each sprint.
Conclusion
Agile has proven its importance in software development, by facilitating a good healthy relationship with clients, thus increasing customer satisfaction and by making changes happen quickly, therefore reducing costs and increasing adaptability. Ultimately, the agile team is more productive and delivers a high-quality product, which matches the client’s vision exactly.
TechTalent’s approach on Agile
Here at TechTalent, we embrace Agile methodologies in most of our projects. Usually it is our customers and partners who ask us to use Agile methodologies - Scrum and Kanban - from the inception of the project. When the choice is left to our engineers, we carefully analyse the project specifics, and we propose a project management methodology based on Scrum or Kanban which best fits the specific project needs and context.
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