Many small and medium-sized companies have already firmly integrated ‘agility’ or ‘agile methods’ into their everyday work. So it seems all too questionable why large corporations in particular are still largely failing to introduce and implement agile methods efficiently. It goes without saying that implementation becomes more complex the more people are involved and the more interdependent and intertwined departments are.
Agile methods in software development
Would anyone have expected the IT industry to change so much 10/15 years ago? In the past, an already defined software architecture was considered almost “sacred” and was practically the “bible of IT professionals” that had to be strictly adhered to. Today, however, software must be one thing above all else: agile! New things are created through, with and in an agile process. In this way, products can be developed that actually fulfil user needs in the here and now. Rigid processes can lead to products that were in high demand yesterday becoming obsolete today.
Scrum, Kanban and other agile methods offer software developers the opportunity to review, evaluate and adapt their work in high resolution. Although it may seem confusing at first glance, agility is not “pure, planned chaos”. Agile methods represent a structured and yet very elastic approach. They differ in their approach, but have the essential characteristics in common:
- You are “lean” (slim)
- They are “agile” (manoeuvrable)
- They assume that each team member picks up new tasks independently
- You limit the number of tasks currently being processed
- They focus on the provision of release-ready software increments in predefined work steps (“sprints”)
- They are based on self-organised and self-organising teams with flat hierarchies
- You evaluate the release plan by analysing empirical data.
Advantages of agile methods in corporate IT
The advantages of such methods are obvious: the agile steps considerably reduce the risk of potential failure. Regular tests, as prescribed by agile methods, provide the necessary transparency in the course of the project.
This means that the decision-makers in the project are always well informed and can recognise whether project requirements need to be modified and resources added or subtracted. This also saves a significant amount of time until go-live, as users can already access finalised sub-functions during development. The finished product is stable, comprehensively checked and tested and fulfils the current requirements resulting from the IT landscape and the wishes of the users.
What CONNAMIX says: Agility and digitalisation go hand in hand
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