Policy and Practice August 2016

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Policy&Practice August 2016 32
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technology speaks
By Carole Hussey and Joe Baile
Living in an Agile World
Know Before You Go
This has been the year of agility.
We are going to build systems
faster, cheaper, and better using an
Agile methodology. There are some
great elements of an Agile approach,
however there are some things that
you should be aware of before making
the final decision.
What’s All the Hype?
First of all, Agile is not really new.
It began in the mid 1980s at DuPont.
Responding to frustrations with the
heavyweight and often bureaucratic
processes associated with waterfall
methodologies, 17 practitioners came
together to write the “Manifesto for
Agile Software Development” in 2001.
In the manifesto they agreed to four
core values:
„ „ Individuals and interactions over
processes and tools
„ „ Working software over comprehen-
sive documentation
„ „ Customer collaboration over
contract negotiation
„ „ Responding to change over fol-
lowing a plan
Two of the primary benefits of Agile
are the opportunity for more robust
stakeholder engagement and the flex-
ibility to change and adapt throughout
the lifecycle of the project. In a quest
to improve project outcomes, mitigate
risk, and avoid increased costs, the
market is shifting to Agile.
Preparing for Agile
Moving to an Agile methodology is
not just a technical decision. There are
significant business implications and
cultural changes for any organization.
If you decide to make this change, it is
critical to understand the challenges
and to have a plan for how to manage
them. Some potential mitigation
approaches include:
Planning. The planning activities
will provide a more accurate reflection
of the investments needed, schedule,
and resource requirements for imple-
menting the solution into the business
environment. Key activities for the
planning phase include:
„ „ Establishing Executive
Sponsorship—Necessary for
funding, human capital needs, and
ultimate decision-making. If the
organization doesn’t see clearly the
value and importance of the work,
other priorities will interfere and
make the process unsuccessful.
„ „ Establishing a Governance
Structure—This should include the
right combination of business and
technology teams, managing the
“We are uncovering
betterways of
developing software
by doing it andhelping
others do it.” See Agile World on page 43