Question

From what you've learnt so far, write a report on the agile development methodology from the point of view of a programmer trying to argue the case for management of Academic City College to adopt a specific methodology for internal system development and contracted (procured) system development. You can assume the organisation has no experience in agile development processes at all so you will need to provide detailed arguments (this is not true but for the purposes of the assignment you should assume it is true).

Your report should be structured as follows:

1. An overview of Agile processes

2. An explanation of your specific proposed framework

3. Arguments for and against the adoption of your proposed framework. You will need to reference authoritative sources to convince your management

4. Clearly identify what sorts of projects would benefit and what sorts of projects will not benefit . This can be part of your point 3 arguments.

5. An explanation of two aspects of Agile methodologies (XP, SCRUM or other processes) that could be adopted across the organisation, even if some systems were not appropriate for your proposed framework. Explain why this is a good idea.

The report should not be more than 1500 words. You will not be penalised for going over the limit but it may indicate you have too much detail or your writing is not precise. Feel free to use the above items as major headings in your report/essay, a bit more concise of course. You should add a brief Executive Summary and a brief Conclusion.

Answer 1

What is Agile Methodology?

• Agile Methodology is a people-focused, results-focused approach to software development that respects our rapidly changing world.
• It’s centered around adaptive planning, self-organization, and short delivery times.
• It’s flexible, fast, and aims for continuous improvements in quality, using tools like Scrum and eXtreme Programming.

How It Works?
It works by first admitting that the old “waterfall” method of software development leaves a lot to be desired.
The process of “plan, design, build, test, deliver,” works okay for making cars or buildings but not as well for creating software systems.
In a business environment where hardware, demand, and competition are all swiftly-changing variables,
agile works by walking the fine line between too much process and not enough.

To understand the goals and provide solutions in a fast and incremental way we have to use
Faster, smaller.
Traditional software development relied on phases like outlining the requirements, planning, design, building, Testing, and delivery.
Agile methodology, by contrast, looks to deploy the first increment in a couple weeks and the entire piece of software in a couple months.
Communication.
Agile teams within the business work together daily at every stage of the project through face-to-face meetings.
This collaboration and communication ensure the process stays on track even as conditions change.
Feedback.
Rather than waiting until the delivery phase to gauge success, teams leveraging Agile methodology track the success and speed of the development process regularly.
Velocity is measured after the delivery of each increment.
Trust.
Agile teams and employees are self-organizing. Rather than following a manifesto of rules from management intended to produce the desired result,
they understand the goals and create their own path to reach them.
Adjust.
Participants tune and adjust the process continually, following the KIS or Keep It Simple principle.

Scrum :

1. It is a hands-on system consisting of simple interlocking steps and components:
2. A product owner makes a prioritized wish list known as a product backlog.
3. The scrum team takes one small piece of the top of the wish list called a sprint backlog and plans to implement it.
4. The team completes their sprint backlog task in a sprint (a 2-4 week period). They assess progress in a meeting called a daily scrum.
5. The ScrumMaster keeps the team focused on the goal.
6. At the sprint’s end, the work is ready to ship or show. The team closes the sprint with a review, then starts a new sprint.

eXtreme Programming.

1. It is often used with scrum, XP is an example of how Agile can heighten customer satisfaction.
2. Rather than deliver everything the customer could ever want far in the future, it gives them what they need now, fast.
3. XP is centered on frequent releases and short development cycles.
4. It uses code review, pair programming, unit testing, and frequent communication with the customer.

Benefits of Agile Methodology :

• The benefits of Agile are tied directly to its faster, lighter, more engaged mindset.
• The process, in a nutshell, delivers what the customer wants, when the customer wants it.
• There’s much less wasted time spent developing in the wrong direction, and the entire system is quicker to respond to changes.

Faster.

• Speed is one of the biggest benefits of Agile Methodology.
• A faster software development life cycle means less time between paying and getting paid.
• That, in turn, means a more profitable business.
• Increased customer satisfaction.
• With Agile, customers don’t wait for months or years, only to get exactly what they didn’t want.
• Instead, they get iterations of something very close to what they want, very fast.
• The system adjusts quickly to refine the successful customer solution, adapting as it goes to changes in the overall environment.

Values employees.

• Employees whose ideas are valued are vastly more productive than those who are ordered to follow a set of rules.
• The Agile Methodology respects employees by giving them the goal, then trusting them to reach it.
• Since they’re the ones with their hands on the controls and the ones who see the obstacles that crop up every day, employees are in the best position to respond to challenges and meet the goals at hand.

Eliminates rework.

• By involving the customer at more than just the phases of requirements and delivery, the project remains on-task and in-tune with customer needs at every step.
• This means less backtracking and less “out on a limb” time between the time we do the work and the time the customer suggests revisions.

Agile Methodology Tools:

ActiveCollab.
An affordable tool for small businesses, ActiveCollab is easy to use. This software development aid requires little training and provides excellent support.
Agilo for Scrum.
Stakeholders get updated automatically on the project’s progress with Agilo for Scrum. Features sprint reports and burn down charts for better data mining.
Atlassian Jira + Agile.
This powerful project management tool facilitates development by incorporating Scrum, Kanban, and customizable workflows.
Pivotal Tracker.
This methodology tool is geared specifically for mobile projects. A little jargon-heavy, it’s user-friendly after a brief orientation period.
Prefix.
This free tool from Stackify provides an instant feedback loop to catch and fix bugs before they can deploy.
Retrace.
For a more robust solution complete with monitoring, errors, logs, and more, Stackify’s Retrace provides app performance insights from integration to QA to production, at the code level.

Advantages of agile for project management:
In the project management field, agile provides project teams, sponsors, project leaders and customers many project-specific benefits, including:

1. More rapid deployment of solutions
2. Reduced waste through minimization of resources
3. Increased flexibility and adaptability to change
4. Increased success through more focused efforts
5. Faster turnaround times
6. Faster detection of issues and defects
7. Optimized development processes
8. A lighter weight framework
9. Optimal project control
10. Increased focus on specific customer needs
11. Increased frequency of collaboration and feedback

The drawbacks of agile:

1. As with any other methodology, agile is not well-suited for every project, and sufficient due diligence is always recommended to identify the best methodology for each unique situation.
2. Agile may not work as intended if a customer is not clear on goals, the project manager or team is inexperienced, or if they do not function well under significant pressure.
3. Throughout the development process, agile favors the developers, project teams and customer goals, but not necessarily the end user's experience.
4. Due to its less formal and more flexible processes, agile may not always be easily absorbed within larger more traditional organizations where there are significant amounts of rigidity or flexibility within processes, policies, or teams.
5. It may also face problems being used with customers who similarly have rigid processes or operating methods.

Combining agile with other methodologies:

• The opportunity exists to combine agile with other methodologies such as waterfall to create a hybrid solution.
• Companies sometimes use waterfall to handle one or more phases — such as planning — where these do not require rapid or repetitive steps.
• Planning in particular requires a more comprehensive, methodical, often slower approach to defining, analyzing, and documenting aspects of a project.
• This makes waterfall a better approach. Once a project enters the development phase, rapid and repetitive changes require a different approach and this is where agile kicks in to deliver the best results in the shortest amount of time.
• This hybrid approach aids in making agile even more adaptable within various industries or to suit the more unique nature of a project, product, or service.
• Again, due diligence is required to determine the suitability and capacity of the different methods and processes available.

Organizational hurdles to adopting agile as in our case of programmer trying to argue for Management of Academic City College:

• Organizations looking to adopt agile for project management my encounter any of a number of common hurdles, such as the following:
• A company structure or culture that does not adequately support agile: Although project teams may be ready for agile development, the rest of the company may not be on board. Sponsors, executives, and functional leaders must also buy into and support agile for it to be truly effective.
• Unclear understanding of the impact to the overall business goals: Simply executing projects using agile methodology isn’t enough to reap the desired benefits. Projects can still be executed in ways that don’t provide the entire business with the results that help achieve sustainable growth.
• Strategic alignment is still critical.
• Rushed testing cycles: Sprints can create a risk of rushed testing cycles. In the process of trying to get through sprints as quickly as possible, teams can become more focused on the timeline and miss simple aspects of the testing cycle, which can have potential significant repercussions.
• Defects can go undetected or are detected too late.
• Limited agile skill: Although agile is rapidly taking root, top agile talent can be hard to find and attract. Limited agile talent means limited benefits for companies wanting to execute projects using this methodology.