Agile Technology

Is Agile really the next big thing yet?

Rohit Parekh

Is Agile the next big thing in IT software development industry? For this we need to understand what Agile is and what does it bring to the table?

Agile is a methodology for managing IT development teams and projects. The goal is to develop working software with high level requirements which evolve during a sprint of fixed duration. It emphasizes on active user involvement with more individual interactions versus more processes and tools.

In my past job experience I worked as a Web Developer with an IT firm ‘Ambab Infotech' in India. The company had only recently taken to Agile in a small way and I had the opportunity to be part of a team managing customers such as Shoppers Stop a multi-brand clothing retail outlet and NDTV News channel at the same time.

In my experience, I learnt that the Agile way of management requires highly skilled individuals participating on only one project at a time. This required close involvement and team collaboration for completing deliverables. It was very difficult as each team member had specific business or technical expertise to be utilized across multiple projects. By providing 100% commitment to one project lead to resource crunch in other projects which in turn affected their performance and productivity.

In the Forbes Magazine issue on December 2, 2012, Team Management: Think Small And Agile, an article mentions about the team in terms of size. It further mentions - There's a right size for every team, and it's almost always smaller than you think. During the sprint one may realize that due to lack of required skill set in the team of simply due to excessive work load additional resources from external teams may be needed for better understanding of the requirement and fulfillment of the task. Having a set number of members may deter the team from completing the task on time and providing a quality product.

When I think about Agile Management it reminds me about the saying: Nothing is permanent except change. Change means flexibility and agile management signifies flexibility. However, when the term flexibility is not properly defined by the company and the client which happens more often than not it gives rise to change in scope. Scope creep is highly detrimental to quality task