Over the past 20 years, Agile methodologies have enabled IT projects to deliver unprecedented levels of business value to organisations worldwide. Some of these benefits can be obvious from the first time that these methodologies are used in an organisation: higher quality outputs, more relevant software solutions, greater levels of user satisfaction, and tighter control of ongoing IT expenditure.

What may be less evident, however, are the compounded benefits that Agile methodologies can bring to organisations in the longer term: most notably, the establishment of an organisational culture that cultivates quality, inspires greater levels of employee motivation, and encourages staff...

‘Agile’ is a collective term for methodologies (and practices) that have emerged over the past two decades to increase the relevance, flexibility and business value of software solutions. These methodologies are specifically intended to address the problems that have historically plagued software development activities in the IT industry, including budget overruns, missed deadlines, low quality outputs, and dissatisfied users.

Although there are a broad range of Agile methodologies in the IT industry – from software development and project delivery approaches to strategies for software maintenance – all of these methodologies share the same basic objectives:

replace large up-front investment in...

Agile is not the answer for every organisation. Dynamic organisations and organisations with unsustainable IT overheads are likely to receive a much greater ROI from implementing Agile methodologies than organisations that are not facing these challenges.

Agile methodologies are primarily intended to manage the risk ofchangein software requirements, including the need to incorporate information that emerges during the development process. Accordingly, Agile is ideally suited for situations where the outcomes are dependent onvariable factors, such as resource availability, customer preferences and market fluctuation. It allows organisations to manage these unforeseen circumstances by expecting – and embracing –...

Although it might be tempting for you to want to ‘dive right in’ and start using an Agile methodology (e.g. Scrum) to salvage your struggling software projects, it is valuable for you to step back for a moment and consider the specific needs – and constraints – of your organisation.

Decidingwhere to beginusing Agile methodologies in your organisation is as important as deciding which methodology you will use.

Is your objective to do a ‘safe’ trial of Agile before committing to its broader use across the organisation? If so, you may want to select a self-contained new software...