Agile development.
What is it, and why has the Washington, DC area-based Innolance chosen the Agile development process methodology for rapid delivery of high quality software?
Innolance is all about Agile development.
The Agile development methodology is, in a word, iterative.Overall risk is minimized, while frequent inspection, and constant adaptation are encouraged. Through teamwork, self-organization, and accountability above all else, engineering best practices and rapid delivery align to fulfill the needs of the end user and the Washington DC-area software developer alike.
Agile development is all about communication.
Effective communication. When communication between team members, and between developers and end users is effective, written documents become less so.
On each and every Agile software development team is a customer representative. He is the champion of communication, and works to document all of the project requirements before development begins. He communicates this information to his team, and priorities are set; features are assigned to releases, which are tied to iterations, and development begins.
The software itself is the figurative measuring stick for progress. During Agile development, specific features of the project are developed and tested; it is this that truly sets the Agile methodology apart.
When Innolance uses the Agile methodology for software development in Washington DC, the emphasis is placed on obtaining the smallest workable piece of functionality to deliver business value early, so that we might continuously improve it and add further functionality throughout the life of the project.
Other development methodologies fail because…
- The end user / customer isn’t involved.
- The requirements set are poor, or unattainable.
- The schedule set is unrealistic.
- There is a lack of change management.
- There is a lack of testing.
- The processes are inflexible and bloated.
- They aren’t Agile.
Agile development is successful because…
- The web-based model allows companies to preview, and launch a bare bones version of the product first.
- End users can provide specific feedback.
- Software developers can take the end-user feedback, and incorporate the necessary changes in real time, using the latest technologies.
While no single development method can address every potential software development issue that could arise; and some critics are quick to point out that the Agile methodology may not be appropriate for those with strictly defined timelines, Innolance has this to say:
Agile software development empowers the people, and their roles in the process. The Agile methodology is pragmatic, and realistic, and can be effectively augmented to produce and improve each and every strategic software plan. When it comes to software development in the Washington DC metropolitan area, our methodology is Agile.