{"id":113626,"date":"2020-05-09T09:40:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T13:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/?p=113626"},"modified":"2021-08-18T21:44:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T01:44:58","slug":"agile-is-not-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/agile-is-not-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Agile is Not for Everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Agile<\/a>The agile manifesto<\/a><\/strong> was published almost 20 years ago. The publishers of the agile manifesto looked to overthrow<\/strong> previous project management methodologies<\/strong>. The agile manifesto authors cast away what they considered burdensome. They looked to eliminate contracts, plans, and documentation<\/strong>. Along the way, agile became the latest consultant-speak<\/a><\/strong> to solve any firm’s problems.<\/p>\n

\"Agile<\/a>Over the years Agile has morphed into CI\/CD<\/a>, DevOps<\/a>,\u00a0 Extreme Programming<\/a>, Kanban<\/a>, Lean<\/a>, SAFe and more buzzwords<\/a><\/strong>. The top agile methods<\/a> employed by organizations include scrum (54%), scrum\/XP Hybrid (10%), custom hybrid (14%), scrumban<\/a> (8%), and kanban (5%).<\/p>\n

Agile is a blanket term for a set of methodologies that emphasize collaboration within tightly-knit teams, iterative development, early delivery, continuous improvement, and the ability to respond rapidly to changing requirements. Despite these lofty goals some argue that agile has become<\/a> as<\/a> dogmatic<\/a><\/strong> as the predecessors it sought to overthrow.<\/p>\n

Backlash against agile<\/h3>\n

\"Agile<\/a>Recent signs are pointing to a possible backlash against agile<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0California-based IT research firm Computer Economics<\/em><\/a> reports<\/a>\u00a0that the growth in agile development is starting to taper off<\/strong>. Adoption was flat year over year, and we may be closing in on the ceiling for agile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In their report, Agile Development Adoption and Best Practices<\/a><\/em>, Computer Economics found that 60%<\/strong> of survey respondents practiced agile development in 2019<\/strong>, the same amount<\/strong> as practiced in 2018<\/strong>. In 2015, only 49% practiced agile, and that figure rose steadily until 2018.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David Wagner, senior director of research for Computer Economics<\/em> concluded:<\/p>\n

Most software developers will tell you that agile is the only way to develop software … However, when requirements are fairly stable and well-understood, a more traditional development approach may be best. Also, agile works best when developers can be assigned to single projects over a longer period of time which is not always possible, especially in smaller companies.<\/em><\/p>\n

rb-<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"agile<\/a>Computer Economics concludes that Agile is an important tool for organizations with high-level development needs, such as software and cloud providers. However, for most enterprises that do little custom development, agile might not be right for them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Corporate IT organizations that have not already adopted Agile are expected to slow in adapting it in the future. KPMG found<\/a> (PDF) that 63% of business leaders claim that the maturity of agile project management is lower than that of traditional project management.<\/em><\/p>\n

I always like to follow the money because it leads to interesting places. Here are some factoids around Agile. The project management software market size is projected to reach $6.68 billion<\/a> by 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n