Understanding Agile Concepts
An Introduction to Agile. If you work in IT (Information Technology), you have almost certainly heard the term 'Agile.' In recent years it has become quite the buzz word, and a vast number of businesses are working on implementing it as part of their overall project management strategy. Unlike many other popular IT concepts, however, Agile can be somewhat more challenging to define. This is primarily because it doesn't provide black and white instructions for how a business becomes Agile. Instead, it is a series of concepts that must be tailored to that environment upon implementation in a specific company. Understanding the core concepts of Agile will help managers and employees to be able to better benefit from this popular concept.
A Very Brief History of Agile. Agile first officially got its start in 2001. The concept was designed to focus on improving the way software development was handled. Most people identify a published document called the "Manifesto for Agile Software Development" as the official birth of the Agile methodology.
In the beginning, Agile was entirely focused on software development. Agile was built to be a project management system superior to the previous standard, known as Waterfall. This earlier system closely followed how projects were handled in most other industries, focusing on periodic large accomplishments. Agile, on the other hand, focused on pushing out frequent updates that are focused on meeting customer needs. In the manifesto were four fundamental values, which remain at the core of Agile today. These values are:
Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools
Working Product over Comprehensive Documentation
Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation
Responding to Change over Following a Plan
It is made clear that while the concepts on the right, which were often seen as the priority in previous strategies, are still essential, those on the left should take priority. Agile allows developers to push out updates far more frequently so that end-users and customers can enjoy continuous improvements to the systems they are using.
To say that the Agile methodology was successful would be a massive understatement. It is estimated that Agile had reached 50% adoption within the software development world within three years of publishing the manifesto. Today, the Agile concepts have become so well adopted by software developers that they are essentially seen as the standard. Meanwhile, businesses of all sizes and across various industries implement them without even calling them by name, because virtually everyone understands that it is the way things should be done.
Expanding Agile to All of IT and Beyond. As leaders saw how successful Agile was with software development, they began to look into ways to use it throughout other areas of IT. Many businesses are even using these concepts in non-IT business functions with great success. Starting in approximately 2012, examples of companies using Agile throughout their IT organizations became more common.
How Agile Works in IT. IT organizations use Agile to ensure the services they provide to the businesses they support are always being updated and improved. There is no longer a need to focus on making major innovations to what IT is doing at any given time. Instead, those who work in IT have a prioritized "to-do" list, which is developed through frequent meetings with the business leaders they support. This list can include new features within the software, faster response times on the network, specific IT security updates, and much more.
In many cases, the list items are relatively small projects that can be completed and implemented quickly. Rather than bundling multiple small projects together into one larger project, they are handled individually and completed as soon as possible. Once the task is completed, the IT teams will release it to the users. At this time, the IT teams will begin working on the next task on their list. While the IT teams test the previous task, the business teams will complete their production testing. If they find any issues, they will report them to the IT teams as new items on their to-do list. Of course, if they discover any issues that directly impact production, those would be reported as an incident for immediate attention.
Implementing Agile. If your business is implementing Agile into software development, all of IT, or even your entire business, it is important to ensure it is adequately understood. Creating an Agile adoption plan tailor-made to your business will help ensure that this project management system is a success. There are many supporting concepts and strategies used within Agile, but once they are learned and incorporated into your business, everyone will benefit from this proven project management system.