Agile Matters

History - Agile has a relatively short history in its present form, but also has a basis in previous methodologies, such that it bridges the decades through utilising the best of the old and the best of the new.

High Quality - each aspect of every Agile project is concerned with providing the highest quality outcome possible.

Hierarchy - each project will determine a requirements hierarchy, with the most important requirements being tackled first.

Hyperbole - some people’s claims for Agile are a little over the top for our liking. Agile isn’t a cure-all for your organisation’s ills, but it is the best method we know of for achieving your aims.

Guardian - the UK’s most popular newspaper website used Agile methodologies to successfully migrate to a new platform, on time and within budget. You can read more about this project in our Case Study.

Governance - an essential component in any successful Agile project, ensuring control of the project through proper reporting and risk management. This is an area which is often overlooked within the Agile community but one in which IndigoBlue specialises. Good governance is particularly important to ensure senior management buy in, especially in larger organisations.

Goals - we always ensure the project we undertake is aligned with the organisation’s mission statement and overall goals. A key part of any Agile transition is to understand and capture the key business goals. Only by doing this can you prioritise deliverables against the value they will deliver to the business.

Guarantee - Agile projects are guaranteed to deliver the most appropriate solution for the business . The nature of the methodology is such that it can react to changing circumstances, and reset itself according to what happens at every stage.

Focus - Agile is primarily focused on providing maximum ROI for the resource investment you put into your projects. A key part of this is via prioritised incremental delivery, ensuring that the things which will provide the biggest bang per buck are delivered soonest.

Framework - in software development terms, this would also be known as the architecture within which you would work to deliver the project. In general project management terms, this will be the parameters you set at the stage of scoping out and defining the project.

Feedback - one of the key principles (and perhaps the most important one) of Agile is the provision of feedback at all stages. The main advantages of feedback is that it starts to build confidence early in the solution and it allows the team to respond to change. By regularly meeting and reviewing new ideas can be introduced and original less attractive ideas descoped. This usually gives a much better solution to the current business need.

In a recent team discussion, the idea came up that Agile isn’t merely a methodology and set of processes for running projects at a business level, its fundamental principles can be applied to almost any activity. Some of us weren’t so convinced at the time, but having thought about it at home, I realise that this is actually true.

As an example, I found myself planning a family holiday recently. I wanted to ensure we got enough cultural things in, whilst at the same time having a good relaxing break. I went online to research suitable areas and the types of things that were available to do, ensuring that I got my key priorities sorted out first, before looking for the other requirements to be fulfilled (thus adding incremental value).

Once I’d got everything sorted, though, it turned out that a wedding invite had recently arrived, thus scuppering my plans for the chosen dates, but allowing me to be responsive to the changing situation, and simply recalibrate everything for later in the year. Whilst it could be argued this process wasn’t actually entirely effective, it was certainly Agile!

DSDM - the Dynamic Systems Development Method was one of the early “flavours” of Agile methodology. This approach is time bound and iterative, and includes stages for training and rollout of the project across an organisation.

DSDM Consortium - we’re proud to be members of this organisation that oversees and regulates DSDM practitioners around the world.

Deliverables - a much misunderstood phrase, one of the core components of any Agile project will be fully specified and scoped deliverables.

Development - most people think of software development when they think of Agile, though we adopt the main processes for any kind of project within an organisation.

Conventional - our understanding of conventional project management methodologies gives us a unique insight and perspective on the world of Agile. We only employ people with at least 15 years project management experience and James Yoxall’s first project plan can be found on a cave in Lascaux in France beside the picture of the spotted hyena. It is important to understand conventional ways of managing projects and the advantages that these methods can offer. In this way you can introduce Agile techniques within conventional environments (eg PRINCE2 or MSP) and gain the benefits of responsiveness and quality within these frameworks.

Configurable - one of the hallmarks of IndigoBlue’s approach to Agile project is its ability to be configured to suit any and every situation your business comes across in the course of running the project. We help organisations to select the right tools for the right environments.

Code - one of the core elements of Agile software development, obviously, is the code that is written in the course of the project. Agile puts for more emphasis on the functions delivered (via code or configured applications) rather than other artefacts, such as detailed requirements documentation. The reason for this is that it is the delivered functions that provide value and live on after the project, not other artefacts.

Cost - a key feature of every Agile project is its ability to reduce costs and deliver better long term value than other types of project.

Collaborative - Agile projects encourage input from everyone involved in the business to ensure they run successfully and are responsive to changing needs. Unlike traditional projects, which require major business involvement at the start and finish of the project, Agile smooths the involvement of stakeholders over the life of the project. This requires less upfront investment and allows regular reviews and reprioritising of business functions.

Blue - the second part of our company name. The name IndigoBlue itself was chosen because it was available as a domain name. Once we’d decided that, we set about finding a marketing spin. And decided it represents our place between 2 different project management wavelengths - indigo and blue, which sit together at one end of the colour spectrum. It signifies we are able to utilise our knowledge of conventional project management methodologies (as represented by the colour blue) and combine it with our expertise in the new methodologies of Agile. It also signifies the sixth chakra (called Ajna), which is said to include the third eye. This chakra is believed to be related to intuition and gnosis (spiritual knowledge), which looks pretty good as some marketing guff too.

Business - whilst Agile is most often thought of as being a tool for software development, we primarily use it to further your business goals. For us the key to any successful IT project is that it isn’t an IT project. It is a business change project – this underpins the whole IndigoBlue philosophy.

Agile, obviously. For us the key message of Agile is about becoming better at responding to change. People tend to resist, resent and fear change, but it is inevitable. Accepting that and providing tools to deal with change means we become happier people, provide better solutions and more easily achieve our goals.

Agile Alliance - we’re members and supporters of this organisation that serves to further the adoption and development of Agile methodology and practices around the world. The Agile Alliance adheres to the principles of the Agile Manifesto.

Adaptable - one of the fundamental principles of Agile is that it is adaptable to changing circumstances during the lifetime of the project being managed.

Arrogance. There is a slightly unpleasant tendency towards arrogance within the IT community in general and the Agile community in particular. There is a belief that Agile is the only way to deliver projects and that unless you are able to do every single Agile practice then you aren’t doing it properly. At IndigoBlue, we are lovely people who aren’t at all arrogant and we look down on anyone who thinks we are. We also believe that even if you can’t do everything to make yourself fully Agile, you can always do something and that will help you get better solutions for your problems.

Assessment - we always make an assessment of how Agile-ready an organisation is before we embark on a project within it.

Adoption - also known as Agile Transitioning, this is the process whereby an organisation migrates to Agile processes from its previous methodology.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be giving you our own take on the A - Z of Agile, incorporating the definitions we think are relevant to Agile methodology and practices, as well as some issues and comments from our own experience.

We hope you’ll agree with our choices - perhaps ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, as one of our team members suggested recently - and even occasionally be amused by what we say. Fundamentally, though, we want you to gain a deeper understanding of our approach to Agile, through reading some of our thoughts on what’s important in the Agile world today.