Ten tips on agile software development
Agile software development process is one of the fastest emerging software development methodologies in the IT industry.
What exactly does agile software development process mean?
It means developing software in an iterative manner and every single iteration of programming is a complete software solution in itself. This way the customer receives working software very quickly, but in small portions. Many software companies including Ecomsolutions Inc have adopted agile software development technique to deliver high-quality software products in short time. Here are a few things you should take care of before switching to the agile software development process:
1. Ask your team members if they are ready for the transition. Agile software development is a totally different way of developing software applications for it relies upon speed, great communication skills, and a desire to provide completed solution to the customer in a short span of time. It’s a paradigm shift from the conventional form of software development.
2. Since everything happens in iteration your learning should also take place iteratively, that is, you learn something of everything and then proceed with the agile software development process. This kind of software process doesn’t require you to be an expert of everything because here the main stress is doing a single thing and doing it completely so that it is a complete software solution in itself.
3. Take control of the hostilities in time. This happens with every kind of transition; there are people who don’t just like to change and they are the ones who will resist the transition at the first opportunity. You will have to win over their confidence because in future you will have to work with them.
4. Focus on the risks of not going agile. Since many software organizations have already made big strides in agile software development and gained tremendous advantage over their competitors you can easily highlight the risks involved in not adopting to this revolutionary software development process.
5. Convey to your decision-makers that it’s not about how we are used to working, it’s about the survival of the business; this is the most important fact and everybody in your organization should understand that. Once you make it clear to them that switching over to agile software development is a matter of survival they will eagerly adapt themselves to the new methodology.
6. Transition to agile software development process cannot happen in chunks; your entire organization and your customers will have to accept it. Everybody in your organization from software engineers to systems analysts to subject matter experts to programmers to marketing executives to project managers will have to understand and assimilate the process in order to get it executed fruitfully. They will completely have to change their mindset regarding the software delivery process. Similarly you will have to educate your customers about how they will be receiving the software in small proportions in their entirety.
7. Don’t be afraid of picking up a big project as your first agile software development project. This way everybody in your organization will take it seriously and you will be able to put your message across in a more assertive manner
8. Adaptations take time and don’t let them bog you down because no matter what field you are in, whenever you are adapting to newer methodologies scaling problems fall off the roof like the raindrops. Gradually everything and everybody will fall in line.
9. Document the progress carefully so that you have the metrics in your hand when you have to present your case in the time of adversities.
10. Just as software development happens very fast during the agile software development process, you make mistakes in the same speed. And it is good to fail because then you also learn very fast. So during your transition to the agile software development process fail fast and then learn fast to speed up software development furth