Adopting an agile methodology requires a change in mindset – rethinking how things get built, tested and rolled out to the marketplace. Embracing agile will fundamentally change the way an enterprise-level organization develops software. This affects everyone directly and indirectly involved in product development.
The traditional waterfall model for product development is known for creating lengthy, linear projects. This can result in a series of frustrating start-to-finish development sub-projects. These projects can take years to complete, only to offer less-than-satisfactory results. In contrast, the enterprise agile process can present results in a matter of weeks. It often produces deeply-satisfying results, maximum business value, and client satisfaction.
Agile’s impact on how enterprises innovate is profound. It requires reinventing how development teams collaborate and how work gets approved. It means reassessing the value of speed and becoming comfortable with continual change.
Once You Appreciate the Level of Change That Agile and Scrum Demand, There Are Two Paths Forward:
1. Implement Agile Within Your Organization
Implementing agile provides the twin advantages of communication and timely development. Of course, implementing an entirely new way of doing things internally may require intensive revision. It may take significant time and training to unlearn old methods, habits, and expectations. However, an organization has complete control over the process once it fully implements enterprise agile. When creators and decision-makers prioritize a values-driven communication process based on driving business value, the results should be done faster and with greater business impact.
2. Hire an Experienced Scrum Development Team
Hiring an experienced Scrum development team, a team capable of delivering high-quality results within the time frame needed, can increase your business’ success. You’re able to take better advantage of more immediate market opportunities because you’re utilizing a turn-key solution. This option already holds the expertise, resources, and experience your business needs. Because you’re using outside resources, you also have increased flexibility. You’re able to easily scale in either direction as market conditions and opportunities change.
Re-thinking Enterprise Innovation
Large enterprise managers and product development team leaders, accustomed to employing traditional development processes such as the waterfall approach, need to recalibrate how they think about innovation. Instead of creating a detailed RFP and a comprehensive list of requirements, they need to consider more closely, and in simple terms, what the user wants to accomplish and the best way to provide that. Instead of expecting a nearly complete, semi-functional prototype to test in (hopefully) a few months, stakeholders should require fully-functional product subsets that can be used immediately at regular intervals throughout the project. This is essential to assess product value and help guide ongoing development. This kind of flexible, real-time, continual progress is fundamental to the enterprise agile approach; it drives innovation further and faster than older, traditional methodologies.
The Scrum framework used in enterprise agile is specifically designed to counter the rigid, sequential, highly detailed and lengthy process that defines traditional development. Scrum’s iterative approach enables development teams to focus on incremental, short-term goals that are highly achievable.
Whether you choose to convert your internal development process to Scrum or select a qualified Scrum partner to handle the development for you, your enterprise organization will be equipped to roll out a stream of innovations smoothly, predictably, and quickly.
