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Agile methodology

The Agile methodology is a style of project management that divides a project into phases. It necessitates ongoing engagement with stakeholders as well as continuous development at each stage. Teams cycle through a process of planning, executing, and assessing once the job begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following is a selection of well-known agile methodology types from which to choose:

  • Kanban
  • Scrum
  • Extreme Programming (XP)
  • Crystal
  • Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
  • Feature Driven Development (FDD)
  • Lean Software Development

The Agile lifecycle is divided into six steps:

  • Step 1: Concept

The Agile method's initial step is to scope out and prioritize projects. Gather your team and stakeholders to discuss and find business prospects, as well as estimate project time and costs. Then you may prioritize your project backlog by determining which initiatives are viable and worthwhile.

  • Step 2: Inception

The next step is to determine how you will complete your project once you have determined what it is. What kind of people do you need on your team? What are the customer's initial requirements? Make a diagram to outline team roles and the work that must be completed throughout each sprint.

  • Step 3: Iteration

The development team can begin work on the first iteration once your initial project has been specified and accepted.

During this phase, the general workflow is as follows:

- Confirm needs based on the product backlog and comments from stakeholders.

- Develop the product according to the specifications.

- Testing—Conduct quality assurance testing to verify the features and identify any problems.

- Produce a functioning product.

- Gather feedback from customers and stakeholders in order to create the next iteration's requirements.

  • Step 4: Release

It's time to unveil the final product after several iterations. Before launching into production, you will complete final testing and quality assurance to discover faults, resolve defects, and prepare user documentation.

  • Step 5: Production

Your product is now available to the general public! Your feature is now in the production phase. Have your staff provide continual monitoring and assistance to keep the system functioning well and ensure users understand how to use it.

  • Step 6: Retirement

The retirement phase begins when your system becomes obsolete, unnecessary, or ready to be replaced. All end-of-life actions, such as contacting customers and removing the system release from production, are included in this stage.

Agile breaks down a project into smaller chunks known as 'user stories.' Each of them is a feature that the user would like to see in the software. Developers treat these user stories like a to-do list, deciding which ones to prioritize and organizing them into iterations with expected completion dates (usually around two weeks).

Developers should have a potentially shippable product that users may test once an iteration is completed. This implies agile projects start with something simple and then iterate on it based on user feedback, improving the software's suitability for users while reducing complexity.

It means that developers rarely begin work with a complete list of needs, but rather learn about new requirements from users, which they can subsequently change their product to satisfy

There are 4 essential values that underpin Agile methodology. Understanding these values is critical to fully comprehend the Agile methodology.

Let's take a closer look at the core values first:

  • Value 1: Individuals and Interactions

Several development teams have focused on building software utilizing the greatest resources or methodologies available in the past. Despite the importance of these factors, "The Agile Manifesto" argues that the operations' people are far more valuable.

Having the appropriate individuals on the software team is crucial to success. In the wrong hands, even the best procedures are useless. Perhaps even more important is how these people engage with one another. Interactions among team members enable them to work together to overcome any problems that occur. More information is available in my essay How to Create High-Performance Agile Teams.

  • Value 2: Working Software

Software developers used to spend many hours compiling detailed records. It was also before they started writing a single line of code. Even if your documentation is correct, you must focus on delivering functional software to your clients.

One of the key goals of the Agile Manifesto is providing software for your customers. You may then use the feedback to improve future releases.

  • Value 3: Customer collaboration

Contracts used to reign supreme. You'd make preparations for your clientele and then go into great detail about the ultimate outcome. As a result, the meaning of the agreement, the product, and the unique desires of the customer are occasionally at odds.

According to the Agile Manifesto, the focus should be on continued growth. To ensure that your product functions well, you must build a feedback mechanism for your customers.

  • Value 4: Reacting to change

Could you picture making a blueprint and then never changing it? This is, after all, what happened in the past.

The problem with static roadmaps is that they don't exist in a fixed setting. Needs and demands are still changing, as are ambitions. This static roadmap would be quickly out of date.

The Agile Manifesto asserts that a software team should be able to pivot and alter course if necessary, thanks to a flexible roadmap. Agile teams can keep up with changes in a dynamic plan that can range from a quarter to quarter, even months to months.

Scrum, eXtreme Programming (XP), Feature Driven Development (FDD), Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Adaptive Software Development (ASD), Crystal, and Lean Software Development are the most popular and common examples (LSD). Teams usually choose one or two approaches. Scrum and XP are the most extensively used approaches, and they complement each other well.

On the surface, it's easy to see how Agile and Scrum are frequently confused, as both rely on an iterative process, frequent client interaction, and collaborative decision making. The primary difference between Agile and Scrum is that, whereas Agile is a project management philosophy that employs a core set of values or principles, Scrum is a specific Agile methodology used to facilitate a project.

There are also other notable differences between Agile and Scrum:

Agile Scrum
Agile is a method of working. Agile is implemented using Scrum.
Leadership is really important in Agile. Scrum encourages self-organizing, cross-functional teams.
Design and execution are simple. Design and execution that is innovative and imaginative.
The project manager oversees and manages all of the tasks. The entire team addresses any difficulties or challenges.
The highest emphasis is customer happiness. Empirical Process Control is the philosophy behind Scrum-based procedures.
To attain the goal, emphasis is placed on face-to-face communication. The primary goal is to maximize corporate value.
Working software is the most basic indicator of progress. Working software is not regarded as a key indicator of progress.
Agile requires collaboration and everyday in-person interactions. The responsibilities of various scrum jobs are defined in daily stand-up meetings.

Many businesses are implementing Agile approaches to improve team performance, customer happiness, and project adaptability. Agile approaches enable organizations to adjust more quickly to market changes and complete more projects effectively. 

Agile training is a great approach to get your company and project team up to speed on the fundamentals of Agile and related implementation methodologies. Many myths and misunderstandings concerning Agile operations can be cleared up through Agile training. It can also assist highlight the differences between the various Agile implementation approaches and disclose the underlying Agile concepts.

Agile techniques aim to produce the proper product through small cross-functional self-organizing teams that supply small pieces of functionality on a regular basis, allowing for frequent customer input and course correction as needed.

In doing so, Agile tries to address the issues that traditional "waterfall" techniques of delivering huge goods over extended periods of time encounter, such as client requirements changing frequently and resulting in the delivery of incorrect products.

Agile and Waterfall are the two most common software development approaches used in ERP systems, but they have some key differences to consider.

There are some below the difference between Agile and waterfall:

a) Agile and Waterfall Methodologies

Both Agile and Waterfall are popular software development approaches for ERP projects that aim to provide high-value products in the shortest amount of time. Despite having the same purpose, they take various techniques to complete the projects. The waterfall is a sequential design process, whereas Agile takes an incremental method to get things done.

b) Agile and Waterfall Methodologies Approach

Both are viable project management strategies, but in different ways. Waterfall is a conventional approach that can be rigorous at times, and it divides the entire development process into a series of activities that begin with conception and end with production. Agile, on the other hand, is a newer method to lean development than Waterfall and uses an incremental approach.

c) Agile and Waterfall Scope

Analysis, design, coding, implementation, and testing are all steps of a software development project under the waterfall methodology. It works effectively when the project's scope is known ahead of time, but it limits adjustments, limiting adaptability. Agile, as a current approach, is open to modifications, which comes at a cost, but it works well when the project scope is unclear.

d) Agile and Waterfall Design Processes

Agile starts with a minimal project plan, breaking it down into small modules over time. The steps of the development process run concurrently with regular input, and a backlog is kept to track progress. Waterfall, on the other hand, is a sequential procedure that does not monitor the project's progress. Because it follows a sequential method, a developer can only proceed to the next phase after successfully finishing the first.

e) Agile and Waterfall Prioritization

Contract terms in Agile approach allow for partial project success, lowering the chance of failure. As a modern method, it prioritizes processes based on value, requiring the implementation of valuable features first, lowering the danger of an unusable product. Waterfall, on the other hand, is based on a "all or nothing" strategy, which increases the likelihood of project failure by limiting the project's partial success.

Conclusion:

The two most prevalent software development techniques used in ERP projects are Agile and Waterfall, however, they take different ways to achieve the same goal: to provide the desired product in the shortest period possible, free of faults and errors. Agile software development takes a more gradual approach, allowing for more flexibility in monitoring progress throughout the development cycle. Waterfall, on the other hand, takes everything one step at a time, from conception to execution and upkeep. Developers can only move on to the next phase after completing the previous one, which limits alterations and increases the risk of failure. Agile development allows for adjustments during the development cycle, lowering the risk of complete failure.

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