Is Agile for real

There have been questions raised about the reliability of Agile Project Management methods and its longevity. Since it is uniquely different from the usual project management methods, it has not been a walk on the park for professionals around the world to adapt to Agile methods. The objective of this article is to reiterate the fact that Agile project management does work and it shortens the duration of a project considerably without compromising on the quality of the products. 

It is however not like a PMP or a PRINCE2 method which can be used to any project environment. Agile methods can be used only in certain environment and more importantly, only when all the members involved in the project are completely involved. It is the method of choice when requirements are dynamic. Agile needs small teams and typically less than 50 developers.

Agile has many methodologies which are important. However, there are 4 which are representative of them all,

• Scrum is a management framework and not a must have in all technical projects
• XP – it is a disciplined software engineering approach to agile
• Crystal – This is the most empathetic methodology and looks directly at the methods involved
• EVO- this is a true system engineer’s approach to Agile and works well with software practices

The main reason Agile Project Management is so popular amongst organisations today is due to its risk management methods. Agile addresses the major risks of the waterfall methodology – the risks which are blamed for any poor quality or poor performance. Further to this, Agile is all about responsiveness which is exercised regularly. All methods which are used are cyclic in nature and repeat themselves again and again.

The main advantages which make Agile so good and different from other methods are as follows,

• Rapid and frequent deliveries to production meaning the project can be financially self-sufficient in a short period of time.
• A strong commitment to business milestones
• The ability to change customer priorities and requirements efficiently
• Extremely cost effective
• Innovative potential for small groups working closely together
• The project objective is based around the customer

And thus we can confidently say that the Agile project management method is here to stay and it is as efficient a project management method as it gets.