Agile Software Development, 6 Advantages
Agile development is a strategy of software development in which the process occurs though short increments. The phases of the development process occur continuously in iterative cycles, involving a requirements phase, design and implementation, testing, and reporting. Stakeholders and designers meet after each increment to discuss what has occurred, re-evaluate requirements and determine priorities. This allows for greater transparency between clients and programmers and clients have greater influence in what is being designed to ensure the product is what they want. The traditional waterfall method general involves the stakeholders at the beginning requirements phase, and then the development company takes over and designs the website. The stakeholders or clients only see the finished product, which may or may not be what they had in mind. There are many advantages to agile development over the traditional models.
1) Agile development reduces the risk of client dissatisfaction
Since the stakeholders are involved in the process the entire time, the agile model reduces the risk that the product will not meet the needs of the client. When the stakeholders are only involved in the requirements phase, they may not see that certain aspects of the design do not work or are irrelevant to their customer base. With everyone working together and continuously re-evaluating, the project is more likely to produce a useable product.
2) Allows for more change and adaptation
In the agile development method, the large, irreversible project elements are delayed until the last moment so as many changes as possible can be made to make sure the project is exactly right. Changes can be made after each increment; the designers are not stuck with one model. Agile development is very adaptive to the changing needs of the client, the developers and the available technology. Because requirements can always change as new software is developed, these changes can be incorporated into the project instead of making the design obsolete before it ever goes to market.
3) Work can begin before all the requirements are known
Clients may not know everything they want in their finished product, but with agile development, they do not have to wait to get started working on the software. They can start with a basic idea and because they are included throughout the development process, they can add requirements as they decide what they need and based on the work that has come first. Clients can continuously reprioritize so they have a usable product in a shorter amount of time
4) Increases likelihood that a project will reach the marketplace
A large amount of development projects never make it to the marketplace for various reasons including it was not what the client wanted, it is now obsolete, or it is not useful. Using the agile development method, the chance that the product will go to the market is actually much higher because the chances that the client will approve of and find the product useful is higher. Also, the software developers can develop the highest priority designs first, allowing the product to be used immediately, even if it is not in its completed form.
5) Saves time and money
Stakeholders are involved in agile development throughout the process and everyone is working together, so the chance for miscommunication and incompatibility are smaller. This saves time by resulting in fewer mistakes and it saves money because the project is finished faster. Once a client makes a decision on a requirement, they can see results quickly. The client will see results after each iteration and determine if the software meets their needs. Less time is wasted on features that are not going to be used.
6) Works well with distributed teams
Agile development is a method that can work when part of a project is outsourced, but is infinitely more successful if outsourced to a team in the same time zone. By having constant contact with the outsourced team, there will be fewer mistakes and miscommunications. With nearshore outsourcing, the developers and outsourced team are working in the same time zone and language. People in other countries can easily keep in contact via email, phone and video conferencing. Agile requires more communication and more communication results in fewer mistakes and misunderstandings.
