Today more than ever, companies need to be efficient and flexible. They need to be able to respond to changing market conditions and customer needs within weeks not months. A faster, less risky, more agile development approach is needed. Agile has become so widely embraced because:
- Software in development costs money and does not produce business value. By producing a better product faster, organizations are minimizing development time and maximizing return on investment (ROI).
- Minimizing defects can reduce costs. The longer it takes to discover a defect the more costly it becomes to fix it.
- By engaging the business and delivering functionality in an iterative manner companies are able to insure that the business gets what the business needs.
Centric’s Agile For The Enterprise:
The immediate value of Agile is fairly obvious: Software delivered better, faster, and cheaper. And its growth since its introduction in 2001 has been explosive with 35% of all software projects leveraging some form of Agile approach. However, Agile is still a tool. And like all tools, used incorrectly it can result in greater harm than good. Furthermore many Agile critics complain that the Agile approach is not rigorous enough for corporate America’s IT organizations.
For larger organizations looking to leverage Agile concepts but struggling to make them work within their environment Centric has created our Agile for the Enterprise approach. Agile for the Enterprise is authentic Agile done in a tailored manner to allow for the restrictions found in larger organizations. Centric’s approach still adheres to the fundamental tenants of Agile, the difference lies in how it’s applied and deployed. Centric’s Agile approach also allows for predictable metrics-driven delivery of functionality on time and on budget.
Getting Started With Agile:
The first step in becoming Agile begins with an assessment of where your organization stands in its adoption of Agile:
- Is Agile right for your organization? Will Agile work for the project you’re targeting?
- Do you have the trained resources needed to properly and successfully do an Agile project?
- What benefits are you hoping to derive and can they realistically be achieved?
- Can you be successful becoming more agile while adhering to organizational constraints?
Our Agile practitioners can provide any of the following services:
- Training - what is Agile and how could it benefit your organization? Centric offers Agile boot camps, certification, and coaching.
- Agile Audit – Are you currently using Agile and would like an objective third-party assessment of how you’re doing? Would you like to know if there’s a more efficient way to derive greater value out of your team? One of our Agile Coaches will assess your project goals and output, identify gaps, and present you with alternative best practices, coaching, and suggestions.
- Practice Development – If your organization has committed to deploying Agile Centric can develop a custom Agile approach compatible with your organization’s exiting development methodology and corporate culture.
- Agile Rescue - Have you made a commitment to an Agile approach but are not seeing the kind of ROI you expected? Centric will bring in experienced Agile experts to assess what is working and where improvement is needed. Centric will define an approach for improvement and work side-by-side with your team to ensure the project gets back on track.
- Iteration Management – Centric can help augment an Agile project with an experienced Agile Iteration Manager or provide point resources for any Agile team role.
