Agile Software Development – What’s The Real Deal?

Tathagat VarmaHead of Strategic Programs and Business Operations

Yahoo! India R&D

Pace of Innovation and Adoption…getting faster…

http://www.phibetaiota.net/2011/12/john-robb-digital-empowerment-of-resilient-communities/

Waterfall Software Development

Picture from http://damonpoole.blogspot.in/2009/07/traditional-development-game-of.html

Limitations and Assumptions

1. Wrong analogy: Software development ≠ Production 2. Customers know EVERYTHING upfront and that requirement won’t change3. Legacy from the past: implicitly assumes CPU time is costly, so focuses on doing

everything upfront to minimize ‘machine time’ for trial and error4. “Wicked Problem”: Designers and developers know how exactly how to build5. Very long feedback cycles not suitable for today’s pace of innovation

As a result, software is…

Late

Buggy

Costly

and the costs…?

http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/estimating/http://www.agileforall.com/dyk/

But we want software to be…

What is the most important part in these two machines?

“The Brakes!!!”They let you go faster…

Agility vs. Discipline?

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/edge/08/feb08/lines_barnes_holmes_ambler/

Agile Manifesto 2001

Scrum

What’s happening here?

http://ayagebeely.blogspot.in/2008_08_01_archive.html

Feedback Loops in Traditional Techniques vs. Agile Techniques

Agile Development Value Proposition

http://www.versionone.com/Agile101/Agile_Benefits.asp

Does Agile work?

http://www.bigvisible.com/2009/12/taking-agile-beyond-faster/http://www.testingthefuture.net/page/2/

Conclusion

• Pace of Innovation, Adoption and Obsolescence is …accelerating

• We don’t always know enough about all the problems to design big-upfront solutions, nor have enough resources to keep them locked-up for a long ROI cycle

• Adapting to early feedback can help make in-flight course corrections faster, cheaper and more gracefully

• Agile frameworks and methods allow ‘inspect and adapt’ to deliver smaller chunks of functionality faster, thereby improving TTM

• Agile methods facilitate early creation of business value…but don’t guarantee it!

Afterthoughts…

“In the struggle of survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.”

– Charles Darwin

Connect

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