What is Agile Development?
Agility refers to the ability to adapt and respond appropriately to changing circumstances. This skill has become increasingly important in business environments where change has become the norm. For businesses to survive and thrive, they need to be agile. In the realm of software development, agile development refers to the framework and practices that help software development professionals to become more effective in their roles. It requires collaboration between internal teams and end-users to develop solutions and improvements. The model relies on continuous iteration to successfully develop software solutions that meet business needs. There is active planning involved that allows systems to be gradually evolved and flexibility that supports refinement of changes so they can adequately meet the demands of users and the market. Here are some key reasons businesses should consider adopting agile development for their software development projects.
Greater End-User Satisfaction
The agile development process is built on user stories to determine what key product features must be developed. This ensures that end-users get the value they desire with additional features that make for even better satisfaction with the resulting software. The solution developed will gradually be improved upon as testing is done with each Sprint, ensuring the process delivers valuable feedback for the next release cycle.
By having end-users involved from the start of the process when determining key features to be incorporated in the product, the chances of achieving customer satisfaction are improved. The clients participate in the process from start to finish by being involved in the planning and testing phases. This further improves the chances of delivering on the project faster as the process is more focused and client-oriented.
Better Business Value
Investment in agile development allows businesses to deliver software that end-users want. Meeting user demands gives priority to solutions that will ultimately deliver the most value to the business. It ensures that the product developed will be highly utilized, translating into a better return on investment for the business. The low cost involved in using a low-code/no-code platform for this development means even better value. Agile development also reduces the risk of failure, because it is a process of continual improvement. As a result, it is rate to end up with a product that does not in some way profit the business. This means that any resources put towards these projects will almost certainly result in a product that adds value to the enterprise.
Superior Product Quality
The agile process automation involves using testing to continually improve the features and effectiveness of the product based on feedback and review. Every new iteration results in incremental improvements with each successive Sprint. With each test run the users can demand new features or changes depending on prevailing market conditions that will ultimately lead to a final product that satisfies all their demands and more.
Managed Costs and Scheduling
Minimizing cost is of great importance for any business. The running of an agile software development project using a low-code platform, not only helps to better manage cost but also boosts delivery times. Such platforms offer a slew of tools and flexibility that software professionals can use to develop features faster and more effectively than when using traditional coding platforms. Agile development operates on a fixed time schedule as each Sprint is given a defined duration. This ensures a fixed timetable by which the project should conclude and deliver results. The costing is also pegged on this timing, making it easier to predict how much will be expended on features and running additional iterations.
Better Team Development and Collaboration
Teams that work on agile development projects are self-managing and self-organized. While they must work within certain parameters such as timetables and budgets, they do enjoy some level of autonomy in their decision-making. This can be a morale booster for team members who get to feel they are in better control of their work with limited interference from outside forces like management.
Because they must also collaborate with other teams within the organization including the end-users, it can make for an insightful learning process. They learn about other aspects of the business and gain a better understanding of the demands and challenges of others. Their abilities to hold discussions and solve problems are also enhanced.
Continual Improvement
The agile development process entails continued improvement. With each Sprint, new information is gathered that can be applied to the next iteration. This ensures that with every iteration the product is gradually being improved upon while still prioritizing the product backlog. This is one of the core principles of the Agile manifesto.
Teams can run more effectively and efficiently as each new iteration delivers improvements while eliminating more and more mistakes. Besides the product, the teams that work on the project also evolve. Through their shared collaboration, discussion, and exchange of ideas, their skills become more sharpened and improved.
Transparency and Predictability
Clients are given a unique insight into product development under the agile development process. They are offered the opportunity to help in prioritizing features and review the product during testing. This visibility allows for easier monitoring of the process by managers and helpful insights to clients so they can better understand how products are developed for their benefit. This visibility also makes predicting risks and planning mitigation easier. The open framework allows for easier identification of potential problems and mistakes, and the planning and resolution that will reduce their impact and allow the project to run more smoothly. Predictability of the process also makes it easier to determine how fast projects will be able to deliver to the market and begin providing business value.
To learn more about “ONEWEB”, the most complete low-code/no-code platform, rapid development, process automation in the market, and how to effectively adopt a platform in your enterprise to achieve digital innovation goals, please feel free to contact our representative.