Benefits of Agile Software Development
The Agile method was born out of the need to experience real-life projects. A lot of software developers had a lot of challenges and limitations in the traditional waterfall development and it was very difficult to implement such on every new project. Agile development was seen as a major breakthrough in direct response to a lot of issues that were related to the traditional software development. This applies to both overall philosophy and specific processes.
Agile development is very handy when it comes to assisting teams work in a lightweight framework. Given the frequently evolving functions in addition to the ever dynamic technical landscape, this software assists its users to maintain a clear focus as far as the delivery of business value is concerned. This focus is also essential in assisting organizations to significantly cut the risks associated with software development.
The other benefit of agile development is its ability to accelerate the delivery of a business value. This is possible through the use of a process of continuous planning and feedback which ensures that value is continually maximized in the entire development process.
This iterative planning coupled with feedback loop enables teams to be at a position to continuously align the software to suit their desired business needs. This is ensures a smooth adaptability in case there are some changes to the system. This of course leads to a better software system that is easier to use and one that better addresses the needs of both the business and the customers.
Disadvantages of Traditional Software Development
According to research, it is believed that close to 25% of all projects are doomed to fail outright if the proper software is not deployed. The sad truth is that the majority of these businesses fall into the wrong hands when it comes to matters agile software.
One of such study that was done by United Kingdom came up with some disturbing figures. It emerged that of 1,027 projects, only a paltry 13% were safe. In addition, it was proved that waterfall-style scope management was the single most contributors for failure.
These figures are enough prove that the waterfall approach is one of the riskiest and expensive paths of building software systems. It is no wonder that a lot of organizations are shifting to the agile alternatives.