Pros and Cons of Agile methodology

With the widespread adoption of  Agile  in the coming years in almost every industry, Agile is becoming a buzzword. But in my opinion, each methodology should be applied in a reasonable and controlled manner.

I’ve spent a lot of time working with Agile. I’ve learned that there is no one best way to develop software. These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of implementing this practice.

What is Agile Methodology?

Agile methodology is a set of principles and values that helps in effective and efficient software development. Agile methodologies have been adopted by a large number of organizations across the globe, with varying degrees of success. Agile development is becoming more popular as it offers a way to manage projects that are increasingly complex, more collaborative, and more reliant on rapid feedback. It also helps in creating solutions that are better, more responsive, and more innovative.

Agile Methodology in Software Development

Agile Software Development is an iterative, incremental, and time-boxed software development process. Agile software development focuses on small, frequent, and potentially risky changes to a product in order to deliver working software frequently.

Agile methodology emphasizes communication and collaboration between team members. It encourages a flexible approach to planning and delivering software. Agile methodologies are well suited for large-scale projects that require frequent delivery of a product with small changes.

The principles of Agile Software Development work together to create a better way of completing projects.

1. Collaborative and Transparent development process

It means constant internal team communication and contact with the customer. Meetings are the ultimate way to stay on top of things.

2. Divide the project into small iterations.

Iterations are repeated work phases with defined tasks. For each iteration, the duration of work phases ranges from 1 to 4 weeks and is fixed for a particular project.

3. Story cards and the product backlog

Story cards are a fundamental part of product design and help during the early stages to keep track. They allow you to plan ahead and avoid any mistakes that may be made in development. An effective backlog saves you time during the development stage and is more flexible than a traditional one

4. Having a definition of done right from the start

Changes will be welcomed at any time. However, they won’t be implemented during the dedicated iteration, as they will be included in the next cycle.

What are the Benefits of the Agile Development Methodology?

Agile development is a method of software development that focuses on customer collaboration, and the iterative and incremental delivery of working software to meet business needs. Some of the benefits of Agile Development Methodology are listed below:

1. Quality

With Agile, teams can quickly do small releases with working software. By focusing on testing and reviewing every iteration, the team is able to catch bugs and fix issues right away.

2. Customer-centric

Agile was founded based on the core values of excellent software and customer satisfaction. Agile is built around continual feedback from customers and makes that feedback a crucial part of development.

3. Transparency and communication

Agile software development works quickly and collaboratively and includes user feedback at every stage of development.

4. Flexibility

Project managers can easily re-prioritize individual features or tasks, or create entirely new projects based on the lessons learned during previous projects.

5. Speed

Thanks to incremental delivery, software developers have an always available working product. As speed is the biggest advantage of Agile, so says the 9th State of Agile Survey.

6. Risk minimization

Iterations allow project managers to adapt quickly to a changing software environment. Since bug fixes are released in small increments, bugs and problems can be identified early on. That makes bug fixes less time-consuming.

7. Manage lean budgets

Breaking down your project into smaller chunks helps you plan your resources more accurately. In addition, teams can get their compensation as soon as specific releases are finished.

Disadvantages of Agile Development Methodology

1. Not for govt. and large corporations

Large companies may find it difficult to use agile methodology at their workplace. Transparency can be seen as an obstacle by senior management, who are not always supportive of this type of process.

2. Quality concerns in long term projects

When software development and quality assurance is expected to be on the fast and quick path, it can often affect the quality of the long-term projects where you’ve invested so much time.

3. Change costs are ignored

This is a huge source of difficulty for software developers. Finding and fixing errors gets harder and more difficult as time goes by and the source code constantly changes and evolves over time. This is a huge problem that the programming community needs to solve.

4. Agile development is difficult with tight supervision

Agile is a great way of working for small teams that get on well together. However, if you have a large number of employees in the IT department, or if you have geographically dispersed teams, lots can go wrong.

5. Agile needs practice

The latest State of Agile Report shows that a lack of skills and experience is one of the main Agile adoption challenges. The thing is, waterfall methods for project management can be used intuitively. Unlike the traditional process, Agile methods require ample time to become acquainted with.

 Why do we still choose Agile development at Noetic? 

Working in an Agile Environment:

Agile environment is the best environment for software development. In an agile environment, people can work in a way that suits them. You can work at your own pace and schedule, which suits you better. You can work on what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. Agile environment also helps in solving problems quickly, which is the most important aspect of agile environment.

#1: Faster development with Agile methodology.

Agile software development allows us to effectively address market fluctuations, rather than waiting for updates every few years. We release smaller updates more frequently, ensuring your client always has the most up-to-date version of our work.

Software development has undergone a paradigm change in recent years. For example, agile methods have been successfully applied to address this challenge – the concept of fast and flexible software solutions that can be continuously extended for a long time.

#2: Agile methodology provides great usability for the user.

Innovation now stands for intuitive use. For smartphone users, the ability to use a device without prior training is a basic expectation.

Agile software development is a great way to create high-quality and marketable products. It deals with specific goals and deals with the people who will be using them throughout the process. In agile software development, the focus is on detection and fixing bugs as they come up. Decisions are made with the business' needs in mind first and foremost.

As a customer of Noetic, we want to ensure that the software you work with every day is as intuitive and smooth as possible.

By using click dummies and other early prototyping methods, we can continually refine the user experience of our software.

#3: Agile methodology is innovation-driven.

At Noetic, we don’t just automate existing processes. We aim to rethink and reimagine them from the ground up. The most important expert in development is the user — nobody knows better than them about the problems they encounter every day.

Noetic has a bold vision to redefine current solutions. We do this by constantly asking the right questions. The best answers are found when you break conventional barriers and design using fresh perspectives. The Noetic Product team consists of a group of people who have a lot of experience working in a wide variety of industries, and a wealth of digital knowledge.

Conclusion of Agile Methodology

Agile software development is a combination of project management disciplines that focuses on transparent, evolutionary processes and clear communication. All of this leads to the improvement of the quality of the outcome.

However, doing actual agile still takes practice. And not having sufficient knowledge of how agile works can indeed lead to projects failing.

We have experience with software development projects for several years now. We also know how to help clients implement Agile methodology so that the customer benefits-- not just our company.

Looking to take your project to the next level? Our results-oriented approach will help you take your business where you want it to be.