Agility and speed help win the tech innovation race
When it comes to technology innovation, people tend to think about the new and exciting consumer products and services, for example phones, cameras, new ways of connecting. Innovative technologies - for the most part - improve our lives, help make us more efficient, help us communicate, and speed up the pace at which we share, connect and interact. This is great, but if a company wants to be successful and innovative, and maintain their competitive advantage then they too need to think of ways to accelerate their product development. Speed and agility win the competitive innovation race and the Agile methodology can be a huge boost. Agile is . In today's information age, innovation is generally nurtured through the software development process, which leads to the creation of new software products. Software development incorporates design, planning, programming, testing and bug fixes, and can be a long complicated process involving large teams of developers all working on the same project. The Agile methodology is a relative newcomer to the software development playing field, but has revolutionised the way in which new products are brought to the market.
More traditional forms of software development work on the basis that all programming is sequential, follows a strict order and, results in a final finished product. This approach has its benefits; however, a huge downside is that if changes to requirements or approach are required during a project's lifecycle, then consequent changes to coding that have already been developed can be prohibitively costly, compromised, and sometimes even unattainable. All the while competitors are releasing their products whilst your developers are spending time and effort and money putting your project back on track.
Agile is different. It works on the basis of evolution and speed, and the idea that software development should evolve throughout the project to meet the changing needs of potential customers, external technology forces, and the competitive landscape. It allows project plans to be swiftly amended, and coding to be continuously improved throughout an entire project lifecycle with ease. It is iterative, flexible and fosters innovative thinking.
One of the biggest benefits of Agile is the fact that it is incremental.
Rather than waiting for the software development to take place for the entire project, Agile delivers the development in two week stages - known as Sprints. This generates clear achievable deadlines for the team. It also enables the client to see what has been happening on the project, what has been delivered at Sprint milestones, if the development is enabling the product or service to work as desired, and if any amendments need to be made. This accelerates product development and for the client gives them tangible results for the money they have invested. Ensuring outcomes Agile also encourages self-managing, diverse and high performance teams to work together, generating involvement at every stage of the development, whilst ensuring the outcome will meet the standards of the initial project brief, or a revised project brief. Innovation has to be nurtured, and the very nature of Agile provides an environment where innovation is actually vital to the success of the sprints, and ultimately the project.
As Director of Delivery at Mitra Innovation, I'm a huge proponent of the Agile methodology. Our company quickly grew from nine employees and two client projects, to a company with 100 employees consecutively working on 20 plus projects, and we needed a software development process that would help us achieve results quickly. Agile was the best fit for us. We're passionate about innovation, as well as software development that helps our clients to innovate and be first on the market. And Agile not only helps us keep client projects running like clockwork, but also keeps our clients happy, impressed and feeling like they are in control.
We recommend Agile software development to all innovators looking to achieve high quality results on a consistent basis. Not only does Agile offer the highest levels of flexibility, but it also offers team-to-client communication which is essential as clients are an integral part of the process at all stages. This kind of transparency creates much less confusion and room for error, reduces stress levels, increases productivity, and accelerates innovation.
If you are about to launch an innovative new tech product or service, talk to your development team about the Agile method. We promise it will help you to innovate faster.
(The writer the Director of Delivery at Mitra Innovation, a technology innovation company that specialises in product and company incubation, systems integration, and digital transformation)