The number one indicator of whether a software development project will succeed or fail is the quality of the requirements. Unfortunately, there is rarely a comprehensive set of clear, concise, and well-defined business processes, rules, roles, and data elements available at the start of a business system development project, or, when there is, they are often developed in a stove-pipe without buy-in from the target users. When your project is modeled after dynamic and fluctuating business processes and customer needs, the development lifecycle can be a rocky road. Requirements drafted six (6) months ago may no longer capture today’s environment. Going out with a big bang development effort with what may later prove to be incomplete or inaccurate requirements will leave you and your team dead in the water. This is where Agile Scrum really shines. Taking the effort into digestible, bite-sized pieces and planning mini-releases across the development cycle allows the customer to provide course correction throughout the process.
Traditional waterfall-based development methodologies are often too inflexible when the customers’ business needs shift. As requirements change, the time and effort it takes to reverse course and go back to the design phase in these traditional models can severely impact the project’s schedule, cost, and overall risk. If the customer notices during the user acceptance testing (UAT) phase that the product does not address their current needs, the project might have to start from square one, or risk total failure and the equivalent of setting the customers’ money on fire.
This is why software development companies around the world have embraced the Agile-based methodologies. Iterative work cycles, known as Sprints in Scrum, are focused around delivering functional application pieces to the customer early in the project lifecycle. This removes the risky fog of uncertainty by putting the software product in their hands right away. Customer feedback guides future development and distinguishes the high-priority requirements from those that have become irrelevant or non-essential.
Requirements can change at any point, coming from an evolving technical landscape, overlooked functional gaps, or top-down policy directive. Through customer collaboration, progress transparency and the agility to pivot project efforts, you can make sure that the final product is not only completed within the agreed upon budget and schedule, but also conformed to the customers’ expectations and pragmatic use.