Agile vs Waterfall Methodologies
One of
the most challenging and eternal questions in project management is “What way
of organizing the work of software development to choose?” This is about
development methodologies. This topic gets a lot of discussions and hot debates
as every software development project start with the selection of
implementation methods.
There
are two basic and most popular methods of managing projects in the modern
software development industry: Agile and Waterfall
Agile
methodology is a type of incremental approach
to software development based on principles that focuses more on people,
results, collaboration, and flexible responses to change. Instead of planning
for the whole project, it breaks down the development process in small increments
completed in iterations, or short time frames. Each iteration includes all SDLC
phases such that a working product is delivered at the end. After several
iterations, a new or updated product is released.
Some
benefits of agile method are:
1. Superior quality product
In Agile project management, testing is an integrated part of the project execution phase which means that the overall quality of the final product is greater. The client remains involved in the development process and can ask for changes depending on the market realities. Since Agile is an iterative process, self-organizing teams keep on learning and growing with time and continue improving.
Waterfall project management is a traditional model for developing engineering systems and is originally based on manufacturing and construction industry projects. When applied to software development, specialized tasks completed in one phase need to be reviewed and verified before moving to the next phase. It is a linear and sequential approach, where phases flow downward (waterfalls) to the next.2. Customer satisfaction
In the Agile, the customer is always involved in the decision-making process which leads to greater customer retention. In the traditional framework, the customer is only involved in the planning phase and does not influence execution which affects the flexibility and adaptability.
3. Better control
Agile allows managers to have better control over the project due to its transparency, feedback integration, and quality-control features. Quality is ensured throughout the implementation phase of the project and all stakeholders are involved in the process with daily progress reports through advanced reporting tools and techniques.
4. Improved project predictability
With increased visibility, predicting risks, and coming up with effective mitigation plans becomes easier. Within the Agile framework, there are greater ways to identify and predict risks and plan to ensure that the project runs smoothly.
1. Uses clear structure
When compared with other methodologies, Waterfall focuses most on a clear, defined set of steps. Its structure is simple—each project goes through these steps:
Requirement gathering and documentation
System design
Implementation
Testing
Delivery/deployment
Maintenance
2. Determines the end goal early
One of the defining steps of Waterfall is committing to an end product, goal, or deliverable at the beginning, and teams should avoid deviating from that commitment. For small projects where goals are clear, this step makes your team aware of the overall goal from the beginning, with less potential for getting lost in the details as the project moves forward.
3. Transfers information well
Waterfall’s approach is highly methodical, so it should come as no surprise that the methodology emphasizes a clean transfer of information at each step.
Leading
Agile Project Management Software Platforms
Project
managers looking for the best software that supports agile development have
many options. These are the best agile PM tools you should consider.
- Monday.com
- Mavenlink
- Asana
- Smartsheet
- Wrike
- Zoho Projects
- Jira
- Pro Workflow
- Nifty
Resources:
https://clickup.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/dev-tools-2.jpg
https://kissflow.com/project/agile/benefits-of-agile/
Comments
Post a Comment