Agile methods are now an accepted part of the business mainstream. As a result more and more businesses are seeking to realize for themselves the significant gains demonstrated by Agile's early adopters.

We'd like to let you in on a secret: Most of the practices of Agile development are not, in fact,"new". Today's Agile methods package these "good things to do" together into a formula that addresses today's climate for professional software development. Where businesses need to deliver responses early and often; development needs to be able to shift priorities quickly to respond to market and operational changes; software teams need to optimize throughput while maintaining product quality. If you are just starting to explore Agile practices, read our quick overview and get the essential facts. Then, read on to find out how to make Agile deliver on its promise.

How to get the value out of the agile promise

The focus is on delivering Value. Agile delivers on its promise when your business gets that value. Focus on delivering solutions that solve the real business issues for your organization.

If you are struggling to realize this value, then it could be that there are fundamental problems in the way that you have applied Agile methods to your business and projects. If you're unsure if your Agile Development approach is working for you as it should or could -- Take our quick 12-question needs assessment and to find out your need level.

SPC equips you to solve the real business issues Agile project teams face, whether you are just starting with Agile, or you have been working at for some time.

Here's the top five issues we see that prevent businesses and teams gaining the benefit of Agile methods:

• How to avoid the evangelical all-or-nothing approach - it actually doesn't matter if you don’t fully adopt one of the published Agile methods so long as you get results.
• Maintaining momentum, continuing to deliver results while you get up Agile methods working for you.
• Communication and collaboration issues within development team, and with business partners.
• Too much change, too fast paralyzing your team/ Pace your uptake of new practices to account for your organization/team’s current situation and abilities.
• Slow progress, not getting as much done as planned or expected.

By partnering with SPC, customers have been able to realize significant gains in the productivity and focus of their Agile teams. One recent customer was able to double the development throughput of one of its Agile projects by better managing the development of its requirements backlog and its iteration planning process.

SPC empowers its customers to realize the full business potential of their investment in software development practices, including agile practices. For example, many Agile advocates want you to discard your previous approaches to requirements and use User Stories instead. While User Stories are definitely a good way to manage requirements for an Agile project, a recent SPC customer was already adept at the Use Case method. Instead of investing in unnecessary practices and introducing further risk and uncertainty we showed them how to leverage their Use Case expertise to drive the Agile project approach.

Want to know more?

• If you have a thorny business issue or Agile question you need answered fill out our on-line enquiry form.
• If you're unsure if your Agile Development approach is working for you as it should or could -- Take our quick 12-question needs assessment or read up on what you need to do to deliver on the Agile promise.
• If you're unsure if an Agile approach meets your needs, read up on the problems Agile can solve for you.
• To learn more, we encourage you to contact an SPC representative. They understand our services from your perspective. You will get an honest picture without the hype. There's no risk, no obligation, and plenty of ways to see if SPC is right for you.

Our goal is to ensure our clients have the right process, technology and skills to deliver lasting change to their development organization. Discover why SPC is right for you.

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Learn more about how SPC's consulting services can optimize your Agile Development practices.