What’s trending in agile? Government agencies mitigate budget woes with agile development solutions.

So what’s a government IT professional to do when budget resources are tight and expectations for application development is high? Turn to agile software development, of course. A recent Computerworld article reveals an increased reliance on agile development methodology in government agencies that seek to control costs and increase speed of application delivery.

According to the article, government agencies are moving away from waterfall-based development that is costly and can take years to see results in favor of agile’s iterative development that produces better software in less time.

So what are government agencies loving about agile development that could work for your business?

Adaptability: Working with agile means development requirements can be realigned as government agencies need change. Whether it’s a change in scope or requirements, agile methodology gives government developers the flexibility to make change on the fly. Iterations are developed in small increments, and feedback is constantly collected and rolled into the next iteration, so there’s always room to make changes.

Productivity: Agile development relies on cross-functional teams and a host of communication tools to maximize collaboration and minimize rework. With more communication, productivity is improved and development lags are reduced. Agile developers are empowered to make decisions as they relate to their tasks, so productivity is not hampered by layers of management oversight that can slow progress.

Quality: Software quality is built right into the agile development process, because iterations are tested and bugs are fixed before problems have a chance to work themselves too far into the software. It’s seen as an integral part of the development process by the entire development team. And software isn’t just tested for errors; it’s challenged to ensure that it’s delivering the business value desired by the customer to ensure that the project never strays too far from business requirements.

Speed: More frequent delivery of smaller iterations of software means development time can be reduced and working software can be delivered faster and with more predictability than through waterfall development. Agile works in weekly iterations, keeping the project moving forward toward the finished product. There’s less focus on documentation and more time spent on development, so it’s a leaner, more efficient process.

Any business that’s hungry for cost-effective development solutions can benefit from the flexibility and efficiency of agile methodology. Shinetech is the offshore leader in agile development for companies of all sizes. Contact us to find out why.