The Sweet Spot: Agile Moves Beyond Software Development

  Governance   PM Network  

Agile is proving downright contagious - quickly spreading into new and unexpected sectors.

“Agile practices are moving outside software development at a pretty fast rate,” says Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of Emergn, a London, England-based global consulting company specializing in agile and lean methodologies. “Financial services, insurance and telecommunications are the top three industries, and we are seeing pharmaceuticals, utilities and manufacturing coming along as the next three spaces.”

Mr. Adamopoulos says his larger clients rely on agile throughout their IT project stack, and he estimates about 30 percent are implementing it on the business side as well.

There are compelling reasons driving agile’s invasion into new turf: At its core, agile is centered on adaptability— a solid selling point in a rapidly changing business environment.

“Agile development uses feedback to make constant adjustments in a highly collaborative environment—that’s it,” says Andrew Hunt, a consultant, author and co-founder of The Pragmatic Programmers LLC, a technical book publisher in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. “There’s really nothing fundamental in agile methodologies that is unique to software development.”

One of the authors of the original agile manifesto, he and his business partner have …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.