Waterfall Versus Agile

  Agile   Estimating   Governance   Knowledge Shelf  

Abstract
This article intends to talk very succinctly about the main positive and negative aspects of the waterfall and agile approaches. I will deconstruct some of the urban myths behind these and suggest where one could be used over the other according to different playing factors.

For reference, I will specifically refer here to the agile DSDM Atern Handbook (DSDM, 2008), which was built to be compatible with external processes based on controlled environments such as PRINCE2 or PMI.

Introduction
I will assume that the reader has a basic understanding and knowledge of both the waterfall and agile approaches, as it would not be possible to explain both in such a short article. In the event that you are not familiar with either, I would invite you to read either offline or online reference materials. Of course, you can refer to your personal experience when reading this.

If you are new to agile, I would recommend consulting the following supporting material, as it could prove useful prior to absorbing the theory in the DSDM Atern Handbook (DSDM Consortium, 2008):

http://ineasysteps.com/products-page/all_books/agile-project-management-in-easy-steps/

Let’s start by looking at some of the advantages and disadvantages of the waterfall and agile approaches to project management.

People often see waterfall as a traditional methodology, more suited to …

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