Adoption of agile methods can be a difficult process. IT leaders must match company needs with agile method capabilities to increase the success of software development projects and reduce the risk of the wrong methodology choice.

Flavors of Agile

Agile forms of development are increasing in popularity as the need for projects characterized by changing requirements become the norm. For many project leaders, waterfall development connotes a single image of a development method characterized by clear steps for developing software in successive stages. Everybody gets waterfall – the method has been around for years and is ingrained in business practices.

Agile development on the other hand does not represent a single development practice. Instead, agile is the umbrella for a selection of development camps. Under the agile umbrella each camp follows the overarching agile development principles but differentiates itself on method characteristics and fit to differing project situations.

The most common agile methods...