Answering the question of “what is Agile SDLC” is straightforward. It is a set of values and principles that govern the software development life-cycle (SDLC).
Why is this approach in particular, superior to all others? The answer to these questions lies in shifting the process focus to increase efficiency. This is achieved by close customer collaborations and redesigning the SDLC development plan.
Three main pillars are forming the base of the philosophy behind Agile. These pillars can be summarized as follows:
Having an excellent tool does not necessarily mean having the best product. The Agile SDLC best practices involve an integration procedure of an incremental and an iterative process. First, the product is segmented into various incremental parts. Each part is called a build. Each build is further sliced up into unique iterations. An iteration covers 1-2 weeks. Teams work in parallel to tackle this iteration’s various operational tasks. Different Features are then, added incrementally. The output of each iteration is a working product. Customer feedback is received ahead of progressing to the next iteration, The same process is repeated until the final build accommodates all the features.
Traditional SDLC models are flawed. The waterfall model ensures task completion by dividing them into rigid sequential phases. Going back and improving any completed task, is avoided, which is a big downside. Extensive written documents and reviews are the focus of the development process. This leads to overtime and failure to deliver. One of the biggest problems of the waterfall approach is its dependency on the initial design. The customer usually does not finalize the requirements, during the initial phase. In these cases, applying traditional SDLC models would increase the costs. Another problem is the low sensitivity of the traditional SDLC models. That is a big difference between SDLC and Agile. The level of difficulty can vary between different projects. Traditional SDLC fails to adapt to the variation between project requirements. In summary, traditional approaches prefer quantity to quality.
An unbiased look at Traditional SDLC vs Agile will reveal that Agile saves your time. The traditional SDLC predicts each task in detail based on the requirement analysis step. Incorporating any new change is pushed through a vicious cycle of control management and prioritization. This approach suffers from focusing on producing documentation rather than working software. This leads to projects employing traditional SDLC exceeding the contract delivery time.
Cost-effectiveness is one of the main features of Agile. It is cheaper to make changes when using this approach. Many customers prefer to estimate the budgets per sprint and not per-project basis. This gives them more control over their spending. The customer monitors the product changes, thus adhering to the budget is guaranteed.
The risk of failure with the Agile approach is lower than with the traditional SDLC. Agile uses an adaptive approach without the need for detailed planning. The features are clearly defined, but the implementation process is more dynamic. This gives the team the ability to adapt to changing product requirements. Testing the product regularly through release iterations and building minimizes the risk of failure. Open communication with minimum documentation ensures efficiency.
Developers have more freedom using Agile SDLC. The team decides what can be accomplished during each iteration. Then the developers adapt to the evolving needs of the product, employing customer validation along the way. At the end of each iteration, the team produces a working piece of software. This approach ensures the best possible result within the shortest time frame.
No software development approach is perfect. The question of “What are the pros and cons of Agile development methods?” is legitimate. It is easier to accommodate change and accept uncertainty using Agile. You can also achieve faster review cycles with greater customer involvement. This development life cycle is privileged to have greater flexibility in releasing features. Any company that uses Agile is faced with less up-front work and less documentation. This saves energy to build high-quality products. If the team is too flexible, it could lead to a loss of time. At Mitrix, we are brutal against that.
The best option for you whether you are a startup, medium company, or large enterprise is Agile SDLC. Agile startup methodology is quite uncomplicated. By allowing your team to self-organize you discover the unique abilities of your company and ensure quality. You will get rid of the need to micromanage every minute detail of the work. This ultimately means that you cut the cost by decreasing resource usage. The Customer-driven approach will minimize the time of development and increase growth. Furthermore, this approach is a good fit for small-to-medium-sized companies. Even if, you manage a large enterprise, you should consider implementing it on your premises. The iterative approach will enable your application to be produced in a record time. The final product will be of the highest quality, regardless of the size of your company.
Here at Mitrix, we extensively employ Agile in our custom software development processes. This strategy allows us to provide our team with the innovation space it needs. It also gives us the chance to accommodate customer requests. Together, with Agile, we guarantee the excellence of your software solutions.
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