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Red tape, traditional processes hamper agile development

The traditional models for undertaking a software development project can hamper efforts to be agile, says Clydie Cronje, director of projects and risk at EOH MC Solutions.


Cape Town, 06 Oct 2015
Clydie Cronje, director of projects & risk at EOH MC Solutions
Clydie Cronje, director of projects & risk at EOH MC Solutions

Clydie Cronje, director of projects & risk at EOH MC Solutions, says to remain relevant and to retain a competitive advantage, enterprises need increased speed and agility when it comes to launching new applications. "However, the traditional process for new software development includes lengthy business planning and speccing, followed by the handing over of fixed scope project deliverables to a development team. Business and developers meet infrequently during the development process and at the end, when the project is handed over, business may find that the project does not meet all its needs because the environment has changed, business needs have changed, or simply because business was not comprehensive enough in its brief. Any changes in scope typically entail new negotiations and cost revisions, and also slow down delivery time."

In contrast, in an agile approach to development, developers work in close collaboration with business and end users to develop solutions in an iterative way, making any necessary changes in the process, and ensuring that the end result is fully aligned with business needs, even if the scope of the project was changed midway. This, says Cronje, delivers projects faster and potentially more cost-effectively, as well as ensuring they fully support business objectives.

"At EOH MC, we are increasingly taking this approach with our long-term customers. Because we have built a relationship of trust with them, we are now able to leapfrog the traditional approach and move to more agile software development on their behalf," he says. Cronje explains that in these cases, EOH MC has developer teams on site at the clients' premises, collaborating continuously with business, project managers and end users, to develop solutions that meet ever-changing business needs and provides a competitive advantage.

"The first step towards this more agile development model was probably the iterative approach to development, whereby smaller components of a project are completed and assessed, before moving on to the next step," says Cronje. This approach has now evolved to a point where customers contract EOH MC's developers for a fixed period, and add or change deliverables over time, in line with changing business requirements.

Business benefits from faster, more effective implementations, and the development team enjoys the freedom to get immediate feedback from clients, the opportunity to improve on systems and applications without being constrained by specifications in the original project plan, and the satisfaction of delivering solutions the client actually wants and needs, says Cronje.

This agile development model requires a high level of trust between the development team and business, Cronje concedes. "Agreeing to an open-ended development project with no clear deliverables and timelines requires a partnership with a service provider that has a sound track record and understands the business."

"Agile development is not a software development life cycle - it is a philosophy that brings IT and business closer together," Cronje notes. "You can only be agile if business buys in to the philosophy and values working software over the documentation and procurement processes. Business must see the value of putting operations and end users in direct contact with the developers too, so that what is being developed delivers what it should."

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EOH MC Solutions

EOH Microsoft Coastal (EOH MC), formerly Airborne Consulting, was founded in 2004 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EOH Mthombo, a company in the JSE listed EOH Group. Specialising in IT solutions across the Microsoft technology platform, EOH MC is the largest Microsoft development partner in the Western Cape, successfully delivering significant projects to a broad spectrum of businesses across diverse industry sectors. Its brand represents uncompromising quality, a commitment to excellence and an innovative approach to delivering real business solutions.

Editorial contacts

Hayley Turner
Black Book PR
(021) 701 1095
hayley@black-book.co.za
Clydie Cronje
EOH MC Solutions
(021) 425 3430
clydiec@eohmc.co.za