Agile

If you’re a broker, it’s probably been a while (since you last undertook a big software project)…

At Ignite we’ve done over 40 implementations in the last 7 years. In that time we’ve learned a lot. So here are a few of our learnings about project management:

• It is impossible to perfectly predict an end date for a 4 week+ project
• Requirements change
• We know something will go wrong during development, but we don’t know what it is yet

It’s not an ideal list. Ideally, you would know when you’d get your system and that you’d get all of it.

That’s why we run our projects using the Agile method. We do this to mitigate all the problems listed above.

Here are some of the key principles of working agile:

• Working software is the primary measure of progress
• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
• Business people and developers must work together throughout the project

That’s a better list!

By focusing on that second list the first one becomes less problematic. To demonstrate:

• Predicting an end date matters less if working software is seen to be advancing throughout the project
• Changing requirements are welcomed and discussed with the customer so they understand the impact of change on delivery and cost
• When things go wrong business people understand the reason and the impact immediately

Our process is constantly evolving but if you’re a broker looking at a system don’t expect to specify everything, wait 12 weeks, and get a perfect system. You’re going to be involved throughout.