The Move Toward Agile Development & ChannelAdvisor’s Open House Tuesday

Our good friends at ChannelAdvisor are having an Open House celebrating the launch of their Agile Development Center on Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm. You can learn more and register to attend at http://www.channeladvisor.com/openhouse/. If you are interested in web software development or web software entrepreneurship I encourage you to attend.

Over the past two years, I’ve seen the rise of Agile Development within web-based software companies. In the old days, companies would often write long fairly rigid product requirement documents and then work for four, six, twelve, or even eighteen months until all the features and improvements were completed and tested (hopefully) and then deploy a large version-incrementing product update. One of the most common forms of this sequential type of development was called the ‘waterfall model’ which was created in the 1970s and involved the phases of determining requirements, designing, coding, quality assurance, and maintenance. The next phase could not begin until the previous phase completed.

At iContact, we used a similar longer model of software development until early 2006. Then in March 2006 we switched over to a new model called Agile Sofware Development and began using a form of agile development called scrum methodology, which involves short sprints (4-6 weeks), daily huddle meetings, sprint reviews, and sprint planning meetings. This adherence has greatly improved our ability to develop quality product rapidly. While I’m more a marketer than a technologist, I’ve been fascinated to see the rise of Agile Development.

In 2001, a group of 17 influential thinkers got together in Utah to create the Agile Manifesto, which spelled out the key principles of Agile Development. The wrote that they valued:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

The key principles core to their Manifesto were written as:

• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
• Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
• Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
• The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
• Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
• Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
• At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

The efficiency of software development is certainly key for any web company. The Agile methodology is a fascinating movement and I look forward to watching it continue to evolve. You can learn more about Agile Development at:

http://www.unboxedconsulting.com/about_us.php
http://www.envisagenow.com/meth_ov.asp
http://magpiebrain.com/blog/2005/02/14/the-agile-release-process/
http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/agileLifecycle.html
http://www.rallydev.com/implementing_agile_process.jsp