7 Steps to Agile Development
A report released at the annual NASCIO conference offers some practical tips on realizing the benefits of agile development.
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October 2, 2017
AUSTIN, Texas — At its annual conference on Oct. 2, NASCIO, in conjunction with Accenture, released Agile IT Delivery: Imperatives for Government Success. The
report is fueled by detailed surveys and interviews of state government
leaders from across the country, both inside and outside of IT. It
makes the point that although government is perhaps better positioned
than the private sector to benefit from agile development methods, there
are more structural impediments standing in the way of its success.
Among government’s built-in challenges, according to the report, are
budget constraints and cumbersome requirements around compliance.
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At an afternoon session, New Hampshire CIO Denis Goulet and Nebraska CIO Ed Toner,
alongside NASCIO’s Eric Sweden and Accenture’s Keir Buckhurst, offered
their take on how to advance agile development in state government,
despite the hurdles.
As reported by Government Technology
earlier this year, Nebraska’s enterprise content management system is
run using agile development by an enthusiastic group of millennials,
fresh off their college-level agile coursework.
In New Hampshire, Goulet brings extensive private-sector agile
experience to the state. He pointed out that agile requires a level of
commitment from the business side that is far greater than traditional
waterfall methods. “It was a sell job to the business, really,” he said.
“There’s going to be some fear and uncertainty and doubt.”
But there are many benefits to be had. Sixty-six percent of survey
respondents felt that agile helped avoid major failures, while 58
percent said it kept them from investing in programs that don’t meet
business needs. About half indicated that agile helps reduce risk and
bolster efficiency.
In New Hampshire, Goulet described the payoff in specific terms.
One agency customer was routinely slow in paying central IT following
project delivery. Using agile, central IT worked alongside its agency
partners on a year-long project, which included “sprints” (small,
measurable deliverables) every two weeks. Upon the project’s conclusion,
the agency paid the bill within two days. Goulet credits the change to
the customer's full engagement throughout the process that stemmed from
agile.
Panelists also offered their take on 10 agile “starting points”
offered in the report. The list includes picking the pilot — something
with broad impact, preferably; addressing budgeting and procurement,
processes that can be at odds with agile; fostering the knowledge and
enthusiasm of the team and injecting experience into the process.
“Some people think agile is just an excuse to be undisciplined,”
Goulet said, but the reality is quite different. “Agile is incredibly
disciplined.”
Done well, agile development has performance management built in.
“A good agile team knows who’s performing, knows who isn’t and does a
lot of that difficult work for itself/themselves,” he added.
Government Technology editor Noelle Knell has more than 15 years of writing and editing experience, covering public projects, transportation, business and technology. A California native, she has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history. She can be reached via email and on Twitter.
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