Financials

<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What is agile?</span></h2><h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Agile is a&nbsp;project management methodology&nbsp;that uses short development cycles called &ldquo;sprints&rdquo; to focus on continuous improvement in the development of a product or service.</span></h2><h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The principles of agile</span></h2><p>There are 12 key principles that still guide agile project management today.</p><ol><li>Customer satisfaction is always the highest priority and is achieved through rapid and continuous delivery.</li><li>Changing environments are embraced at any stage of the process to provide the customer with a competitive advantage.</li><li>A product or service is delivered with higher frequency.</li><li>Stakeholders and developers collaborate closely on a daily basis.</li><li>All stakeholders and team members remain motivated for optimal project outcomes, while teams are provided with all the necessary tools and support, and are trusted to accomplish project goals.</li><li>Face-to-face meetings are deemed the most efficient and effective format for project success.</li><li>A final working product is the ultimate measure of success.</li><li>Sustainable development is accomplished through agile processes whereby development teams and stakeholders are able to maintain a constant and ongoing pace.</li><li>Agility is enhanced through a continuous focus on technical excellence and proper design.</li><li>Simplicity is an essential element.</li><li>Self-organizing teams are most likely to develop the best architectures and designs and to meet requirements.</li><li>Regular intervals are used by teams to improve efficiency through fine-tuning behaviors.</li></ol><h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The benefits of agile</span></h2><p>Agile was originally developed for the software industry to streamline and improve the development process in an effort to rapidly identify and adjust for issues and defects. It provides a way for developers and teams to deliver a better product, in a faster manner, through short, iterative, interactive sessions/sprints. In the era of&nbsp;digital transformation, with many companies migrating to a&nbsp;digital workplace, agile is a perfect fit for organizations looking to transform how they manage projects and operate as a whole. Agile can help ensure company-wide process and methodological alignment. In terms of business benefits, both the digital workplace and agile provide:</p><ul><li>Increased flexibility</li><li>Increased productivity</li><li>Increased transparency</li><li>Higher quality deliverables</li><li>Decreased risk of missed objectives</li><li>Increased stakeholder engagement and satisfaction</li></ul><h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Advantages of agile for project management</span></h2><p>In the&nbsp;project management&nbsp;field, agile provides project teams, sponsors, project leaders and customers many project-specific benefits, including:</p><ul><li>More rapid deployment of solutions</li><li>Reduced waste through minimization of resources</li><li>Increased flexibility and adaptability to change</li><li>Increased success through more focused efforts</li><li>Faster turnaround times</li><li>Faster detection of issues and defects</li><li>Optimized development processes</li><li>A lighter weight framework</li><li>Optimal project control</li><li>Increased focus on specific customer needs</li><li>Increased frequency of collaboration and feedback</li></ul><h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Popular agile methodologies</span></h2><p>Within agile there are some frequently used or&nbsp;popular methods, with Scrum, Kanban, and Lean being the most popular. Some agile methods include:</p><ul><li>Scrum</li><li>Kanban</li><li>Lean (LN)</li><li>Dynamic System Development Model, (DSDM)</li><li>Extreme Programming (XP)</li><li>Crystal</li><li>Adaptive software development (ASD)</li><li>Agile Unified Process (AUP)</li><li>Crystal Clear methods</li><li>Disciplined agile delivery</li><li>Feature-driven development (FDD)</li><li>Scrumban</li><li>RAD(Rapid Application Development)</li></ul>