This document compares and contrasts the Waterfall and Agile project management methodologies. It outlines the key differences between the two approaches, such as Waterfall being rigid and inflexible while Agile is iterative and flexible. It also discusses how they have similar elements like planning and tracking progress. The document notes that while Waterfall is best for long-term, stable projects, Agile has grown in popularity for its ability to adapt to changes. It concludes that a hybrid approach combining aspects of both methodologies can work best depending on the specific project's needs.

1. LAMBTON COLLEGE TORONTO CAMPUS
PMLT
SUBMITTED TO: REHAN SHER
Agile Versus Waterfall

2. Agenda
 Compare & Contrast Agile & Waterfall
 Waterfall Methodology
 Agile Methodology
 Their Differences & Similarities
 Their impact on project managers professionally
 Hybrid Methodology
 Conclusion

3. Introduction
 Project management methodology is a practice used to
manage the projects for achieving specific goals by
meeting specific criteria on the deadlines
 “Teamwork is central in Agile. This implies that there is
no ideal single solution, approach, or programming
language that can sort out a broad spectrum of issues.
This is why Agile is inherently eclectic.” – George Hao
 “There wasn’t much customer involvement in the
production process back then, which explains why
Waterfall is considerably less inclusive and adaptive,
compared to Agile.” –Andrew Johansson

4. The success rate of both methodologies

5. Waterfall Methodology (Traditional & Unidirectional approach)
 Outlined by Dr. Wintson Royce in 1970
 Static project plan for the long term projects
 Being inflexible allows no change in the deliverables
 Incredibly rigid
 Deliverables delivered once at the end of the project
 Contract based approach required to manage scope &
resources
 Risks tend to manifest late
 Customer involved just at beginning and end of the
project

6. Agile Methodology (Iterative approach)
 Came in 2001 when IT representatives
released “Agile Manifesto”
 Shorter & easily manageable approach
named as SPRINTS (Intermediate deliverable)
 Flexible, driven by lean thinking
 Active Stakeholder Engagement throughout
the sprint
 Low impact & cost for changes in the
deliverables
 Customer’s strong sense of ownership
 Sprint burn down charts to track the progress
and success of each sprint
 Software’s used: XP, Kanban & Scrum

7. Their Differences
Waterfall Methodology Agile Methodology
Incredibly rigid & inflexible Highly flexible & iterative approach
Low stakeholder engagement (At start & end of
the project)
Active stakeholder engagement throughout the
project
Static project plan Dynamic plan, progressively updated
No changes allowed for deliverables Allow changes in deliverable as per the
stakeholder preferences
Used for the Long term projects Used for short term projects
Team members have defined roles that will not
change
Team members & switch their roles being self
organizing
Higher risk Lower risk as customer is involved throughout

8. Their Similarities
Waterfall Methodology Agile Methodology
Detailed planning is done during Initiation Detailed planning for each sprint
Cost-benefit analysis to analyze the feasibility
of the project
Customer and sponsor engagement to get buy-
in & refine the requirements
Progress of project is tracked against project
plan
Progress of project is tracked against each
sprint
Team members deputed for particular roles
perform only their assigned roles & this will not
change
Teams are self organizing
Involves extensive documentation Less documentation but still needed to
document build design, test plans

9. What do these differences/similarities mean for the profession
of project managers in a national and international context?
Waterfall Methodology Agile Methodology
Projects are not too urgent and complex Adoption for agile has grown all over the world (over
past 10 years)
Lacking Professional Developers ERP projects used ‘tried and true’ approach for agile
Client based Organization Large Scale Projects(International)
Small Business Industries(manufacturing plants) Regulatory compliances are there for International
projects.
Co-location IT, Tech, Business Domain Knowledge is required
Best for ‘Mission Critical” projects Geographical and time zone differences
E.g. Payment Gateways, Stock Trading, Examination
Portals, E-Commerce Supply Chains, Anti-Virus
Software’s, Flight Controls
e.g.: Entertainment Portals, Small Mobile Games, Health
and Parenting Apps

10. How do these work together
 Hybrid Methodology (The best of both worlds) is
combination of both, where
 Waterfall let the project to have proper plan to
follow till execution and then to improve quality
after the testing phase.
 Agile let the project to have “Feasibility,
High stakeholder engagement & adaptation.

11. Conclusion
Methodologies vary from project to project.
Evaluate the project to select the methodology
For Digital: Agile is better & Waterfall is for stable requirements and long term projects
 These factors helps in deciding the methodology for the project:
1. Size of project and its team
2. Complexity of the project execution
3. Length & deadlines of the project

13. Any
Queries??