An A - Z glossary of terms for agile methodology, designed to help businesses understand the terminology used by technical software development teams.

1. AGILE METHODOLOGY FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
AGILE TERMS FROM A - Z

2. AGILE
Agile is a philosophy rather than a single methodology or set of
tools. What you need to know: It’s all about using the principles
of Agile to create software development projects which deliver
results into your business which are implemented faster, and are
better quality.
BUGS
In XP Agile, at the end of
an Iteration, users perform
acceptance tasks on each Iteration. CIRCLE OF
The task of fixing bugs becomes AGILITY
a step in the next Iteration.

3. CUSTOMER COLLABORATION
The Key to successfully delivering on your software projects is at
the heart of Agile. Customer Collaboration ensures that we listen
to what you want your software to do, and then work with you
and the people who use your software, to deliver software that
works.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Part of Agile is putting time to one side at the end of iterations,
and the whole process, to consider best practice, issues being
experienced, and business constraints. This helps deliver
improvement actions and root cause analysis, enabling your
business to work smarter in the future.

4. DEVELOPMENT
Agile teams are made up of people in your business who
understand what the requirements of end use are. This means
that the project development focuses on your end results.
Development is the result of bringing together IT and the
Business team, and end users, to ensure that requirements and
constraints are fully understood.
EVOLVING REQUIREMENTS
The nature of Agile means that changes can be reviewed often,
and integrated into the development process. Rather than a more
traditional methodology which may only test at the end, testing
can happen during the iterative process and to ensure that the
needs of the business are met. This is particularly useful in the fast
changing world.

5. FIT FOR PURPOSE
Agile is responsive to change rather than being stuck on initial
standards, plans and requirements. We recognise that often
when you start a software project, the real requirements are
tough to define. The beauty of Agile is that we work with the
users to create a story focused on what is needed, and then use
those user stories to deliver small, step by step enhancements.
GETTING THINGS DONE
The focus of Agile Projects is on Getting Things Done. Agile
enables software development which is on time, to budget and
has an enhanced business value. This is because of the focus on
splitting the projects into smaller, more manageable sections and
focusing on testing and reviewing outputs regularly.

6. HEAVY-WEIGHT VS LIGHT-WEIGHT
Agile Methodologies are seen as Lightweight. Traditional
Software development methodologies such as Waterfall are seen
as Heavyweight. This means that the Lightweight Methodologies
enable increased flexibility and ability to meet your requirements
– even when you start out without being clear about what you
want, or when your requirements change in the project. The
emphasis is on flexibility and adaptivity rather than on heavy,
comprehensive documentation.
ITERATIONS
Small teams work together on Iterations of your software
development project. Stakeholders are engaged to ensure that
business needs are understood, with the end goal of each
iteration being the output of working code which is then tested
and verified by the users. This enables feedback to be integrated
earlier and requirements to change during projects.

7. INDIVIDUALS AND INTERACTIONS
Individuals and Interactions are preferred to focusing on
processes and tools. Whilst these can be useful to your business,
what you want to know is that your business gets results. When
we focus on you, your business and the interactions that you need
your software to deliver, we can then ensure that the right tools
and processes are used.
KNOWLEDGE
Agile Software development is most successful when you invest
time as well as the financial cost into your business. Putting the
right people, who are able to make decisions, and those who
understand how your systems work and what you need, together
with Agile specialists, will focus the results of the delivery into
what is most important to you. Without that internal knowledge,
software development will be less effective.

8. LEAN
Lean is another methodology which focuses on maximising
customer value and reducing waste. Agile fits with Lean in that
Agile Projects seek to deliver to customer requirements and there
is a fit with the quality and continuous improvement of how you
work and what that means to your business.
MANIFESTO
The Agile Manifesto is a summary of the main principles of
working in an Agile Way.

9. NEEDS OF YOUR BUSINESS
The needs of your business and the needs of your IT department
should be stemming from the same overall business objectives
and goals. Working with an IT Agile Solution such as those
delivered by Valtech will help focus on the strategic difference
that well managed software development brings. Speed to
business will help give you operational value and the competitive
edge.
ORGANISATIONAL FOCUS
Ever heard the phrase “computer says no”? What Agile software
development should be giving you is IT with an organisational
focus – one which delivers on what you need to have the strategic
edge in your organisation. The focus is not just on the tools –
these are the how of delivery – but on the why of the
development project. Agile partners should be able to show you
how they have experience in business sectors and why you should
choose them over a competitor.

10. PRODUCT BACKLOG
In the SCRUM Agile Process, the Product Backlog is the centre of
the process. It is the list of work to be done and is populated
during the Planning Phase. The backlog then defines the Scope
of the Release. The Management of SCRUM projects stems from
this initial planning which includes project scope and high level
design. The Iterations in SCRUM are called SPRINTS. Teams are
put together to work on the backlog in these Sprints by
developing, wrapping, reviewing and adjusting the backlog
items.
QUALITY
Quality is an important element of Agile Software Development
Projects. One way to ensure Quality is in the XP development
process, which uses Pair Programming, working with the end user
and “Integrating Often” to implement in changes daily. Pair
Programming is 2 coders working together on the same project –
no more end cost but additional quality.

11. RELEASE PLAN
The Release Plan is formed from the first cut of the Product
Backlog. The Release Plan is based on priorities of your business.
The Release Plan can be reviewed and updated as business
requirements change. It is the plan for implementing releases of
software and then these are then broken down further into
Iterations.
SCRUM
The Scrum is a daily team meeting which is part of the Iteration
Management Process. The purpose of the Scrum is to bring
everyone together, monitor progress against the features and
review on a real time basis what was done yesterday, what is
planned for today, and what are any blockers to progress?
Naming the blockers enables review of them and to find out
whether the blocks can be removed.

12. SCRUM METHODOLOGY
SCRUM Methodology is another of the well known Agile Processes
(see XP for the other) Scrum uses both managerial and
developmental processes (unlike XP which is purely focused on
development). The goal of the SCRUM process is to put out a
release. SCRUM Methodology allows for plenty of change during
the project.
SPRINTS
SCRUM Methodology splits the Iterations into SPRINTS. Each
SPRINT aims to fix a number of the BACKLOG items. During each
Sprint, there is a clear process to manage the progress of the
software development project. The SCRUM meeting (see above)
is where this progress is reviewed. At the end of each Sprint,
there is a review which demonstrates progress on the backlog
items.

13. WORKING SOFTWARE
The goal of Agile is to deliver Working Software. Agile focuses on
meeting the needs of your business by refining and meeting
business needs, rather than getting stuck in comprehensive
documentation at the loss of insight into your business.
WASTE
Agile reduces waste in your business. A Johnson Survey in 2002
on Actual Use of Requested Features on Traditional Software
Projects, showed that only 20% of features from traditional
software projects are actually regularly used – what a waste of
time to develop, and system resources. Working with your users
and being able to change to meet business needs reduces this
waste.

14. WATERFALL
Waterfall is a more traditional form of undertaking a software
development project. In Waterfall, there is a more stringent
process which is now seen as more document than business
driven. Waterfall is a “serial” method of managing a software
project which goes through the phases of Requirements, Design,
Implementation, Verification and Maintenance. Waterfall
projects are often known for a high level of detail in setting out
requirements and design to reduce the risk that the project may
not deliver what it was set out to.

15. USER STORIES
An important part of the XP Software development process of
Agile is creating a series of User Stories. The User Stories describe
the need that the software will fulfil, which helps the Agile team
be more realistic in assessing the resources required to build the
release and user acceptance tests. The User Story focuses on the
problems to be solved using the software. Because they are short,
it is critical that there is continued input from the user to check
that the development is fit for purpose.

16. XP
XP is one of the best known Agile Methodologies. Extreme
Programming (XP) concentrates on development of the software
enabling the management team to pick the parts of this
methodology which work for them. XP development focuses on
release planning and then stages of iteration, where the emphasis
is on understanding the “user stories”, leading to user acceptance
testing, and to the review and closure of the Iteration with the
successful release of the software.

17. ABOUT VALTECH
We’re a digital
consultancy
providing strategic
solutions with
technical power &
creative edge

18. Valtech UK
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