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April 9, 2008
BI and The Agile Manifesto
Are you familiar with the Agile Manifesto?
I guess I must be a bit behind the times because I was just introduced to Agile in until late 2007 and it was created in 2001.
In my defense, I was familiar with some of the related methodologies like Extreme Programming and Pragmatic Programing but Agile, as a whole and as a way of developing software, was new to me.
As a BI veteran, I wish I had been familiar with Agile long ago. It would have made my life easier and produced much better BI tools and applications. Why? Because it follows these four basic tenets:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Sounds like a great way to look at BI. BI, at its very core, is about getting the right information, to the right people at the right time. It sounds simple but clearly it is not.
The number one BI requirement is understanding of your target audience, their needs and goals. How they interact with your BI application or tool is key to your success. Having working prototypes, versus a boat load of documentation, no matter how good or well written, garners much better feedback and helps mitigate risks and unforeseen issues. Collaboration is vital in BI projects and is crucial for keeping projects on course and ensuring that the requirements are correctly interpreted and reflected in the applications. Lastly, I can think of no other technology that needs the ability to respond to change more than BI. BI is all about change. For BI to deliver on its promise of competitive advantage, it needs to provide the best tools and information needed to make better decisions.
As someone trained in waterfall development practices transitioning to Agile was very different. For those of you that may be looking for a different way to develop software, I recommend taking a look at Agile. Like anything else, there is no one size fits all or cookie cutter approach, but I am certain there are aspects of Agile that will help improve your current user centered design and development practices.
In the short six months I have been exposed to Agile, I have been impressed with the results. I wish I was introduced to Agile sooner!!
Visit www.agilemanifesto.org for more information.
Eleanor Taylor is Marketing Director at Pathfinder Development. She can be reached at etaylor@pathf.com or visit www.pathf.com
Posted by Eleanor Taylor at April 9, 2008 2:45 PM
