Agile Redefines Global Economics: What Recent Data Reveals

Kent Beck, inventor of eXtreme Programming, defined agile success as delivering more useful functionality with fewer defects. Against that definition, early research revealed mixed success. Many organizations did not know how to measure and thus could not have “fact-based” conversations about productivity and cost. Some teams achieved faster delivery, but quality did not improve. Others found both. What factors made the difference? New benchmark analysis by QSM Associates reveals the latest productivity, time-to-market, quality, and cost patterns. As a result, we may be seeing a major shift in software economics made possible by the promises of agile. Michael Mah shares this latest research in the QSM SLIM industry database, which contains more than 10,000 completed projects—waterfall, agile, offshore, onshore—collected worldwide. Michael offers consulting tricks to accelerate your success. Learn how to derive your own measurements to inform your executive teams, quantify your successes, or spotlight areas that need help.