USS adopting more Agile development methods

In recent years, Agile software development has become increasingly popular as companies are moving towards more flexible and adaptive methods for designing software and pushing applications into production.

Unlike traditional methods, the Agile methodology focuses on collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams, and emphasizes the need for frequent customer meetings, regular application testing, and delivering functional parts of the application as soon as they’re ready.

“If you can put something into production [with Agile], a lot of people can see it, and there’s a lot more vested interest from the start,” said Reza Sarijlou, software engineer for UIT’s University Support Services (USS). “And that’s how you can build on top of success.”

Since Agile can sometimes be difficult to implement in large-scale organizations, many companies have adopted a modified form of Agile – the Scrum methodology – and USS has begun to follow suit.

“Scrum is a specific vision of [Agile],” said Matt Edgren, senior web software engineer for USS. “It works well for slightly bigger organizations.”

While USS is far from 100% adoption of Agile and Scrum methodologies, the Engineering team is attempting to adapt its processes on an incremental basis.

“We’re still trying to get there, because it’s still not perfect,” said Edgren. “It’s a work in progress – not just for our team, but for the institution as a whole.”

So what’s the advantage of Agile and Scrum over traditional methods?

Think of it as shopping for a car, advised Edgren. Traditional software development starts with the initial customer request, and a software developer or team of developers will simply design that piece of software based on the request – which may or may not actually meet the customer’s needs when it’s finished. It’s like sitting in a room and describing the kind of car you want, but being unable to leave the room and look at the cars yourself. It’s unlikely you’ll actually get what you want.

Agile development, however, aims to address those issues by providing more frequent opportunities for customer feedback. If you’re able to go look at cars yourself, and see the various options and functionalities the different cars have to offer, you can make a much more informed decision about what you, the customer, really wants and needs.

“It allows you to keep on track,” explained Edgren.

USS has already begun releasing applications developed using Agile, including the Research Portal and Faculty Time Assistant applications.

“Both of those projects were done with Agile methodologies, and both were successful and are in production being used right now,” said Sarijlou.

Working in an Agile/Scrum environment has changed the USS team culture in a big way.

“I think it’s a better work environment,” said Edgren.

“I like writing software, and I like working on problems,” he added. “At the same time, I don’t like sitting alone all day without talking to people. I like being able to share ideas, and I like collaboration.”

Sarijlou agreed.

“You have to be a social person to some degree to be on an Agile team,” said Sarijlou. "It’s a very close-knit team effort. It’s all of us that make the team work.”

 

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