Requirements Gathering and Implementation from the start

Agile allows us to skip the pomp and circumstance and get to what really matters - the work. With waterfall, there are many long-winded review sessions focused on making the customer comfortable, the who?s who conversation, the business process review, overall analysis of existing systems, and of course many discussions about the big design document. None of these things show concrete results in Norming PSA or provide valuable results, and much of this can happen very quickly in the project kick-off call. Every waterfall project also involves explaining why half the hours and budget have been used up and nothing is in the system. The customers feel like the wheels are spinning but we are going nowhere. This simply never happens with agile because real work happens from the very start.

Review within Norming PSA from the start

Agile lets us take the customer?s hand and show them everything going on in Norming PSA from day one. This is much like getting a backstage pass: at first, the props and ropes and pulleys may be a lot to take in, but over time it becomes more familiar. One of my best agile projects ended with my customer becoming so involved with the system that she went ahead and became a certified Administrator! The waterfall approach is more like sitting in the audience with an info booklet, becoming mesmerized and distracted because you can?t see the whole picture.

Go live with a knowledgeable super user

When it?s time to go live with the system, there is an in-house system expert that has been involved from the start. This is extremely important in managing the entire migration process because many questions will be able to be answered directly by this super user, such as:

? Why should we use this system?

? Can we have this show up over here?

? want to see this on the homepage, can you change this?

? Can we get the total amount on this report?

? How do we hide [X] from [X] users?

These kinds of concerns have usually been addressed already, and the super user is key to explaining these answers. So during the overall process, there is someone on your team to answer questions, and as the consultant. This also means there is someone post-launch to manage the system. But of course, less post-launch support is required because a much higher level of self-sufficiency is fostered by the agile process.