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Comparing Articles That Tackle The Waterfall Method And The Agile Management Approach

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Saint Joseph’s University Waterfall Method And The Agile Management Approach Michael Cadwallader Foundations for BI: DSS600 Marvin Hagen June 21, 2015 Comparing articles that tackle the Waterfall Method and the Agile Management Approach: A Comparison and Contrast Finding out what will permit an organization to work optimally is the driving impetus behind almost any business or organizational theory. The Waterfall Method appears, at first glance, to be a lot like the Roman Civil Code: anticipate as many contingencies as possible, and then proceed to delineate how they will all be tackled. The problem, as the literature seems to note, is that there will always be things or exigencies that cannot be anticipated – which is why agile …show more content…

Agile methods, unlike ISDs, bring constant iterations, constant user involvement, and frequent releases and close communication. Clutterbuck emphasizes how a case study of one small SME shows the success gained when it moved away from ISD towards agile management. Overall, agile management anticipates risks, reacts aggressively to new challenges or encrustations, and allows all parties and decision makers to draw closer together. The only challenge, Clutterbuck (2009) argues, is that agile management does come into conflict with the need to formalize contractual obligations between the customer and the developer or producer of the product (Clutterbuck, 2009). What becomes manifest in reviewing the article above is that ISD plans really are clumsy efforts at freezing possible change in place so that nothing which might emerge in the developmental process can catch decision-makers and designers by surprise. But, reviewing Clutterbuck’s case study and the extent to which the SME in question was able to draw together clients and staff while rendering congruent differing ideas and perceptions (Clutterbuck, 2009) it becomes clear that agile management is the implement that puts designers and end users on the same page when it comes to what a product will do – and what it will not (or should not) do. An ISD plan can be a lot like a formal contract, but even a clever contract may not be able to anticipate

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