The Agile Waterfall
My generation is the generation before Agile; the generation of large SAP rollouts. We worked for years in a waterfall approach to implement new software for our customers. We were pretty good in our world. Not perfect, but for enterprises the approach had its advantages.
Autonomy vs. Standardization in Digital Enterprises
In the early years, standardization was the starting point for IT cost cutting and gaining efficiency. Fewer tools, fewer versions, fewer programming languages, fewer frameworks and fewer processes — all as a guarantee for less spent on maintenance, upgrades, security and talent management. But since the Agile Manifesto movement, companies realize that standardization kills not only innovation, but leads also to more frustration for employees.
Making Decisions in an Agile Enterprise
In traditional enterprises, it takes time for someone to make a decision. A request from the team-level is carried up to the management level. There important information is missing and misery takes its course. Companies cannot always afford to make a decision with high quality information which involves all the stakeholders. The market is changing too fast, companies can not wait anymore.
Get more bang from the IT buck!
Enterprise companies have to free budget space for driving their change towards use of modern software development practices. By implementing a portfolio strategy which combines sourcing and the focus on modern software practices like DevSecOps, Agile Software Development and new Technologies. Companies benefit with a faster moving organisation focused on their clients where it makes sense.
Things happen… and then you Waterfall: The Strategic View on Agile
The reality is that in most enterprise companies, Waterfall and Agile coexist. To get the best from both worlds a portfolio strategy is required which encompasses the two models in parallel. Respect for both models is required to bring their full value to organizations.