Recently, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about Agile methodology for application development and the Lean approach to IT, seeking out similarities between the approaches that can help us pinpoint the shared value to be delivered for customers. Some of these include the way project teams are staffed and deployed, how projects are planned and shared documentation requirements. But the similarities don’t stop there.

If you’re working with Agile development, you deliver running software frequently (say, every four weeks), and you demo it for the stakeholders. In this sense, you receive constant feedback – before you depart too much from the real business needs – essential to correct any deviations in the route. So in this sense, much like in the lean philosophy, you make sure you’re delivering value throughout the course of the project.

In Agile, as you’re probed every four weeks or so, you have to test frequently. So you detect bugs early on, and you have a chance to perfect the application over time – before the scale outweighs the developer’s ability to control projects.

Additionally, with Agile development, as you’re focusing in the next sprint (say, keeping with the four weeks example) you don’t waste time discussing in detail features that won’t be used in the next month. Even better, you have to prioritize functionalities for each sprint, so you have to think about which ones deliver the most value to the business. In this case, as with Lean IT, you deliver only what is needed by the customer when it is needed.

Finally, in Agile, there’s always the opportunity to postpone decisions about functionalities that are scheduled for later in the project – so you can make better decisions, with all the knowledge accumulated in the previous sprints. You are not stuffing up the inventory of features with unnecessary software. Here again, as with Lean, the focus is on delivering those features that are needed by the customer.

The purpose of Lean IT is to deliver value on projects by eliminating waste, which Agile accomplishes in more ways than one. With all the waste eliminated, the cost of Agile projects goes down, and the speed is improved. And with the short cycles of delivery, the overall quality goes up, and of course, agility to meet ever changing business needs is unmatched.

Leonardo Mattiazzi, VP International Business for Ci&T

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