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Detecting Agile BS

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5 minute read

Agile is a buzzword of software development, and so all DoD software development projects are, almost by default, now declared to be “agile.” The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to DoD program executives and acquisition professionals on how to detect software projects that are really using agile development versus those that are simply waterfall or spiral development in agile clothing (“agile-scrum-fall”).

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Principles, Values, and Tools

Experts and devotees profess certain key “values” to characterize the culture and approach of agile development. In its work, the DIB has developed its own guiding maxims that roughly map to these true agile values:

Agile valueDIB maxim
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools“Competence trumps process”
Working software over comprehensive documentation“Minimize time from program launch to deployment of simplest useful functionality”
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation“Adopt a DevSecOps culture for software systems”
Responding to change over following a plan“Software programs should start small, be iterative, and build on success ‒ or be terminated quickly”

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Key flags that a project is not really agile:

Some current, common tools in use by teams using agile development (these will change as better tools become available):

Graphical version:

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Questions to Ask

Questions for Program Management

Questions for Customers and Users

Questions for Program Leadership

More information on some of the features of DoD software programs are included in Appendix A DIB Ten Commandments on Software  , Appendix B DIB Metrics for Software Development  , and Appendix C DIB Do’s and Don’ts of Software  .

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