Agile transformation is gaining rapid popularity in all business sectors, with enterprises and startups alike borrowing from agile development methodologies and strategies to arrive at a continuous and gradual improvement plan that brings tremendous benefits to an organization.
As you begin to explore agile concepts, it’s important to differentiate agile transformation from agile adoption. Agile transformation is the methodology and mindset, while agile adoption is the act of putting those mindsets and methodologies into practice.
What is Agile Transformation?
Agile transformation is a mindset, concept and strategy involving gradual and continual improvements that lead to a dynamic, flexible and ever-improving enterprise — one that promotes collaboration and innovation. Agile transformation usually refers to technology-related changes, but in practice, it’s common to see related changes in process, policy and so forth.
Think of agile transformation as a methodology and strategy that focuses on continuous growth and evolution instead of brief periods of dramatic change within a business.
Let’s say your company has a custom software system that is used to run every aspect of the business. You want to add new features and make some significant changes to the user interface. With an agile strategy, your developer would release monthly updates for the software platform, each containing just a couple changes or improvements. Over the course of six months, all of the modifications are completed. Employees will find it much easier to explore and adjust to the changes since they’re rolled out gradually, plus you get to enjoy some of the new features sooner than if you were to take the alternative approach.
The alternative would be to work for six months on a new, overhauled version of the software platform, with all of the alterations integrated into a single version of the software. So instead of implementing updates over time, the changes are released all at once. This can be problematic because the massive overhaul may overwhelm some users, resulting in adoption resistance. What’s more, you won’t get to enjoy any of the new features or improvements before the entire batch of modification is complete.
What are the Benefits of Agile Transformation?
There are many agile transformation benefits to consider and few — if any — downsides. Let’s look at how agile transformation benefits companies of all sizes.
- Agile transformation allows for scalability. Since this business transformation model entails small changes over the long term, it’s easy to integrate changes to accommodate scaling in either direction.
- Agile transformation allows for easy adoption. Employees can struggle with significant changes, particularly if these changes occur very rarely. Major upheavals are often met with resistance and reluctance to adopt the new technology or other modifications. When changes are implemented gradually and routinely, adoption becomes much easier and employees will come to expect — and even enjoy — this routine of continual improvement. You may also save on training costs, as these measures may not be necessary if updates occur gradually over time. Users will have an opportunity to adjust at their own pace.
- Agile transformation allows you to implement new features sooner. As illustrated in the aforementioned anecdote, a gradual rollout promotes better adoption.
- Agile transformation allows your company to adopt new technologies sooner. When an innovative new technology arises, you’ll have the flexibility to integrate this technology. What’s more, new features and functionalities can be rolled out as soon as development is complete.
- Agile transformation allows for greater flexibility and adaptability. If you are continually making small improvements, it’s fairly easy to modify your game plan so you can quickly respond to changes in your business and industry. This sort of modification is far more difficult if you’re performing massive overhauls on an infrequent basis.
Perhaps the most significant agile transformation benefit is the fact that it aligns with the methodology and strategy used by most custom software development companies. This results in improved alignment in terms of expectations and overall satisfaction.
At 7T, we specialize in agile transformation through emerging technologies, as we integrate cutting-edge solutions into virtually every development project. 7T strives to solve problems and boost ROI through digital transformation. A large portion of our mobile app and custom software development work involves enterprise clients, who are seeking to expand, augment or streamline their operations with purpose-built technology.
Our innovative team integrates cutting-edge solutions into virtually every development project, whether it’s mobile app development, custom software projects such as CRM platforms and ERP development, or Snowflake data solutions, we’re ready to deliver collaborative, multi-phased software development services to clients in all business sectors.
7T has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and Austin, but our clientele spans far beyond Texas and the midwest. If you’re ready to harness the power of an enterprise mobile app, custom enterprise software platform, an enterprise mobile app and today’s most innovative technologies, contact 7T. We invite you to call our Dallas area offices at 214-299-5100.
