Identifying benefits and challenges in the application of agile methodologies in software development

Software has generally been developed using the 'Waterfall' methodology which is now believed to be cumbersome and slow to react to change. This belief has spawned new 'Agile' methodologies that aim to deliver small pieces of working software on a frequent basis. Many claims have been made about Agile, but little academic research has been carried out to justify them. This study identifies the significance of benefits and challenges practitioners have found when adapting to Agile methodologies. Further, the benefits and challenges are linked to the Agile features in use and assesses what contributes to the level of user satisfaction. A survey instrument was employed to collect data from as many practitioners as possible followed by post survey interviews. Claims made for Agile by service providers are compared to the experiences of those canvassed in the survey. Results reveal that the most significant benefit is closer collaboration with other members of the development team. Significant challenges were the estimation of the time and effort Agile projects take to complete and that Agile only works with competent, motivated people. The insights gained in this study will be circulated for the benefit of future research on software development methodologies and Agile practice.