The Accidental Agilists: One Team’s Journey from Waterfall to Agile
This presentation outlines one team’s shift from the traditional waterfall methodology to an agile approach for web development. The transformation occurred over the course of an advising system project at The Ohio State University. Using the five stages of grieving as a metaphor, we will describe how the team moved from denial that waterfall was failing to acceptance that agile practices would be the best way to deliver the mission-critical application. Ultimately, the entire team re-envisioned itself, transformed its business practices, and evolved into a significantly more agile shop.
Co-Presenters
Beth Snapp, Manager of Web and Application Development
Diane Dagefoerde, Director of Technology
Technology Services Office
Colleges of the Arts and Sciences
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Intended Audience
This case study will be of interest to anyone who has “felt guilty” about turning away from the well-entrenched waterfall model and moving toward agile development methodologies. The session will be particularly informative to participants familiar with the unique challenges of working in software development in higher education/government/non-profit organizations.
This session will be an experience report with powerpoints. Although we would like to figure out ways to make this presentation more interactive, we have a lot of material to cover in 30 minutes due to its “case study” nature.
• Overview of the Project w/Demo (10 minutes)
• Summary of How We Moved from Denying that Waterfall Wasn’t Working to Accepting that Agile Was the Best Way to Deliver the System (15 minutes)
• Questions and Discussion (5 minutes)