What are the key benefits of Agile Methodology?

As the demand for high-quality products and faster releases is rising in the market, the need for agile methods is also rising rapidly. Businesses continue to adopt agile methodologies as it helps them to maintain and deliver projects within the time frame. With continuous iterations, teams can deliver the product much faster as compared to other methodologies. There are many more benefits associated with this methodology which makes it so popular. Let us now try to understand some more benefits of this methodology.

What is agile methodology?

This methodology is an outcome of the agile manifesto that contains certain values and principles of software development. This methodology is focused on iterative development and anticipates change. It is much more flexible as compared to traditional software development and testing methods. In this model, product development and testing occur simultaneously and customers are involved throughout the SDLC/STLC. This methodology follows an incremental/iterative approach where requirements develop gradually from customers and testing teams. The main aim of this methodology is to deliver robust software to end-user to maximize customer satisfaction

What are the different types of agile methodology?

There are various types of agile methods such as:

1.       Scrum: It is a lightweight agile methodology that is used to manage iterative and incremental projects where each project consists of two to four-week sprints. This methodology emphasizes delivering several iterations of a product.

2.       Lean Software Development: The Lean methodology is also known as the MVP technique i.e. Minimum Viable Product in which a team launches a minimum viable version of the product to the market and observes what the customer likes, dislikes, or wants in a product, based on which the teams iterate and take actions to improve the product.

3.       Scaled Agile Methodology (SAFe): This agile framework is for development teams and it emphasizes three pillars i.e.; Team, The program, and Portfolio. It helps teams to collaborate more effectively and helps the organization in achieving quality products.

4.       Extreme Programming (XP): This methodology is very helpful in projects that require constant changes and quick delivery. It emphasizes continuous product development and customer satisfaction and uses scrum-like cycles or sprints. It includes customer interaction, team member’s participation, quick feedback loops, test-driven growth, and one to three weeks shorter iterations.

5.       Feature Driven Development (FDD): It is an iterative and incremental software development process. This methodology is known for short iterations and frequent releases. It works on a simple five-step process that allows rapid development. It has pre-defined development standards that help the teams to move quickly.

What are the key benefits of agile methodology?

1.       Delivers high-product quality – This methodology allows testing along with development, which helps teams to detect bugs and fix issues in the software in the same iteration as they are developed. This ensures that quality software is delivered to end-user

2.       Enhances customer satisfaction - Customer satisfaction is the top priority as per this methodology. Since customers are exposed to their product during development, they can adapt and update requirements as development progresses. Accordingly, tests can be modified as requirement changes

3.       Ensures real business value - This methodology places more value on outcomes by enabling quality products that meet the customer’s business goals. This approach ensures effective collaboration between teams and stakeholders to achieve a complete understanding of the stakeholder’s business goals.

4.       Reduces risks- In this method, the product is developed in sprints which gives teams enough time to make changes or updates between feature development. It helps in reducing chances of product failure

5.       Improves ROI – This methodology focuses on delivering value to the business and let clients determine the priority of features that helps in improving customer satisfaction and ultimately increases return on investment.

Conclusion: Businesses are adopting a variety of agile methodologies to deliver quality products to customers. These methodologies help businesses to get more flexible with their approach. This methodology helps organizations to break and prioritize tasks as per requirement and allows delivery of the project in several iterations and sprints.  Leverage agile testing from a next-gen QA and software testing services provider to get a high-quality product and to improve UX.