Common sense is back in software development

In a globalised world where everything moves at high speed, not least in the information and communications technology industry, a software development company needs to be Agile, with the capital "A", to secure a leading edge.

Agile Malta held its international conference on Agile software development a few weeks ago. It announced a new way of developing software which promotes common sense and allows businesses to create products in a lighter, faster and more people-centric way.

The Agile method, particularly the co-called Scrum process, is a new wave in software development. Its introduction to Malta is the result of the interest by a Maltese computer science graduate, Gillian Attard, who, thanks to her working experience in Vienna, became exposed to these new methods. The first presentations were held in 2006 and the first certified Scrum Master course was organised in Malta last June. The first Agile Malta conference was held last February, sponsored by Uniblue Systems, MediaCatalyst and Sprint-iT, all actively involved in promoting this approach.

"The first reaction is skepticism," Ms Attard said. "But once they were given time to listen, they actually understand that it is common sense. They realise that what they have been doing was too complex to be anywhere close to success. Of course you also have the people who are totally against change and do not even give themselves time to hear about something new."

She is satisfied Agile and Scrum are attracting attention and are taking root in Malta.

"Considering that it all started two years ago and now there are about four major companies who have applied Scrum, I must say I am very satisfied. Last February, as a part of the gathering promotion, I gave a talk to University of Malta IT students who are also learning how to use Agile methods already at university. The pre-requisite of one of the Applied practical tasks that 3rd years were expected to prepare was to manage it in an Agile way. I believe that once IT University students are educated about Agile, there is no way to stop the spreading of common sense."

Raffaele Bianco, technical manager at Uniblue Systems Ltd, one of the first Malta-based companies to adopt Agile, confirmed the approach is so radical that it raises suspicion at first.

"In the beginning I was sceptic about abandoning traditional approaches. In particular the thing that shocked me most was how all agile based frameworks had a self-organising team. After some time I realised how this empowerment led to an increase in a team's commitment, something that's not easily achieved with traditional development techniques.

"The first principle of the Agile manifesto reads: 'Individuals and interactions over processes and tools'. This is a clear indication of the fact that Agile is completely dependent on human activity and aims to increase its efficiency."

Asked to give examples on how Agile has improved software development process in his company, Mr Bianco explained that "Software development is a creative process and as such it cannot be easily planned or predicted. I personally think that one of Agile's strengths is the concept of delivering new additions to the build of the software on a frequent basis. The above mentioned concept has many advantages, such as the capability to adapt quickly to an ever changing market. Also the technique reduces time-wasting, enabling the earlier identification of possible problems."

Mr Bianco has become an active promoter of Agile and gives the following advice to his fellow developers.

"Agile and Scrum focus on interactions and people, so the kind of problems we face depend on the corporate environment and individual's personality. It is thus important that the local community grows larger so we can share our different experiences. Moving software development towards an Agile approach can be rewarding, however, it is not an easy step to take. Before starting ensure that the basic foundations are in place. These include full support by your company, the right environment, and most important, the trust which a self-organising team needs."

Gillian Attard is convinced of the benefits the approach has on software development, one of the Malta's fast-growing ICT sectors.

"The world is changing fast and as we all know you either jump onto the wagon and make sure you keep up with the pace or otherwise you have no chance to succeed and compete. Agile methods are giving us a simple opportunity to keep up with this speed - understand, make the most of it and apply it to anything you need to deliver and you will always be successful!"

Agile Malta plans to hold an annual conference to encourage and advance the Agile process in the Maltese Islands. It has launched a website at www.agilemalta.com as an online community reference point for the growing number of developers using this approach in the Maltese ICT industry.