Businesses used to face immense challenges when they tried to get their software products to their customers. In the past they had to ship their new software updates on compact disks (CDs). Nowadays, with the power of the cloud, businesses meet and sometimes exceed customer expectations using state-of-the-art tools and processes like Agile Methodology and Microservices.

Organizations that need digital transformation must understand that speed, efficiency, and zero downtimes are absolutely necessary during the process. The journey of an organization from having difficulties getting its products to the customers to gaining the ability to churn out products on a weekly basis is slow yet rewarding. As companies grow, the need to automate business processes becomes inevitable and they start from a low maturity level and modernize whenever they reach a certain threshold. This cycle goes on till they gain the highest maturity level in technology placing them on the forefront of innovation. Agile software development methodology imparts adaptability to software vendors by shortening the time-to-market and reducing the technical debt. It gives them the muchneeded leeway to release the product when they want and market it efficiently. Combining Agile with cutting-edge technologies, accelerators and frameworks will increase the quality of the software multifold.  

Similarly, Squad-based Agile Software Development, where a small team or squad collaborates in a transparent environment and applies strengths of each team member to obtain the highest quality of product to release in the market within the deadline, can increase the organization’s productivity extensively as well. 

An organization’s journey

A vendor from the Netherlands had a difficult start in terms of technological maturity. They develop software applications for hairdressers and had two applications (both written in Delphi) around 2007. Initially, they had to distribute their new versions of their software on compact disks (CD) to customers despite having a download option. They were losing customers due to their legacy applications and finally decided to scale up their software engineering expertise. After the Agile nearshore development team in Poland with highly skilled members introduced Agile processes like Kanban and Scrum to the organization, their software releases became more streamlined and they developed a salon management application and a customer facing application on the cloud. The development of these applications on the cloud enabled them to distribute the newer version with ease and without any disruptions in operations. The introduction of Agile software development methodology gave great flexibility for the client. They were able to switch from Scrum to Kanban and vice versa. As the release cycles shortened, they released newer versions frequently, releasing as frequently as 5 deployments in 7 days. This ability came in handy during the COVID pandemic in 2020 when the Dutch government changed the regulations almost every week. They were also able to scale up and down based on the customer requirements. 

Results

During the 10+ years of maturation journey, the Dutch salon management solution provider increased its software engineering expertise and evolved into an Agile organization. Their customer experience improved and they managed to leverage their capabilities to increase their earnings-on-bookings. The number of salons using its applications during this period went up from 1000 to 1600. The flexibility along with the agile nearshore team imparted to the company by Agile approach helped them to successfully manage the crisis during the pandemic. Agile software development made this software vendor a marker leader in the salon management software industry. 

Building an Agile Organization

Since agility is of high strategic priority, independent software vendors from all the industries should adopt the agile software development methodology for stability and dynamism. Agile software development creates value for the vendors with continually evolving needs. It creates a dense network of powerful Agile teams that are time tested and have high standards. The level of accountability, expertise, and transparency that an organization has is dependent on the stability of the ecosystem, which in Agile’s case is high. The empowered Agile squad/teams are cross-functional and self-managing, where the individuals are picked from “flow-to-work” pools. Agile organizations also perform in cycles of planning and executing so they are aligned closely with their process of creativity and accomplishments.

Agile in Software Development

While Agile is a proven methodology to increase the business value, combining it with expertise in cutting edge technologies, accelerators and frameworks for cloud and microservices migration will transform the organization by imparting a culture that is conducive for success. An agile squad/team can develop high quality products and solutions quickly. The transparent governance model and highperformance Agile teams will help organizations with the capabilities to have leeway over their software release dates. This end-to-end ownership across software development lifecycle entails product ideation, development, testing, deployment and support. Solution providers that are highly skilled in technologies like cloud, microservices, UI/UX, AI and ML can help software vendors to build high quality software that creates value. 

Do you want to transform your business digitally? Build a high-performance Agile squad/team in just 60 days!  Learn more about Aspire’s Software Engineering As a Service offering.