Agile Project Management - Assignment Example

By doing so, the client gets a chance to have a look at the software and provide feedback that provides better product delivery. A company that uses agile management is likely to have increased growth and expansion because of the increased productivity. It also reduces time wasted building a project using various cycles. This approach uses iterations and breaks down the long cycles into less time.

The popularity of the model over the waterfall model is because of its efficiency in increasing the client’s involvement in the process of software development. The result of agile project management is always a little less predictable as compared to the waterfall model. One would take this as a disadvantage, but that is not true. Agile adapts to changes in a much more positive manner. It responds to issues as they arise and resolves them.

Agile management and Waterfall management both have advantages and disadvantages. Agile is a very fast, quick, and a more reliable approach to managing projects that need constant improvements. Unlike the waterfall approach, agile is done in iterations. Agile management is oriented on offering quality services while waterfall management deals with construction projects and hardware Installation projects. Agile is suitable for projects that are new and yet to be tried Schmidt (2).

This is a systematic and organized approach in your company to enable staff to transition from their current practices to those that the company focuses on. It involves influencing a good number of people to positively accept the changes being made. If there is no change management in a company, it could lead to the failure of the business. IT departments need changes especially due to the current changes in technological information. The critical success of an IT organization is highly dependent on its capability to control IT changes. It should protect existing services during and after and ensure accurate changes are made. Change management programs help to align and organize the organization when undergoing major turndowns. It helps in implementing new ideas. It is good especially if you want to improve your customer service and increase production. Change programs help the company to implement the initiatives and ideas that they have about their missions and visions (Rouse, 2).

Buying software can be quickly compared to developing one. All you have to do is agree with the individual. You then sign a contract and state all the rules governing that contract. Failure to do so could lead to being sued by the software developer. However, if you also develop it, you could undergo more expenses than you anticipated. First, you have to patent your software. You incur costs such as those for upgrading the system and costs for developing or obtaining software that permits you to access and convert old data into new systems. Therefore, before making assumptions that it is better to develop software rather than buy, one should consider the expenses. In our case, the developer may even incur more costs than the $800,000 that he could have used to buy the other software (Barry Boehm, 2010).

Virtualization is becoming a big buzz around the world, especially for IT investment organizations. It is becoming the hottest industry trend. It can increase efficiency, reduce or eliminate downtime and deliver truly remarkable cost savings. You might think it is a new phenomenon. However, it has been in existence just about as old as the computer itself.  Since it involves reducing the number of servers, it means many costs are saved. It increases energy efficiency since fewer machines do the same work. The cost of labor is also reduced due to an increase in server to administration ratio. There is also a highly efficient computing pool that reduces expenses on hardware. Virtualization enables you to run multiple operating systems on a single computer. With virtualization, the IT staff can handle up to triple the number of servers without compromising service quality. Virtualization has a few pitfalls such as a single failure could lead to a large loss of data. The company should, therefore, have a contingency plan. It is not suitable for small companies and businesses due to the costs of hardware.

Its advantages clearly show how important it is in the growing technological environment. New applications are being made that save on costs and have increased efficiency. It is the best investment one can ever make.