Digital Transformation and Agile IT – An Overview

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Digital Transformation and Agile IT

Digital Transformation refers to changing business processes that are manual to digital and modifying an existing environment or culture to solve problems. The concept involves changing the way business is done while preparing it for ever-evolving IT factors, such as internal/external aspects, emerging technology, industry trends, or competitors’ strategies. Businesses need to reimagine themselves time and again to keep pace with market requirements, thus the age of digital transformation. To ensure that the employees adapt to the new initiatives and the transformation drives value across the organization without any hindrance, the Agile IT system is the key.

Agile development or methodologies is not a new concept. You can trace its roots back to the 1990s but the term witnessed gradual development in conceptualization. Anyone working for software development or around advanced technologies must have heard or used the term “Agile.” It is a popular approach often used in IT or software development processes to enable developers to respond to unforeseen situations by reviewing circumstances and overcome challenges of the traditional methodology. Google defines it as, “relating to a method of project management, used especially for software development, that is characterized by the division of tasks into short phases of work and frequent reassessment and adaptation of plans.” Agile IT environment is popular across varied industries and sectors to address limitations related to the outdated development procedures.

To convey properly why agile IT for digital transformation is the best way to go, we have compiled a list of 5 benefits that you must go through. Here we go:

Provides with Flexibility

The key benefits offered by agile methodology is flexibility. While working for the IT sector, you must have realized by now that most new development processes and business initiatives focus more on details and every aspect, thereby offering a little or no scope for changes. Once the project is kicked off, the chances of making any changes with evolving technology are quite less. However, the agile process comes with a perfect solution to this as it embraces changes with open arms and adapts to it conveniently. In fact, it expects frequent modifications and is ready for it, all thanks to its flexible approach. At any time when the team of software developers feels that a different solution or technology can offer better outcomes by overcoming all the challenges, it can switch to it without any hassle and test it if needed. Moreover, agile development is based on learning, adjusting, and collaborating through regular reviewing. So, the team has the liberty to expand their knowledge and apply it to the project while moving forward.

Focus on Business Value

Finding or applying the right technology is not enough, businesses need to understand the ‘why’ before starting the digital transformation process, and agile recognizes this effectively. The team working on the project must identify all the challenges involved and objectives to be achieved. With agile IT, you understand the ‘why’ of every step, get acquainted with important aspects that help you align digital strategy with business needs, and provide value to your organization. Also, as a professional, you must know that digital transformation is a continuous process, extending for years. Agile ensures that the value is delivered as the project gradually evolves and moves ahead. It gives frequent results in small chunks so that you don’t wait for months for outcomes.

Easy to Measure Initiatives

Simply delivering a high volume of work will not ensure efficient digital transformation but it is also important to create business value through the work done. Yes, organizations have metrics to measure performance. However, it hardly makes any difference to the overall outcome. You need to use these numbers and data to introduce an efficient change in team members; approach and behavior. That is where the agile approach comes into the picture. It gives an accurate and precise report of your business operations. You have access to every information regarding the areas that require improvements, your strengths, challenges, and more. Thus, allowing senior managers and leaders to take necessary actions. Metrics also play a crucial role in scaling initiatives by highlighting the key business operations that need special attention. Needless to say that it keeps employees highly motivated to give their best performance and create top-notch results. Apart from this, a new level of creativity, self-management, continuous knowledge expansion, etc., are all benefits of the agile process.

Enhanced Communication

You can not achieve digital transformation by focusing on one team. All the IT units and teams have to work in unison and come together with one single objective to make the initiative successful. When all professionals and experts work with a clear motto to overcome business challenges, you will attain your goals effectively. However, for this, you need a smooth and enhanced communication system that is provided by an agile IT setup. It establishes hassle-free and regular communication that motivates constant collaboration, evaluation, reviews, feedback from all teams which is undoubtedly a primary ingredient for any digital transformation process to reach success. Furthermore, regular interaction and updated between multiple teams bring transparency with the environment and stakeholders can easily know the progress of the project.

Ensures the Right Cadence

Agile development starts optimization and quality testing at an early stage using advanced tools. This not only improves the quality of work but also helps teams to evaluate expected results and take corrective actions. The early insight results in relevant and appropriate adjustments quickly and eliminates chances of failures. However, one important consideration is that employees need to adapt to the changes proactively and keep honing their skills with time to give better results. When enterprises use smart tools, the latter influences the former to accomplish its short and long term goals while encouraging team members to accept innovation and technological advancements.

Conclusion

Digital Transformation is here to stay and agile is a new norm for businesses. Companies are sparing no effort to put their ideas into practice and investing a lot of time and energy to transform their business. So, why not use an agile approach to lead the way to digital innovation and achieve the desired success?

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