NEW VOKE RESEARCH UNCOVERS THE RISING COST OF SOFTWARE AND THE AGILE DILEMMA
voke Offers Economic Models to Evaluate the Hidden Costs of Software Projects
San Francisco, CA July 11, 2012 – voke, inc., a modern analyst firm focused on data and analysis for the economy of innovation, today announced the publication of a new quantitative Market Snapshot report on Agile Realities. The report is accompanied by a Strategic Brief on the Cost of Rework Models for Agile and Non-Agile Projects, which provides economic models for evaluating software projects. The Market Snapshot report summarizes the findings of a broad-reaching survey of over 200 participants, to determine their experiences and results of their use of Agile practices. The report provides independent, objective analysis about Agile based on current data.
Key findings show that since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the average cost of software projects is rising dramatically, in spite of smaller teams working much shorter durations. At the same time, rework costs remain high or unknown and high profile software failures continue to make headlines almost daily.
Organizations must understand how defects create a hidden cost of rework in every software project and how these costs manifest differently in Agile and Non-Agile projects. Given the impact of catastrophic software failures on the brand, we should be witnessing a movement toward increased quality.
“There is no proverbial ‘silver bullet’ for software engineering. Accurate requirements and collaboration between the line of business, development, quality assurance, and operations are essential for all software projects,” said Theresa Lanowitz, lead analyst at voke, inc. “While many people assume that Agile is faster, better, and cheaper, actual results vary greatly. Many organizations are diving into the Agile movement without a clear understanding of what it is, and what the consequences of adoption may be, said Lanowitz. They may not realize that today’s solutions are tomorrow’s problems. Developer-centric requirements practices may quickly skyrocket the cost of rework.”
“Survey participants shared their experiences with Agile, expressed confusion, and identified more real world challenges than benefits”, said Lisa Dronzek, COO at voke, inc. “voke refers to this as the 'Agile Dilemma' which is defined as the inherent risk and confusion created by the business desire for speed and flexibility misinterpreted as a mandate to participate in the developer-centric movement called Agile, which may not be appropriate for all organizations or projects. Companies are faced with this dilemma and recognize that undocumented software projects are not immediately sustainable without considerable investment.”
The report also provides details on the types of projects that are more likely to succeed with Agile, project results across technology and other enterprise companies, and the benefits and challenges of Agile most frequently cited by participants. voke wishes to thank all who participated and promoted the survey.
voke invites enterprise IT and software professionals to take voke’s latest survey on service virtualization, defects, and test data management, available here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QMZD97Q
The full reports including rework models are available to voke Research clients at www.vokeinc.com. Press interested in receiving a complimentary copy of the reports may contact zenobia@zagcommunications.com.
About voke
voke, celebrating its sixth anniversary and founded in 2006, is a modern independent technology analyst firm focused on data and analysis for the economy of innovation. voke’s primary coverage area is the application lifecycle and its transformation, including virtualization, cloud computing, embedded systems, mobile and device software. Companies of all sizes, financial firms, and venture capital organizations turn to voke to harness strategic advice, independent and impartial market observations and analysis to move markets beyond the status quo. Please visit www.vokeinc.com to become a research client.
Press Contact
Zenobia Godschalk, zenobia@zagcommunications.com, 678.799.8279