Software professionals continue to face various complex challenges while implementing Scrum. In a bid to seek answers to this difficult situation, software professionals have shown realistic approaches that have helped various software industries make Scrum an Agile progress.
The previous progress on software development will continue as long as software professionals and stakeholders do not relent on their passionate spirit of initiating change.
However, with the current multi-team projects and determination, Agile will succeed from project to project and help transform the entire software industry.
In order to succeed with Agile, it requires software professionals to create an understanding of not only the mechanics of the process, but also a motivated team. The team should always be ready to face new challenges as it accomplishes one task.
The Scrum methodology entails various difficulties such as the development of large and complex software programs that demand a high level of concentration and skill. A small mistake can easily break a program at its final stages of completion.
Relaxation of a team member during a production process can allow serious errors and complicate the entire process (Ghilic-Micu, Stoica & Uscatu, 2014).
With the kind of efficiency and effectiveness that Scrum has demonstrated in previous projects, it is strengthening the weak lines and minimizing the possibility of errors persisting for a long time.
One of the possible ways to ensure the continuity of software development entails splitting the entire process into short spurts. This aspect means that all focus will be redirected on a small set of frameworks. This simple way makes teams come out smart in terms of production without having to introduce new measures or skills.
Working in short spurts improves a team’s ability to concentrate and realize every possible error before the commencement of a project. Consequently, production goes up and damages are reduced by the highest margin possible. Another measure is through avoiding the extensive use of overtime in a bid to increase production.
Software industry demands a lot of brainwork as opposed to physical energy (Drury-Grogan & O’dwyer, 2013). This aspect means that productivity through overtime can only be possible within a short span after which the mind is exhausted. Intellectual fatigue sets in and it becomes hard to master every detail at a desired rate.
Production declines and errors escalate within even one week of overtime. Iterative process entails splitting long software development cycle into shorter sections to increase efficiency (Muntean & Surce, 2013).
This progress has been central when convincing a team to adopt Scrum since the series of current problems gives a chance to offer demonstrations to customers and prove that it can work as well as show how to tackle the usual problems that may be encountered.
Improving software quality has never been an easy task through the Scrum methodology. Many issues affect the apps development teams, but this aspect has resulted in the development of new techniques and approaches that minimize the overall costs and strain involved in improving software development.
Various apps development companies invest in tools, mechanisms, and experts, yet not all achieve quality production. Some industries adopt Scrum without the adoption of any software tools, but they use charts and graphical presentation on whiteboards to present and maintain their artifacts.
Some of the agile programing tools include Just Code, which is a visual studio extension that offers immediate code analysis, smart navigation, and code identifying errors and quick navigation (Stoica, Mircea & Ghilic-Micu 2013).
Resharper by JetBrains is used for code inspections, code cleanup, and smart navigation. Code Rush tool helps in developing and maintaining source code. It also assists in intelligent code evaluation.
A comprehensive coding technique includes many aspects of software improvement and although they do not influence the functioning of the software, they help in improving the understanding of the source code.
Solid coding mechanisms and good programming approaches when devising high-quality code are essential elements for the development of quality software.
Doing code reviews improves performance and it becomes easy for an application team to generate a software device that is easy to understand and maintain (Bose, 2008)
Key problems with Agile, Scrum, and XP
Agile, Scrum, and XP demonstrate several shortcomings in quality improvement, with some emanating from management and others from the choice of tools employed. Today’s product competition requires any software developing team to factor in the aspect of speed, efficiency, and quality.
Balancing these three factors is a complex task for any Scrum master. Since Scrum is the widely adopted agile method, it is easy to detect its flaws. Despite how minimal the flaws may be reduced, every problem or error must be accounted for and solutions must be sought.
Some of the common problems with Agile, Scrum, and XP include excessive planning. Adequate preparation is necessary for every successful planning, but when planning is too costly and time-consuming, it is advisable to consider alternatives.
With Scrum, a team can commence its project with minimal planning, apply the regular feedback in the Sprint review, and advance its plans. In addition, many organizations manage the Scrum process by soft copies even when they lack clear understanding to execute the process properly.
When getting started, it is relatively easy, cheap, and safe to adopt manual or hard copy material. Getting appropriate tools is necessary, but sometimes it can become an obstacle when a team is getting started. Sprint restart is always a good idea if the team notices possibilities of an error, but it is costly.
Cancelling a sprint is not common and a team can be tempted to go on with the process to the end (Bose, 2008). It costs a team a lot of time in case the product fails to meet the required standards.
Conclusion
The future of software development through the Scrum methodology has been successful so far, but maintaining this trend is the new challenge. Development constraints are now coming out as threats to derail this progress.
Cost, schedule, quality, and scope form the key constraints that are set lead to the decline in output quality and quantity. In spite of how much an organization may want to cut on costs and time, it is always hard when seeking improvement.
By constraining these basic elements, standard and size become dependent variables. The use of current electronic tools reduces the paperwork and increases efficiency.
Therefore, managers should be keen to follow a set of principles that motivate excellence whilst maintaining a highly interactive environment, which is essential to the software development team.
References
Bose, I. (2008). Lessons Learned from Distributed Agile Software Projects: A Case-Based Analysis. Communications of the Association for Information Journal, 23(15), 619-632.
Drury-Grogan, M. L., & O’dwyer, O. (2013). An investigation of decision-making process in agile teams. International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, 12(6), 1097 – 1120.
Ghilic-Micu, B., Stoica, M., & Uscatu, C. R. (2014). Cloud Computing and Agile Organization Development. Informatica Economica , 18(4), 5-13.
Muntean, M., & Surce, T. (2013). Agile BI-The Future of BI. Informatica Economica, 17(3), 114-124.
Stoica, M., Mircea, M., & Ghilic-Micu, B. (2013). Software Development: Agile vs. Traditional. Informatica Economica, 17(4), 64-75.