Conclusion
It should be fairly clear that agile software development methods and techniques are gaining acceptance within the IT industry. Adoption of agile techniques is further ahead than adoption of agile methods, but that should come as no surprise—most organizations choose to perform software process improvement on an incremental basis, so it makes sense that we would see some organizations just getting started. It's also interesting to note that XP isn't the only agile methodology in play, although it still remains the most popular.
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Agile Adoption Rates
A March 2006 survey of 4232 IT professionals shows:
• 65 percent work in organizations that have adopted one or more agile development techniques
• 41 percent work in organizations that have adopted one or more agile methodologies
• 60 percent report increased productivity
• 66 percent report increased quality
• 58 percent report improved stakeholder satisfaction |
The survey also revealed that some organizations still need to consider taking the "agile plunge." In my May 2006 column (www.ddj.com/dept/architect/ 187200223), I claimed that agile is just now in the process of crossing the adoption chasm, so it isn't surprising to see that some companies have yet to move in this direction. Considering what other organizations have achieved when it comes to increased productivity, quality, and stakeholder satisfaction, adopting a more agile approach seems like a pretty good risk to me.
DDJ
