Over the years we have worked with many large organisations and have fitted in with their way of working. The methodologies used can usually be described as “Waterfall” that is they take on a structured progression between defined phases of the project (Analyse-Design-Build-Test-Implement). Whilst this approach has some strengths it also has many weaknesses not least of which is the time and cost to get change into production.

In more recent years we have adopted an Agile approach to programming. This breaks the large project down into small tangible tasks where each one can deliver a business benefit. Each task can be worked on in isolation and using APL (an ideal tool in this environment), can be delivered quickly.

The Agile approach requires us to work in very close proximity to the eventual users and indeed we have found that they can even help with the programming effort. Documentation requirements are kept to an absolute minimum as are team meetings and planning sessions. We do what is required when it is required. The focus is always on delivering the business benefit.

Generally code is released to production at least once per week and during periods of high demand once per day. Our code is written to be self testing at a functional level and can be semi-automatically tested via a test harness at unit or system level.

This approach leads to higher quality software, lower cost of change, lower financial risk, lower failure rates. Our experience shows that on average, 1 months time spent on a waterfall project can be achieved in a week with Agile - in some cases much less than that.