Measuring the Progress of Agile

The eleventh State of Agile survey has just been published by VersionOne. These reports are invaluable in helping agile practitioners understand where their practices, problems and challenges fit the context of the wider world.

As with all VersionOne’s previous reports, the eleventh survey paints a picture of the onward march of agile. Its progress is rarely in a straight line, however, and this latest survey has revealed a very interesting contradiction.

Increased Focus on Business Value?

When respondents were asked how the success of agile initiatives were measured, the second ranked answer after “on-time delivery” was “business value.” In the previous report, “business value” was the fourth-ranked answer. This time, some 46 percent of respondents chose it ahead of “customer/user satisfaction” (44 percent), “product quality” (42percent) and “product scope” (40 percent). No other answer was given by more than a quarter of respondents.