Software Development: Embracing The Agile Method with Code Halos

Across the agile lifecycle management process, programmers, business partners and tools constantly spawn Code Halos—digital information that surrounds people, processes, organizations and devices. From Amazon to Netflix, consumer-oriented business leaders of today compete on code by extracting insights from their Code Halos. Leaders in these industries utilize Code Halo thinking in the form of data-driven insights to predict customers’ preferences and demands, as well as the market trajectory.

While Code Halo thinking originally came about in online retailing and media/entertainment, it is also increasingly becoming applicable to internal enterprise operations, such as software development. Analysts have noted that enterprises are progressively undertaking agile development to keep pace with fast-evolving digital business scenarios. . In fact, by 2020, the Code Halo thinking will permeate IT organizations, specifically those that have already embraced agile development approach.

To leverage Code Halo thinking internally, companies will require new technology-driven solutions that will be largely steered by unprecedented approaches to software development and management. These agile and associated application lifecycle management (ALM) tools are set to produce Code Halos that will radically transform how work is managed throughout the organization.

What is agile, and what’s not?

With organizations facing pressure to accelerate application development, traditional and non-agile application methods may not be able to provide adequate support. For instance, the waterfall method: six months for requirements definition, 18 months to bring new business capabilities into the hands of eager users, and up to 12 months to make necessary changes to get the software into production.

The agile method stands in stark contrast to the waterfall method. At the heart of agile lie 12 principles guiding software development in organizations. These principles center on working products, flexibility that contributes to less disruptive change, and collaborative teams.

With most agile methodologies, production-ready software is produced in smaller portions at a regularly-paced rhythm of weeks that accelerates time-to-value. As such, when the software
development program begins, flexibility and predictability are significantly boosted when business value is prioritized in these smaller portions of work.

With the agile method, work accumulates with insights to be derived upon, while also allowing reprioritization and tweaking in accordance with alternating business conditions. In turn, more fluid and collaborative application development results in code that is better aligned with business requirements.

Embracing agile Code Halos

Arguably, Code Halo thinking has started working its way into agile IT organizations. According to the different stages of the Crossroads Model, agile Code Halos “ionize”, “spark” and “enrich” over time, revolutionizing industries in their wake.

Ionization: During the Ionization stage, the context has to be set for agile Code Halos to ignite. The conditions for Ionization to arise include increasing the computer literacy of participants and
computing power, as well as accelerating the pressure for faster solutions and the desire of participants for meaningful work and human collaboration.

Spark: The influx of advanced application lifecycle management (ALM) tools supports more efficient software development processes and innovations. When agile Code Halos are allowed to spark, they emerge around individuals, teams, processes and the application code itself. By leveraging Code Halo thinking, organizations are primed to spark agile software development.

Enrichment: During the Enrichment stage, Code Halos expand and grow in scale to permeate the agile software development process. As the program’s Code Halo quantifies user demand and business benefits, overall planning becomes product-focused and enterprise-wide. User demand will be established based on continuous requirements-gathering processes that involve grooming and prioritizing a backlog of stories. In turn, IT responds by using predictable, short cycles or sprints of software delivery activity, managed through tool-enabled performance metrics to quantify the supply and delivery trajectory.

At the Crossroads: The Crossroads juncture is where market dominance typically flips. Traditional leaders that have failed to adopt Code Halo principles are usurped by digitally savvy businesses. In the agile software development context, this occurs when IT no longer relies on waterfall development approaches.

Many leading agile organizations are nearing the Crossroads. Some have completely replaced waterfall software development models, distant and disconnected IT-business relationships and a lack of digitally captured performance metrics, with new and agile structures and behaviors that continuously enrich, apply and distill digital information contained in program Code Halos. Others have even included support organizations and contracting vehicles in their Code Halo models to yield even greater benefits.

Where Halos enable agility

Think about the advantage that Amazon has over traditional retailers, Amazon has more than a decade’s worth of available customer feedback hooked into its planning and distribution processes.
Similar to how the online review capability that Amazon has built brings the business closer to its customers, agile Code Halos too contain valuable digital insights.

Organizations that have closely aligned Code Halo thinking with agile methods are unleashing software development activities that are focused on what matters. Applying Code Halo principles to
agile programs is, indeed, transformative. By competing on their agile program Code Halos to inform software program management, companies are more consistent in effectively and predictably building software applications that rapidly identify, create and meet their unique business objectives in a timely fashion. The digital intelligence from IT-business partnerships and rapid cycles of customer feedback continuously feeds insights into agile software processing and the benefits accrue continuously and quickly for leaders.