Understanding Agility in ISD Projects

Since the 2001 publication of the Agile Manifesto, agile information systems development (ISD) methods have enjoyed increasing popularity. Extant research has highlighted critical challenges and key benefits associated with agile methods. Notwithstanding, the contribution of the actions performed by actors involved in an ISD project toward the achievement of agility remains unclear. This issue motivated the present study, which addresses the question of “how do project teams achieve agility in ISD projects?". To answer this question a theoretical lens that accounts for the shared understanding that actors have of the ISD process as well as its actual unfolding is adopted. Building on extant conceptualizations of agility in ISD and its constituting facets, a study of three ISD projects within an organization is conducted. The main expected contribution of the study is to offer insight into the actions that contribute to the achievement of the various facets of agility in ISD.