Value Proposition of Agility in Software Development - An Empirical Investigation

Agile Development Methods have received much attention since their inception, being regarded as an alternative to plan-based, phased methodologies, which are guided by a waterfall process model. These practices have evolved and developed over time, culminating in 2001 with the Agile Manifesto. Since that time, preferred methodologies, implementations, and best practices have continued to evolve with a focus on doing what works best for the individual company or project. However, the concept of agility in software development has remained quite nebulous, lacking in clarity particularly about its underlying dimensions. In this research we conceive agility in terms of four distinct underlying dimensions. Drawing from the theoretical perspective of holographic organization, we develop a model explaining how each of these underlying dimensions of agility contributes to project value in software teams. We test the model using survey data collected from industry practitioners and discuss findings.