Moving from Traditional to Agile Software Development Methodologies Also on Large, Distributed Projects.

The challenge that all companies face in a quickly changing business environment is to stay competitive in order to retain and if possible expand their market share. Traditional software development methods are inflexible and fail to respond on aggressive customer requests. In contrast, agile software methodologies provide a set of practices that allow for quick adaptations matching the modern product development needs. Although the value of the agile methodologies is well proven for small, collocated teams, the research question that this work is addressing refers to the benefits of the agile methodologies on large, distributed projects. With this paper, evidence is provided by the analysis of a case study that agile software development methodologies perform better than traditional methodologies also in large, distributed projects. Improvements are observed on the quality and on the customer perception of the end product, while agile methodologies allow for requirement changes even late in the project. At the same time, building better communication and collaboration in the team as an outcome of following the agile practices, results to enhanced relations between team members and to improved employee satisfaction metrics.