A quick beginner guide is provided here.

If you’re shopping around for a software development company chances are that you’ve come across the concepts of Scrum and Agile. So what is Scrum and Agile and why should that matter to you?

Agile philosophy and/or mindset that is built upon the following values: individuals and interactions VS. processes and tools, working software VS. comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration VS. contract negotiation, and responding to change VS. following a plan. This philosophy places an importance for partnership and building relationships, but also adaptation and innovation. Navigating these values requires a framework, and this is where Scrum comes into the picture. Scrum helps orchestrate the ins/out of project management. It is designed to optimize flexibility, transparency, productivity and collaboration. Scrum is a framework for implementing the agile philosophy, for developing, adapting and sustaining complex products to ensure high value products will be delivered.

Here at Lofty, we use an adapted Scrum and Agile framework.

We believe this framework runs best for our customers because we believe in the value proactive planning without compromising the ability to respond to changes and new information . So, before a software product begins, we establish clear objectives and a realistic schedule to maximize the success of your software product. And, you’ll be involved in the whole process.

We’re completely transparent and our ignition approach iterates just that.

We begin collaborating with:

• An initial meeting outlining aligning goals and outcomes
• We prioritize your short and long term desires of your product vision
• Through multiple structured exercises we identify the Critical Path and prototype a solution
• A plan and strategy gets presented to you complete with a full technical document architecture design and a product backlog. This is the product backlog that bootstraps the Scrum process when development begins.

Behind the scenes Ignition tasks include:

• Mapping the high level features of product and produce a timeline
• Identifying risks and determine strategies to mitigate them
• Creating storyboards, wireframes and interactive prototypes for your products critical path
• Produce a detailed technical log of the tasks required to complete the product

The next ingredient to our recipe for success is Iterative Development. Working through sprints using the Agile Scrum process, we iteratively and methodically execute the Ignition plan. Each sprint lasts 1 to 2 weeks depending on the size of your project. This process anticipates change and rejects the notion of fixed scopes. Your team will get to see and use the product throughout delivery. In other words, we deliver a new unit of full working features by the time each sprint ends. And, your feedback will continually shape and refine the final outcome.

In a Scrum project, the engineering team maintains focus on what needs to be built right now, today, while Product Owners and Solutions Architects stay focused on what is coming based on customer feedback. This allows the team to constantly push forward shipping new features while maintaining the agility to respond to changes as new information is discovered.

While we follow Agile Scrum very closely, we have modified the process to fit our needs in serving our customers mostly in how we estimate and project timelines/budgets. Product companies tend to use Scrum to maximize the output of a team that has a fixed ongoing operational cost. For our customers, product development is often a capital expense and need discrete delivery budgets which our adjustments to the process enable.

Do you have any questions about implementing agile and scrum? Or perhaps about building an innovative software product?

Let's get in touch and discuss your project and/or business needs:

Call: (479)718-6160

Email: sales@hirelofty.com

Drop in: 525 S School Ave, Suite 220 Fayetteville, Arkansas

Interested in learning more which successful companies, for instance Google, are using this framework? We thought so! This article provides a quick overview of how companies adapted this methodology and framework to tailor their business needs.

For client testimonials, case studies, and our thoughts on the business of software development visit our website.

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