Industries That Benefit From Agile Adoption
Agile Methodology was born around two decades ago where it revolutionized the way software companies operate and create their products. Agile was a game-changer and gave competition to the then-popular traditional software methodologies. It was initially assumed that Agile Methodology was designed only for the information technology industry to build various software. However, it was eventually adopted by many other industries as well and the positive impact of Agile was observed on their company’s work processes. With the traditional software methods, businesses used to take months to develop a particular software and release it into the market. This method had many drawbacks as, by the time the product was used to release to the market, its popularity or need would have been reduced. Later, when the business owners used Agile methods to develop and deliver their products, they realized that delivering more frequently to the market, improving continuously, and collecting early feedback is better than delivering delayed perfection.
Many companies started using Agile to respond faster to competitive pressure, demand in the market and helped them adapt rapidly to market changes. Hence, Agility became a standard in the modern business world and is recognized as an important method to survive in the business world. There are industries that you may have thought still functioned the old-fashioned ways have adopted Agile methods to process their product development and delivery. Here are few industries that have adopted Agile Methods to ensure that they develop valuable products efficiently.
Industries that Benefit From Agile Adoption
1. Advertising and Marketing
Advertising and marketing require a constant update from the recent trends in the market such that the companies can attract the attention of the consumers. Agile Methods help companies make better decisions so that they can produce valuable content and repeat the wonder which Agile created in the IT industry. Many startups have used Agile methods and have become successful in the advertising industry as they use Agile to process their development. For instance, Teradata Applications is a business that sells software for the purpose of supporting marketing. They use Agile methods to automate their workflow and approval processes. Agile also helped them in improving the communications within the project and significantly enhanced their processes. Another business called CafePress sells themed gifts and provides custom design services for people who want to launch their personal merchandise. This business has adopted Agile methods to interact with their customers and help them upload their designs in real-time.
2. Banking and Finance
Banking and finance are not the same as it was a decade ago as the finance industry has taken a major development in the present day. Customers always enquire about the internet banking services which the bank has to offer. Agile methods have been used by the banking industry to create effective software for dealing with transactions of customers. Technology platforms have become crucial for the functioning of the banking and finance industries as they face emerging challenges on a daily basis. Many processes such as risk management systems, payment processions, and keeping up with the expectations of the customers have been effectively handled by Agile Methodology. Financial agencies such as Principal Financial Group, which is an insurance provider and retirement planning firm, use Agile to make sure that the business and development team are on the same page when discussing the feature requirements on the website or application. Agile methods such as Scrum give two weeks in Sprints to develop those features and take feedback whether the feature was useful or not. In case, if any feature is not working as expected, they can retrieve that feature without having to change the entire application. The staff of the company have been receptive to using Agile methods and have admitted that it has made their work easier and productive.
3. Healthcare
The Healthcare industry is one of the most booming industries as people get ill and need treatment. However, in many countries getting proper treatment during any kind of emergency or non-emergency has become a tedious and extremely daunting process. Many patients feel frustrated with the healthcare setup as they are the primary focus of healthcare. This is a great opportunity for healthcare marketers who are willing to dedicate more energy to connect with the customers and create real-time solutions using Agile principles. The Healthcare industry has begun using technology by creating apps and portals which increase efficiency and patient satisfaction. While using Agile methods, healthcare industries can easily change the features which are not working as expected. The industry can also make use of Agile Frameworks such as Scrum where weekly Sprints can be used to ensure privacy and security even when new features are getting rolled out. As many people have become more conscious about their health conditions, this market is always on the rise and is expected to grow in the coming years. People need easy access to their healthcare practitioners and with Agile methods, these industries can ensure that their clients get the best service in the market. Hence, Agile adoption in this industry is likely to benefit significantly to the industry owners and also their customers.
4. Non- Profits
Non-profit organizations have lesser funding and staff given the fact that they exist to serve society. However, for these organizations to serve society effectively, they have to be Agile in their processes. At present, these organizations use longer planning cycles and try to execute their plans in a longer run. If these plans could be shorter by using Agile methods, they could generate more donations based on their target audience at a given time. In order to make the slow-moving process rapid, employees and volunteers working for the non-profits should be empowered with the knowledge of Agile methodology. The organization needs to discard their preferences of planning in detail and consuming more time and using iterations that can tackle disruptions that are unplanned. People could also give their feedback on what could be changed, and improve the system. This may be a large cultural shift for people working in nonprofits, but this behavior is necessary for the industry to contribute to society to its fullest.
5. Government Agencies
Projects under government agencies take an enormous amount of time as they use a traditional approach of process and development. This could include various government schemes related to healthcare, constructions, insurances, regional transport offices, provident funds, etc. The projects under the government take more time and effort as they do not use updated technologies to process their work. There are obviously heavy regulations in government projects which becomes one of the biggest blocks for any projects to move fast and test continuously. Despite this barrier, Agile could help reduce complex government projects into smaller chunks from the beginning of the project, such that better results are achieved. The main task to make Agile techniques work is to make different constituents work in correlation without tangling the bureaucracy.
6. Engineering and Product Development
Agile methods are used in the information technology industry where people used the traditional software methods such as a waterfall to develop their products. With the acceleration in market dynamics, there are new products coming out in the market every day where companies have to compete with each other to stay on top of their game. Consumers want innovations in their products and they do not want to wait for months together to get their bugs fixed or new features to be updated. Hence, Agile becomes a perfect methodology in such an industry where companies can plan for a short period and choose to organize and execute their work. Agile practices such as minimum viable products and product demonstrations have become a common norm in the market. Hence, along with these techniques, other Agile methods can help the business to bridge the gap between their stakeholder and their employees. Agile Methodology has also proven to reduce the risks of reworking in product development which saves a significant cost in the company’s budget. One of the most important benefits which these industries gain is the reduction in the time to market of the product as companies manage to work more efficiently.
7. Aerospace Industry
Many aviation industries have shown interest in Agile methods as they realize that these techniques have made their process simpler and easier. Aviation industries have claimed that Agile has significantly reduced their costs and has sped up their delivery to the market. This industry is one of those sectors where the business has to have sufficient knowledge before entering the market as the cost of production is huge. The business has to research to its best before they put anything to the production line as the loss of capital would be large and the risk taken by the business is also big. Agile can minimize the risk of the business by providing an alignment to the strategy, ensuring proactive collaboration, and having faster feedback loops. Due to these advantages, the aerospace industry uses many of the Agile techniques and have embraced the idea in their business model.
8. Pharmaceutical Industry
The pharma industry is a slow-running industry as the production and testing of various drugs takes significant time added to the documentation, approvals, strict rules and regulations, and rigid processes. These were a few of the reasons why pharma industries relied on traditional waterfall technologies to process their work. However, with modern technology and increased demand for pharmaceutical products, customers require the products with no delay and want the best for their use. The pharma companies have to understand how important it is to communicate with their customers and collect feedback rather than relying on clinical data only. Many industry players have turned to Agile to help them collect feedback about the products and have made an effort to customize the products according to the customers. Agile offers pharma industries to deliver value in multiple contexts and also helps them in their research and development, and communication. The most important benefit of using Agile in this industry is that it promotes the innovation-oriented mindset and helps them accelerate their innovations and aid them to achieve success and excellence.
Conclusion
Agile Methodology first started to overcome the drawbacks of the traditional software methodologies. With all the benefits it has to offer with various frameworks such as Scrum, Lean, Kanban, SAFe, etc many industries started adopting one of the Agile frameworks and experimented. These industries saw a significant rise in their productivity while using Agile techniques. Also other benefits such as reduced time to market, early return on investment, maximizing the business value, and effective communication among the employees and the stakeholders, have made companies implement Agile Methodology. With the rise in competition in every industry, it is soon that other industries which may not be listed would also implement Agile techniques.
References
- https://www.infoq.com/articles/industries-agile-innovation/
- https://kanbanize.com/agile/industries
- http://agileseeds.com/agile-in-other-industries/
- https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/10-companies-killing-it-scaling-agile
- https://pantheon.io/blog/these-3-industries-would-benefit-agile-approach
