Digital transformation processes proved to be not only important to gain competitive advantage, but essential to ensure business continuity. The last year was the perfect demonstration of the speed at which changes occur in the current context and how essential new technologies are to assimilate the impact with speed, flexibility and resilience. The key word here is “agility”.

Indeed, the context changes continuously and abruptly. Remote work, automation to make up for the absence of face-to-face staff, and e-commerce as a substitute for in-store purchases are three of the great phenomena that have accelerated significantly since the start of the pandemic. The companies that were able to adapt and apply contingency measures to continue operating regardless of the scenario, were the ones that achieved the highest levels of success.

What is agility in IT?

Agility in IT may mean many things – and present many challenges. From the point of view of digital transformation, it can be related to the focus on the implementation of new projects.

Contrary to what happened until a few years ago, it is no longer a question of installing a monolithic central software capable of doing everything within the framework of a gigantic project, that consumes huge amounts of budget and that takes many months between when the requirements are listed and when it goes into production.

What would have happened if a project of these characteristics had started at the end of 2019? At the time of completion, it would have come across a completely different world, with different business needs and even with consumers whose characteristics have nothing to do with those of two years ago.

Continuous evolution

This approach, which is usually associated with the «big bang», is replaced by an agile one: a continuous review of processes, people and technologies with the aim of increasing operational efficiency and productivity, optimizing the value chain, designing strategies responsible -one of the requirements of today’s consumer- and create memorable experiences for customers and employees.

This gradual incorporation of specific solutions and applications that are aligned with the general business strategy has two key benefits: first, advances occur continuously, generating new functionalities very frequently, accelerating time to market or dynamically solving pain points or weak aspects of the processes. And second, they significantly reduce the risks. 

The investments deliver a short-term return and it is not necessary to highlight an enormous flow of human capital dedicated for a long time to the project. And, of course, the most important thing: the results are seen much faster.

The challenges of being agile

Agile methodologies are sets of principles that allow agility to become a reality and that are supported by four pillars: the working product or solution is more important than exhaustive documentation, individuals and interactions are above tools and processes, collaboration with the client is more relevant than the contractual agreement, and adaptation to change is more valuable than following a rigid plan.

These methodologies, therefore, provide flexibility, time and cost reduction, less frustration and greater added value thanks to the deliverables obtained. The good news: they are easy to implement and there is abundant human capital specialized in the different frameworks and in the associated techniques and technologies.

In addition, companies are increasingly familiar with the development models that allow this agility to materialize, such as proofs of concept (POC), which allow verifying whether an idea can be transformed into reality from a summarized version of how it would be implemented, or the minimum viable product (MVP) which is nothing more than an application with the essential characteristics to function.

Does this mean that the path to IT agility in organizations is already paved? Not necessarily: some barriers remain. The main obstacle is cultural. This new approach requires flexibility, transparency, motivated teams, self-organization and a great will to understand the true needs of the business to act accordingly.

The other great challenge is that these small projects respond to a general outlook known by decision-makers: a delicate balance in which gradual advances must be directed towards a single objective. Therefore, to achieve this «agility at scale» there must be the support of senior management.

The good news: Companies that reach IT agility will be better prepared to jump on the train to the future of business.