Software development methods became more centralised and regulated in the late twentieth century. The Agile Manifesto for Software Development and the birth and expansion of so-called agile software development approaches largely responded to this. A manifesto produced and signed by all attendees at a 2001 conference in Utah covers four key goals:
- The customer should be included in contract negotiations.
- The value of people and relationships significantly outweighs the value of processes and tools.
- Adapting to change rather than conforming to a predetermined course of action
- Software that is capable of managing a vast volume of precise data
What Is Agile Service Management, Exactly, and What Does It Entail?
It’s easy to apply agile ideas to information technology service management. They are initially established to serve as a repository for industry-standard software development techniques. You must consider numerous factors before implementing Agile Service Management or unpacking Agile and ITSM. The Agile Alliance lists the following twelve principles as part of the Agile Manifesto:
- Our primary goal is to assure customer happiness by often and expeditiously releasing valuable software.
- Maintain an open mind toward new requirements, especially if they are discovered late in the process. Agile processes take advantage of the change to the consumer’s advantage.
- Deliver usable software as frequently as possible, between a few weeks to a few months, emphasising shorter periods.
- Business leaders and programmers must collaborate throughout the project to ensure its success.
- Collaborate with passionate individuals to develop ideas. Provide them with the necessary materials and then rely on them to do the job.
- The most successful means of delivering information to and from a development team is face-to-face communication.
- The simplest way to determine your progress is to have functional software.
- Agility promotes long-term advancement. Sponsors, developers, and users should be able to cohabit peacefully for the foreseeable future.
- A greater degree of agility is enabled by focusing on technical excellence and intelligent design.
- Simplicity is crucial while aiming to accomplish tasks with the least effort possible.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs are created by self-organising teams, not by teams managed by others.
- The team evaluates ways to increase its efficacy regularly and then modifies and adapts its behaviour accordingly.
Agile Service Management in the Real World
The goals and objectives of agile service management are to ensure that agile principles are incorporated throughout the ITSM process, from start to finish. It’s paramount to use Agile principles in both process design and improvement. Additionally, agile ITSM suggests that you should always seek ways to improve your IT department as a whole by implementing and adhering to lean principles, such as developing and providing services that are only scalable enough to please your clients. Agile ITSM is based on collaboration, idea exchange between operational and development teams, and good communication across the enterprise.