Software Development

Why we Should Rethink the Agile Manifesto: Software is Everywhere

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This is the third post in a series examining the changes that have occurred since the Agile Manifesto was published and the implications they have on how we might consider the Manifesto today. Find the first post here. 

Today, software is everywhere. It’s in everything we do. We as consumers interact and buy software more than ever, often without even knowing it. In late 2013, Jama partnered with Forrester Research on a ‘modern product delivery’ survey that found that 23% of products now contain software in some form. ‘Disruptive’ technology, that is, innovations that create and markets and value networks, and which over time ‘disrupt’ existing established markets, is increasingly pervasive. For example, Amazon changed the book selling – and everything selling industry – with software. Airbnb is disrupting the Hotel industry. A new generation of tech savvy consumers is helping to drive social adoption and they see disruptive technology as a positive thing.

Established industries are also evolving to adapt software to improve performance. The automotive market, for example, used virtually no software back in 2001. Now we have software working all over our vehicles, from sensors and cameras to navigation to infotainment systems to diagnostics. In 2001, cars had a minimal amount of code in them. A new car now has about 100 million lines of code. What’s more, it is expected that more than 150 million connected cars will be on America’s highways and byways by 2020. We have already seen examples of software being used ‘on the fly’ in remote product recalls. In March 2014, automotive manufacturer Tesla addressed a known fire risk in its cars in part by providing a software update to existing vehicles. This helped mitigate the risk without owners needing to visit dealerships or service centers. Cars are also beginning to connect to each other. The U.S. Department of Transportation is working on a system that has the potential to reduce accidents as a result of an intelligent connected car network.

In the financial industry, it’s becoming less and less important for consumers to have face to face interactions at their bank because of mobile banking, deposits using your camera phone, apps that allow you to budget and transfer money. This has banks deeply concerned. They were not prepared to become a software company. Now they have no choice.

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