The world is at the confluence of four technologies: social networking, mobile computing, analytics, and cloud computing. Together, the technologies are commonly abbreviated as SMAC. A report by PWC says that “SMAC challenges enterprises to take advantage of the positive disruptions it portends, while they operate at the rapid pace of innovation and change that SMAC demands.”
Companies worldwide are finding value in embracing the disruption brought by SMAC and the need to adopt the means to meet the challenges. According to a related article in Forbes, “The luxury of long technology evaluation cycles, introspective analysis of systems, and long deployment timeframes are giving way to rapid deployments and systems designed for accuracy and speed.”
That means companies should adopt methodologies that enable them to innovate at a faster pace and meet the fast changing needs of customers. Agile is precisely the methodology for responding to quickly morphing realities.
While companies are using social networks and mobile products to connect with customers, these same domains also improve collaboration within the companies at a level never before seen.
A CIO magazine article on business intelligence trends for 2012 predicted the agile approach as an important trend because it helps get projects off the ground faster and provides business results sooner. Comparing agile with waterfall methodology, the article mentions that using a framework for building business intelligence and data warehousing (BIDW) applications delivers faster results using just a quarter of the developer hours of a traditional waterfall approach.
Cloud computing and agile go together hand in glove. According to SOA World Magazine, deploying to the cloud can reduce investment in hardware and software. Cloud helps an organization achieve business agility by sharing and aggregating services. Agile development methodology helps in achieving true agility through rapid development cycles and adapting to changing requirements.
While agile seems natural for executing SMAC strategies, companies still need to be careful about this approach. An agile adoption should be measured against the specifics of the organizational, project, and personnel characteristics. So, it would be prudent to question yourself about the relevance of agile in your specific scenario.
In conclusion, as customers demand SMAC solutions, the adoption of agile helps companies meet that demand quickly. If done correctly, agile puts itself at the forefront of methodologies used for meeting the challenges posed by a dynamic technology landscape.
