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The Agile Manifesto begins by stressing the value of "individuals and interactions over processes and tools." While it's true that the emphasis on people and collaboration makes all the difference on an Agile project, there is no question that tools are a necessary component of success. I've noted many times over the past six years that I have never seen a successful Agile project that did not, at the very least, have a strong software configuration management and build environment in place. This is particularly true for those organizations looking to scale their Agile efforts to enterprise-wide initiatives and distributed Agile projects.
This month, we look at the benefits and challenges of using integrated tools to assist with Agile projects. Kirk Knoernschild discusses how automating processes with supporting tools can "activate" the agile lifecycle. Kevin Parker shows how poorly many companies do in supporting tool integrations, and how significant the impact of failure can be. That said, Ross Pettit argues that "while the tools make the [Agile] practices more efficient, they do not themselves provide value without fundamental practices in place."
Taking this one step further, Venkatesh Krishnamurthy shares his experiences using tools on geographically distributed Agile teams. And we'll learn how Shopzilla, a leading shopping search engine company, has leveraged tools alongside Agile practices to support its rapidly growing business.
Agile teams value individuals, interactions, collaboration and responsiveness over traditional tooling and documentation. But as Agile teams grow (in size, number of locations, number of companies on a teams, etc.) it will be critical that they invest in a strong underlying environment. Strong doesn't mean rigid. Strong doesn't mean plan-driven. But strong does mean scalable, if we are to support teams building business-critical applications in today's economy.
What's your take? What tools have become necessities to your Agile teams? Please let us know what you think. And, if you would like to contribute an article on this or another upcoming topic, go to the "Letters to the Editor" in the forum at AgileJournal.com.
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