Hey there, fellow business innovators!

As we continue our deep dive into the world of digital transformation, one question often pops up: what’s the best way to manage this project to avoid scope creep and go live on time? Should we use Agile, or Waterfall? These two project management frameworks have been at the forefront of debate for years. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, but in our humble opinion, one framework stands out as the clear winner. Let’s define Agile and Waterfall, explore the key differences between them, and we’ll let you decide which framework is superior for driving digital transformation.

Understanding Agile and Waterfall

Waterfall Framework:

The Waterfall model is a linear and sequential approach to project management. It follows a set path of phases. While names may change, they roughly fall into buckets: gather requirements, design the solution, configure and implement, user testing and verification, and optimization or maintenance. Each phase must be completed before moving on to the next, with little room for revisiting earlier stages.

Some clear benefits to this approach include a clear project structure. There are defined stages and milestones along the way. Projects with well-defined requirements are easier to manage.

However, if those requirements are not well-defined, waterfall can be inflexible to changes and new requirements. If issues are found in later stages, such as during user acceptance testing, lengthy delays are possible. There is also minimal feedback from customers and end users until the project is nearing completion.

The Spirit of Agile:

The Agile framework is a bit of a misnomer because there are many frameworks that fall under the broader label of “Agile.” Scrum, Kanban, and Lean are some common examples of Agile-based frameworks. At its core, an Agile approach will be iterative and incremental.

Developed in 2001, it emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback. Agile projects are broken down into smaller, more manageable segments, often referred to as tasks or stories. Continuous feedback and iterations allow for constant improvement and adaptation. It typically leads to faster delivery of functionality that can be tested and accepted by the customer.

The challenges to implementing under an Agile framework are mainly “people problems”. First, a lot more collaboration is needed on an agile project. Scope creep (changing or increasing the requirements) can impact timelines and costs. There is also a lack of visibility into when the project is “done” especially early on in the project. Documentation can also suffer under this approach unless it is prioritized.

Agile vs. Waterfall, some common perceptions…

Disclaimer: We’re about to paint some personas with a broad brush; not everyone falls into the same camp. This is anecdotal and based on our experience.

Executives love Waterfall! Of course they do. The questions of “How much will this cost?” and “When do we go live?” are easily asked and easily answered. A waterfall project is designed to answer these questions from day 1. The problems arise when those answers change because of changing or incomplete requirements. Change Orders lead to more cost and project delays and we all know, Executives hate change orders!

Developers love Agile! The emphasis on collaboration and regular feedback reduces the risk of going too far down the wrong path. Nothing worse than having to throw away 2 months of work because of misunderstood requirements…

Agile is harder and too chaotic! Fair criticism. There’s a lot more collaboration that’s required for Agile. Waterfall projects with clear milestones and deliverables make tracking progress and managing resources easier. However, meticulous planning in short cycles and constant feedback allow for adaptability and flexibility while maintaining structure. There’s a method to the madness!

Waterfall is better for large projects! Size doesn’t matter here, but the requirements do! If you don’t know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish, the chances of success under a waterfall approach diminish. The larger the project, the harder it is to nail the requirements up front.

Agile needs to be done face-to-face! A common belief because of the reliance on communication and feedback. With companies moving to the cloud and video conferencing, this is just no longer the case.  We’re more global and connected than ever before and while “face-to-face” may be a key to success, that doesn’t necessarily mean “in the same space”.

Final Thoughts

Have you made up your mind yet?  Because we sure have!  While the Waterfall framework has its merits, especially for projects with well-defined requirements and minimal changes, the Agile framework is superior for navigating the complexities of digital transformation. Agile’s flexibility, customer-centricity, speed, continuous improvement, and collaborative nature make it the ideal choice for today’s dynamic business landscape.

Our recommendation is to embrace Agile, foster a culture of innovation, and stay adaptable…because, in the digital era, agility is key to success.

Happy transforming!

If you have any specific questions or need further guidance on building a digital-first culture, feel free to reach out. We're here to help!

Hey there, fellow business innovators!

In our ongoing exploration of digital transformation, we've touched on a few critical elements that drive success. Today, let's dive into a fundamental aspect of digital transformation: data management. Specifically, we want to talk about the importance of having a "System of Record" or "single source of truth" for various data, metrics, and KPIs. We'll also highlight the challenges that arise from mismatched systems or multiple sources of truth for a single metric and how to overcome them. But before that, let’s explore a key question: how do “multiple sources of truth” happen?

Consider an example: “Gross Sales.” It seems easy enough. I’ll just pull a report from Salesforce for Closed-Won opportunities, and I’ll have my KPI. The problem arises when my counterpart in Finance pulls their report of NetSuite Sales Orders, and we’re off by about 1%. So, which number is correct?

Perhaps there are small variations due to product swaps, price adjustments, billing schedules, or delayed start dates. There could be many valid business reasons why what sales closed isn’t what actually ended up being processed.

Examining the root causes of “multiple sources of truth”:

1. Communication

One key driver for multiple sources of truth is that there are people or departments working in silos. The Sales department has its way of pulling data, and Finance has a different way. Everyone is pulling the “same” metric but from different systems.

2. Communication!

It’s very common for systems to communicate with each other via an integration or iPaaS solution. But more often than not, these integrations are “one-way” and not “bidirectional.” Salesforce sends data to NetSuite, but if changes are happening in NetSuite, they’re not sent back. Two systems start off with the same answer but end with different answers.

3. COMMUNICATION!

As trivial as it may sound, vocabulary matters. Someone might ask for a “revenue” report and get “sales” numbers, or they ask for “customer satisfaction” but actually want “net promoter score”. While you may have two similar or related metrics, understanding the difference is important to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Challenges of multiple systems of record:

1. Time to reconcile

Time wasted due to needless reconciliation can be astronomical. This is time that is usually spent with a tight deadline, and reconciliation work can be rushed and prone to errors. This is time not spent on more meaningful activities.

2. Unreliable Reporting

When you can’t trust the data you’re looking at, how can you have confidence in any decisions you’re basing on that data? You’re stuck with two bad options - look at incorrect data quickly or look at accurate data after the fact.

3. Reduced Agility

Leaders find themselves constantly waiting to find out what has already happened. If you’re spending time reconciling, when you finally see a “current” picture, it’s really a picture from the recent past. Much like looking into deep space, you’re traveling back in time.

Ensuring a single source of truth

1. Build a “Data Dictionary”

A data dictionary can be a rather large undertaking, but it’s important to have. If the task feels daunting, it’s most important to just start somewhere. Pick a small but manageable number, 5, 10, but make them KPIs that are important to the business. Define them. Define the report used to arrive at the metric. Now you have a “data dictionary”. Iterate from there…

2. Invest in your integrations

Before making major changes, consider the systems first. Where are they at in their “useful life”? If you have just made an investment in Salesforce but you have an ERP that’s approaching the limits of its usability, perhaps connecting those two systems together is not in your best interest. Make sure you have a business application footprint that has integration capabilities.

3. Communicate and enable

Effective communication across teams is crucial to establishing a single source of truth. Foster a culture where departments align on terminology and metrics. Provide training and resources to ensure everyone comprehends the data's context and significance. Ensuring everyone is on the same page is how you can ultimately avoid “multiple truths”.

Final Thoughts

Data integrity and reliability are fundamental to operating a successful business. Time spent on reconciliation is time wasted. Ensuring a single source of truth for your KPIs is paramount to any high-performing executive team’s ability to remain agile. Special care and attention should be dedicated to ensuring that the company’s data is both accurate and readily available. If a company places a high value on its data integrity, then it should take proactive measures to ensure there is a system of record for each KPI, that its people are all speaking the same language, and that the hand-offs from system to system are tightly integrated.

And if you don’t already have a “Data Dictionary” at your company… make one!

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading, and consider following our page.

Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions or need further guidance on building a digital-first culture. We’re here to help!