Software Value Creation
I've always felt, and said, that agile is a means to an end, not the end in and of itself. So, what is the end? That's a rhetorical question of course. The reason we build software systems is to deliver value to our customers or to the business. Even a CMMI level 5 agile implementation will fail if it’s not driven in a manner that is delivering value. I like to abstract the software value stream as follows: Demand flows into the funnel in a variety of forms. If you have an existing product, application or service, it may be an enhancement request or defect reported by a customer or user. Or perhaps, a line of business you support may request a major new service in support of a new business initiative. The request needs to be evaluated and measured not only against other new requests, but its value should also be assessed against existing products/applications/services in the portfolio. It may make sense to eliminate or defer and existing investment in favor of the new request t...
