Info-Scape Ltd. has experience bringing agile project management techniques to Information Technology projects of all sizes. Agile project managment is all about managing risk and adapting to change. Our project managment style emphasizes adaptability and risk managment through the use of Light Methods. While there is certainly a place for detailed end to end planning, processes with a high degree of variability like software development and systems deployment are best managed in other ways.

Our processes focus on coordination, managing the increment of work and maintaining an accurate picture of what issues may have surfaced. These techniques are captured in the approaches known as "Agile Methodologies". We find that these techniques can dramatically accelerate projects while reducing the cost and risk.

The approach that we take in delivering valuable functionality as early as possible has been proven over and over to be the most effective way of maximizing the value of the total project. That is true even if the project is never "completed". Circumstances change, requirements change and technologies change. Agility is the key. By controlling the increments of work, we factor in time to deal with changes. By delivering the increments, we validate the work and minimize risk. By using the work, our customers derive value and ensure that they are getting what they really need.

From working with these methods, we have identifed several practices that form the basis for our approach:

• Use Back Planning to identify tasks that might otherwise might be missed. By envisioning the final state and working backward, we can develop a much more complete picture of the effort than by working forward towards a vaguely defined goal.

• Involve the customers early and continuously with the work to ensure both their buy-in and that their domain knowledge is used to utmost.

• Build often and release frequently. Even if the project isn't finished, feedback in the early stages is much more valuable than later.

• Favor building only what is really needed in the simplest ways possible. Simple things are easier to fix, easier to extend and easier to change. It is the best way to reduce the risk and cost of projects.

• Use existing infrastructure wherever possible. While this may be foreign to many IT consultants, we have found that creative uses of technology that a client already had on hand worked very well both for them and for us. They contained costs, while we could rely on their familiarity to shortcut the process of bootstrapping the project.

• Be honest with the customer up front about how much things will cost. All too often, no one really wants to hear how much it will really cost. In our experience, honesty all around works best. You tell us what you really want and we tell you how much it will really cost. Then we help you get it done.

• Don't be afraid of change. If you employ lightweight agile methods, changing requirements and integrating new technology pose little threat. If it was cheap and quick to build, changing it represents a relatively small risk. Remember that the primary reason that we look at risk is so that we can manage it, not be stopped by it.

Let Info-Scape help your company get the maximum value out of IT investment.