IT managers are playing a bigger role than ever before in how a business is run and its ultimate success. One of the questions many IT managers have found themselves asking is whether they want to be a part of a business that focuses on agile product development or one that favours a traditional project management plan.
Traditional project management is how most businesses handled product development and line improvement. The traditional style involves putting together a long, detailed timeline for each project and getting every single aspect of the product perfect before the official product launch.
Agile product development is the opposite end of the spectrum. When a business decides to use agile development to create a new product, they create multiple cross-functional product squads who each work on a specific aspect of the product. Key components of agile product development include:
While the concept of agile product development has been around for a long time, it didn't become a popular business tool until the turn of the century.
Traditional project management is the process most companies use when they decide it's time to develop a new product. The process follows a well-established process that goes from idea, to developing a prototype, to conducting consumer tests, to debugging the product, to releasing a fully developed product on the market. Businesses that use a traditional project management system never deviate from the formula. The tight timeline also makes it difficult to innovate the product mid-development to accommodate an unanticipated need.
History shows that the traditional model of project management was developed in the 1970s. Businesses quickly fell in love with it. The way the system works is:
Once the design has launched, the business rarely does anything to upgrade or improve the product.
The rigid and lengthy timeline traditional project management results in many promising products being discarded because they're taking way to long to develop.
Many believe that agile product development predates traditional project management by several centuries. They argue that if Sir Francis Bacon laid the groundwork for agile product development back in the 1620s when he created his scientific formula. While there are examples of agile development scattered throughout history, the Agile Manifesto wasn't created until 2001. Many businesses, including Toyota and PayPal, have adopted an agile product development strategy and have been very happy with the results.
Businesses that favour agile product development divide their talent into product project squads and break the total project into chunks. Each of the teams works in quick sprints to swiftly handle whichever part of the development process they've been assigned. Using this system, it doesn't take long for the product to launch. After the launch, data and customer feedback is collected. Once the teams have enough customer feedback, they tweak the product, making it extremely user-friendly.
While there are always going to be risks connected to product development, agile product development goes a long way towards mitigating those risks. A good agile product development system not only drastically shortens the amount of time it takes to launch the product, but since customer feedback leads to constantly improving the product so that it's perfectly suited for your target market's needs and desires. The result is a high degree of customer satisfaction, which in turn leads to customer loyalty.
Benefits of agile product development include:
When it comes to software and app development, the biggest benefit of traditional project management is that the product is more polished on the launch date than products developed via an agile process. There aren't any plans to tweak the product to make it more appealing to customers, or more efficient.
Stakeholders like traditional project management. They appreciate getting a piece of paper that has the projected timeline, cost control measures, and assures them that once the product is released, it won't ever need to be changed.
Additional advantages connected to traditional product management include:
While there are some industries that should focus on traditional project management, others, including software and app development businesses, should seriously consider converting to agile product development. Most businesses report that when they switched to agile product development, they developed products 37% faster than they had before and noticed a 16% increase in productivity. The same companies also reported a significant increase in annual revenue.
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Originally published May 23, 2019 12:46:07 PM, updated December 26, 2019
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زادت في الأونة الأخيرة توترمجالس إدارة الشركات والبنوك حيال التطورات والتغييرات السريعة في مجال تكنولوجيا المعلومات وتأثيرها على أعمال شركاتهم وربحيتها وسرية بياناتها وحتى استمراريتها. وتزيد الحساسية من مخاطر تكنولوجيا المعلومات خاصة في المجالس التقليدية والتي تضم اعضاء غير ملمين بهذا الحقل وغير مدريكين مدى اعتماد شركاتهم أومصارفهم على أصول المعلومات التي توازي بأهميتها أصول الشركات والمصارف، أو إلى دورتكنولوجيا المعلومات في تشكيل استراتيجيات هذه الشركات وهذه المصارف وتحديد مستقبلها، ناهيك عن موضوع أمن الشبكات والأمن السيبراني في أهميته وخطورته. إن عدم الأدراك هذا يؤدي في معظم الأحيان الى التباطؤ أوالتهاون في أخذ قرارات مصيرية وحتى وجودية. وهنالك أمثلة كثيرة على عدم تدارك شركات عالمية لمدى تأثيرالتطور التكنولوجي على أعمالهم ومستقبلهم مما أدى الى خسائر جمة وهبوط أسعارأسهمهم أو حتى إفلاسهم، وعلى سبيل المثال لا الحصر، شركة سيرز ألاميركية للبيع بالتجزئة، وشركة تويز ار أس وغيرهم من الشركات.
أهمية حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات
أما في دول الشرق الأوسط، فإن معظم مجالس الإدارة وخاصة المجالس العائلية لا تولي موضوع تكنولوجيا المعلومات أهمية خاصة ، وذلك لعدم وجود حوكمة لتكنولوجيا المعلومات بالأساس.
كما في الدول الغربية كذلك في دولنا، يفتقرأعضاء مجلس الإدارة في كثير من الأحيان إلى المعرفة الأساسية واللازمة لطرح أسئلة محورية ليس فقط حول مخاطر التكنولوجيا بل أيضًا المخاطر التسويقية والتنافسية الناجمة عن عدم تطبيق التكنولوجيات الحديثة في الأعمال. في أغلب الأحيان تترك هذه المسؤولية الى مديري المعلومات، الذين يديرون أصول معلومات الشركات ، والذين يتفردون الى حد كبير بالقرارات و في معظم الأوقات طبقا ً لأهوائهم أومعرفتهم التي قد تكون محدودة أو ميالة. لذلك عدم وجود رقابة على أنشطة تكنولوجيا المعلومات من قبل مجالس الإدارة هو أمر خطير لإنه يعرض الشركة لنفس الأخطار التي يؤدي بها الفشل في أدارة حساباتها وأصولها.
تداركت شركات عالمية عدة هذا الخطر فأنشأت لجان خاصة على مستوى مجالس الإدارة لمراقبة وإدارة تكنولوجيا المعلومات. وعملت لجان تكنولوجيا المعلومات على مستوى مجلس الإدارة مع لجان التدقيق والتعويض والحوكمة الخاصة بهم. فأصبح دور لجنة حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات رئيسيا ًومساعداً في أتخاذ القرارات المهمة ومراقبة الأداء مما أدى الى تفوقهم وحصولهم على ميزات تنافسية في أسواقهم. ونذكر من هذه الشركات، شركة بروكتر أند غامبل، شركة فودافون، ول مارت، وفيدرال اكسبرس.
عمل لجنة حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات
يجب على مجلس الإدارة الذي يقرراعضاءه أنهم بحاجة إلى الإشراف على تكنولوجيا المعلومات، أن يشكلوا لجنة حوكمة التكنولوجيا وذلك بضم مديرين مستقليين من ذووي الإختصاص، واعداد ميثاق اللجنة وتحديد علاقة اللجنة بلجنة التدقيق خاصة ً واللجان الأخرى عامة ً، ومن الأفضل أن يكون رئيس اللجنة ملماً ولو الى حد بالتطورات في عالم التكنولوجيا وتأثيرها على أعمال الشركة أو المصرف.
وفي حال عدم توفر العدد الكافي من المديرين المستقليين لتشكيل لجنة حوكمة تكنولوجيا متكاملة، يوصى بأن يكون هناك مدير مستقل واحد على الأقل في هذه اللجنة خبيراً في تكنولوجيا المعلومات وأن يكون قد عمل إما رئيسًا تنفيذيًا أو مديرًا كبيرًا في شركة تكنولوجيا، او مستشاراً في شركة استشارية حققت افكاره وانجازاته في مجال التكنولوجيا، تطورات جوهرية وجذرية للشركات أوالمصارف التي عمل بها، وساهمت هذه الأفكار والإنجازات في تحقيق مكاسب مالية ومعنوية.
تتمثل مهمة اللجنة في فهم الخارطة المعلوماتية للإدارة التنفيذية وتأثيرها على أعمال الشركة وتطورها في المدى القريب والبعيد. ومما سيميز عمل هذه اللجنة هو مد جسر المعرفة والتواصل بين الإدارة التنفيذية ومجلس الإدارة. وعليه فأن دور الخبير هو دور محوري في هذه اللجنة لأنه سيساعد المديرين التنفيذيين على تجنب الخوض في التفاصيل التقنية والمصطلحات التكنولوجية إنما التركيز على الفرص المتاحة وعلى الصورة الكبيرة، مما سيسهل على مجلس الإدارة فهم واستيعاب هذه الخارطة. إن المحادثات حول استراتيجية تكنولوجيا المعلومات صعبة ويمكن أن تكون محبطة وفاشلة إذا تم سحب اللجنة او مجلس الإدارة الى التفاصيل الفنية.
كما إن عمل الخبير ضمن اللجنة يساعد على تقييم معايير الأمن السيبراني المعتمد و مدى فعاليته في تفادي إختراق شبكات الشركة وخوادمها وتجنب سرقة بيانتها وبالتالي أسرارها.
في معظم الأحيان, يقوم العديد من مديري المعلومات على تبني تقنيات جداً حديثة ولم تثبت فعاليتها متأثرين إما بالإعلام عن هذه التقنيات أومن الشركات المصنعة. غالباً ما يكون التبني المبكر لهذه التقنيات مكلفاً ومعقداً مما يؤدي الى فشل المشاريع وخسارات مالية كبيرة. وهنا ايضاً تكمن أهمية خبير تكنولوجيا المعلومات وذلك في مناقشة الجدوى الفنية والاقتصادية كما الاستراتجية لتلك المشاريع وتكاليفها.
يجب ألا يكون لدى خبير تكنولوجيا المعلومات فهم أساسي فقط في احتياجات الشركة الإجمالية من التقنيات ولكن أيضاً نظرة شاملة للهيكلية التقنية وهندسة النظم. ويجب عليه أن يفهم تمامًا الديناميات الأساسية التي تحكم التغييرات في التكنولوجيا وقدرتها على تغيير النظرة الاقتصادية للشركة.
بشكل عام ، إن وظيفة خبير تكنولوجيا المعلومات هي نفس وظيفة الخبيرالمالي المعتمد في لجنة التدقيق. إن عمله يساعد في تحقيق التوازن بين إحتياجات العمل الحالية للشركة والتأكد من مدى جدية وجدوى الإستثمارات في تكنولوجيا المعلومات على المدى الطويل. إن علاقة لجنة حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات بلجنة التدقيق يجب أن تكون وثيقة للغاية، لأن قضايا تكنولوجيا المعلومات يمكن أن تؤثر على المسائل الاقتصادية والتنظيمية. وعليه من الأفضل أن يكون هناك عضوً واحدً في لجنة التدقيق يعمل ايضاً كعضو في لجنة حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات. كما ينبغي أن يصف ميثاق لجنة تكنولوجيا المعلومات العلاقة بلجنة التدقيق، ونظمها، وشرح الغرض منها، و تحديد مسؤوليات الرقابة وجدول اجتماعتهم.
مساهمة عمل لجنة حوكمة المعلومات في أنجاح أهداف مجلس الإدارة
إن الشركات التي تعتمد على التقنيات الجديثة للبقاء في الصدارة وتوسيع أعمالها، إكتشفت مجالس إداراتها أهمية حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات وخاصة في تحليل البيانات من خلال تطبيقات متخصصة ساهمت في مساعدة مجلس الإدارة والأعضاء على فهم ديناميكية الأسواق المنافسة، وسلوك وتفضيلات العملاء مما سمح لهم بتبني أفكار الإدارة التنفيذية وبأخذ قرارات سريعة و صحيحة أدت الى زيادة الطلب على منتوجاتهم أو خدماتهم وبالتالي رفعت أسهمهم في الأسواق المالية. كما ساعدت لجان حوكمة المعلومات في مراقبة وتوجيه كبار المديرين وخاصة ًمديري المعلومات, وتحميلهم مسؤولية قراراتهم، ورصد عوائد الاستثمارمن مشاريع التكنولوجيا، والتأكد من نجاحها مما ضمن مردود أفضل على المستوى العام للشركة واستمرارية ناجحة على المدى الطويل.
في النهاية، يعد تبني موضوع حوكمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات أمرًا بالغ الأهمية ويتطلب التزاماً صارماً من رئيس مجلس الإدارة وكافة الأعضاء لأنجاح عمل اللجنة. يجب على أعضاء مجلس الإدارة وكبار المديرين تقييم تأثير تكنولوجيا المعلومات على عمل الشركة واستراتجيتها، وتحديد ما إذا كان إنشاء لجنة مراقبة لتكنولوجيا المعلومات أمرًا ضروريًا. إذا لم تكن الحاجة للحوكمة مفهومة بشكل واضح، أوإذا لم يكن هناك قبول عام لإنشاء مثل هذه اللجنة فيجب على الشركة عدم المباشرة بذلك. أي جهد للقيام بذلك سيكون مضيعة للوقت، والفشل سيكون سيد الموقف وسوف يفسد فرص إنشاء مثل هذه اللجنة في وقت لاحق.
أنطوان علم
رئيس تنفيذي - شركة بلوغراس تكنولوجيز
عضو مجلس ادارة معتمد
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The tensions are running high lately at boards’ level regarding the rapid changes and progress in technology and not knowing the possible impacts on the businesses’ future performance, profitability, confidentiality of data or even continuity.
The fumbling from the risks of information technology increases especially in traditional boards that include members who are unacquainted with this domain and who don’t appreciate the extent to which their firms depend on “information assets”. Many are oblivious of the importance of information technology in shaping the strategies of their companies and the risks which could disturb their business due to system failures or security breaches.
This lack of awareness often leads to a slowdown or negligence in making fateful and even existential decisions. There are many examples of global companies who did not realize the stimulus of technological developments on their businesses and their future; their hesitancy led to massive losses, shares falling, and even bankruptcy.
The Importance of IT Governance
Still, in many western and eastern countries, boards don’t give special importance to the subject of IT governance due to unfamiliarity with the topic. Board members often lack the basic knowledge necessary to ask key questions about technology risks and around the impact of high-tech changes on the business itself.
Traditionally, this responsibility is left to the information technology executives, who define the course of action according to their whims. Therefore, the lack of control over IT activities by the Board is treacherous as it could expose the organization to the same risks resulting from incompetent assets or financial management.
Several global companies have understood the IT threats and risks and have created special board committees to monitor and oversee the Information technology’s activities. The IT governance team worked closely with the audit and governance committees. Subsequently, IT governance committees were recognized and became a major and auxiliary in carving strategic decisions and monitoring company’s IT performance. Involving IT governance at board level led these companies to gaining competitive advantages in their markets i.e.: Procter & Gamble, Vodafone, Wall Mart, and Federal Express.
The Role of the IT Governance Committee
The boards, who decide to oversee the activities and the impact of information technology on their businesses, need to form an IT governance committee. It starts by recruiting independent directors or specialists, who their main role is the preparation of the committee’s charter and its relationship with other board committees.
After its formation the committee's main task is to understand the IT roadmap of the executive management and its impact on the company's business in the foreseeable terms. What should distinguish the work of a competent committee is its ability to bridge the knowledge and communication gaps between the executive management and the board of directors. Accordingly, the role of the committee is pivotal, since it will help the executives to avoid digging into technical details and technological terms but to focus on the opportunities available and draw a broader picture of their IT strategy and its impact on the business growth and success.
The committee’s role is also to review the cyber security measures implemented by the company and engage specialists to assess the vulnerability of the firm vis-à-vis cyber threats. A Gulf flavored GDPR will be applied soon in United Arab Emirates which will force most companies to review their IT and cyber security measures in order to comply with the state rules and regulations concerning user data protection.
In addition to the above tasks, IT governance committee’s further role is to challenge the IT projects proposed by executive management and its efficacy and necessity; to assess the success of projects implemented and its contribution to the business’s progress; to inquire the adoption of certain technologies which might not benefit the firm or could be a waste of time and money.
The IT governance committee is as important as the audit committee. Its role helps to balance the current business and future needs; ensure the seriousness and feasibility of investments in IT projects; ensure the protection of “digital assets” and “business continuity”. The relationship between these two committees should be close; for IT matters can affect economic and regulatory issues, IT governance committees are geared to understand the fundamental dynamics governing changes in technology and its ability to transform the company's economic outlook.
How Global IT Governance Committees Successfully Fortify the Board
Boards supported by IT governance committees, and who valued the positive influence of technology on the business’s fortune, have contributed to their companies’ success. Accurate information and peculiar data analysis have assisted the boards in understanding the dynamism of competing markets, customers behaviors, and the importance of customers’ experience. Those boards reacted to the changing dynamics of their markets and took swift decisions based on information that boosted their profits and raised their shares.
Finally, forming an IT governance committee is crucial and requires strict commitment and discipline by the Chairman of the board and all members for the success of the committee's work. Board members and senior executives need to assess the impact of information technology on the company's business and strategy and determine whether the formation of an IT governance committee is essential to their business or not.
Antoine Alam
CEO – BluGrass Technologies
Certified Board Member
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The role of IT leaders is to align their efforts with vision and the strategy of the organization, striving to find and implement the right technology solutions that supports them. Most of the time IT Teams procures off the shelf solutions which are ready made products developed by software vendors and can be implemented and used in a short amount of time. Where off the shelf solutions might satisfy general needs and requirements it becomes very difficult to find niche business applications that might be required only for specific organizations.
This is where IT Usually turns to developing their own technology products from the ground up. A process that historically has been very problematic. Going back to the traditional development process an enterprise might go through; typically, by the time needs are identified, requirements are gathered from various stakeholders, specs are created, coding, testing and launching is complete, the entire process might have taken a couple of years or more and the initial requirements might, the processes and the business landscape might have changed rendering the efforts useless. This is where the need for MVPs rose.
An MVP or a minimum viable product is a basic version of the final product with only the essential bare bones functions. MVPs allow organizations building their own products to only build the core of the product which they can then test in the market (whether internal if the product is employee facing or externally if the product is customer focused) to see whether or not it has the potential to succeed. With the MVP and testing in-place IT teams can collect valuable feedback and insights that would help them further fine-tune the product or in some cases change change the development direction completely.
image source: SteelKiwi
Popularized by Eric Reis in his book the Lean Stratup the concept of MVP became very popular with starts and later adopted by Enterprise Organizations due to the following benefits:
To build an MVP you should properly define it, some questions you can ask to help you are:
Although the idea and concept of a Minimum Viable Product looks pretty simple, many companies still misunderstand it. Some of the main issues are:
As we talked the Minimum Viable Product allows you to gain valuable insight about your idea from users with very little efforts allowing you to maximize your budget as a result. Any organization with a considerable push to developing their own products should consider having an MVP because it gives them the opportunity to test the product with actual users in the real market and obtain the necessary early feedback that makes the different between success and failure.
Interested in starting your own product development efforts but are lacking the required resources? Sprintat is an offering where we provide you with a complete Agile Development team alongside the tools, processes and quality controls required to help you build, maintain and continuously optimize your software products/solutions. Sprintat helps you build applications your users will love using.
Businesses interested in experiencing growth have turned their attention to product development. The development of new products helps breathe new life into the business. The benefits connected to product development include:
It would be nice if business growth happened organically, but in most cases, any organic growth business experience happens slowly, which is why business owners like yourself should consider the different ways the can stimulate business growth in 2019.
As businesses continue to supercharge their application life-cycle and rapid app development becomes glued to modern IT frameworks, these shifts are disrupting the way that we think about IT contribution. In the past, development and operations have both been measured by the effort that they put forward on a specific project. The more hours and successful code or operations that you bake into a particular project, the more successful you seem. But, can progressive frameworks as agile development survive in this mentality?