Blog

If you are a regular reader of the X-Apps blog, you’ve probably noticed that talking about agile methodologies is a constant theme in our content. There’s a reason for that: today, we believe it’s impossible to deliver great apps without considering development stages and bringing entire teams together around a strong outcome.

There is a lot of market pressure for innovation, quality, and speed—all at the same time—and that inevitably means dedicating more effort under increasingly tight deadlines. That’s why agile methodologies have that name: they aim to deliver valuable results in short time frames.

In this context, Scrum is one of the main names in agile methodology today. With a daily routine of alignments and the ability to catch issues before they become bigger problems, Scrum aligns with the Agile Manifesto, which establishes 12 principles for complete and effective software development.

In summary, agile methodologies are forms of project management that have been changing software development for the better, creating organized work environments and enabling strong deliveries in shorter timelines. And in IT, Scrum is one of the approaches that helps teams respond quickly to change, adapt to new realities, and structure work stages progressively.

How does Scrum work?

As mentioned above, Scrum is one of many approaches within agile methodologies and, therefore, has its own foundations and application. Essentially, it’s a structural framework divided into interactive and incremental stages of work.

Based on prior experiences, Scrum allows teams to improve the production stages of a software and to foresee possible risks and bottlenecks in a project—even before it starts. For the method to work well, the product scope must be well-directed and defined in advance in terms of its primary requirements.

In other words, everyone involved needs to know what the software is for and how it should work, because this can reveal necessary adjustments while the product is still being built. That way, no important detail is left to be discussed only after the app is already finished.

To achieve that, Scrum suggests creating cycles called Sprints, which can be weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on the scope and the needs of each project. These Sprints are simply well-defined stages that clarify what needs to be delivered for each part of the project, when, and to whom—so the machine has clear points of contact whenever a problem, question, or change request arises.

Task assignment and changes are driven by the Scrum Master who, in this context, can have a role similar to a project manager.

At the end of each Sprint, teams gather to talk very quickly—no more than five minutes per team—about progress, bottlenecks, and what the next stage will demand. That way, nothing is left “in the air”: every part of the project has clear direction that needs to be respected for agile methodology to make sense.

Agile methodologies applied in IT

Even though many companies rely on agile methodologies to launch better products, there still isn’t a broad consensus about the excellence of this solution in IT.

IBM, one of the largest IT companies in the world, points out that only 32% of projects delivered in the area are actually considered successful—while 24% are a complete waste of money and energy.

This shows how necessary it is to study agile methodologies—and in our case, Scrum—to apply them in the routine of a software development company. And, if success cases are essential at this stage, here are three major companies that use Scrum to deliver value every day:

Yahoo

Yahoo uses Scrum to reduce the time spent developing software while also dealing with many people working in large teams.

In this case, Scrum helps them create and test products while they are being developed, improving the results of launches.

Locaweb

This Brazilian company—one of the largest hosting providers in Latin America—uses Scrum as one of its main agile methodologies, a routine implemented within the corporation since 2006.

One of Locaweb’s main concerns is training team members so they are fully aligned with the methodological stages applied in the business context.

Google

Last but not least, Google also uses Scrum in several parts of the company, precisely to create and test at the same time, solving software problems before they reach the end consumer.

One of the internal projects developed within Scrum methodology was Adwords, one of the company’s biggest and most profitable products.

X-Apps also uses Scrum to deliver value in the shortest time possible—and we want to know: does your company also benefit from agile methodologies to improve its development stages?