Software developers love Agile for many reasons, but that love typically turns sour the moment we start looking at Agile for big business. That sudden switch in emotion isn’t without reason, as Agile has traditionally been focused on small software development projects. Until recently, Agile has been difficult to implement at the enterprise level simply because it doesn’t scale well. Thankfully, that’s all changing thanks to tools like Daikibo. 

Daikibo (which is the Japanese phrase for “large scale”) was created by Cognizant to solve the issue of implementing Agile at the enterprise level. Daikibo, already in its third version as of this writing, takes every excuse you’ve ever harbored about not using Agile for big business and presents a set of solutions. The end result is a scalable, distributed, lean approach based on integrated teams. 

Let’s take a look at just a few of the excuses you’ve probably heard used for passing up Agile at the enterprise level, and why they're outdated now.

3 Agile excuses that are no longer valid for big business

Excuse 1: Too many teams muddle the process. Maintaining high collaboration among various teams spanning multiple locations presents a major headache, to say the least. In fact, simply thinking about it can bring on the pangs of a monstrous migraine. So, how do you solve this overwhelming issue? 

Solution: Focus on team design. Thoughtful and well-planned team design helps solve this problem. And while that may seem like a no-brainer, setting up these teams isn’t as simple as making a few phone calls and getting the right people on board. Team design takes careful planning and, above all, time. 

Excuse 2: Multiple locations slow progress. It’s no surprise that when you have numerous team members working across the globe, things get lost in translation. Progress can feel slow when even the most minor item falls off the radar. This is where leadership comes in. 

Solution: Better governance. Daikibo teaches us that before moving forward with any major project, we need full support from those in charge. Constant and continuous support from leadership ensures that all teams are collaborating as planned and that the project is making progress toward goals.This kind of accountability will help prevent communication issues and will keep things chugging along as planned. 

Excuse 3: Keeping a straightforward backlog is impossible. Sure, it’s easy enough to maintain an efficient, straightforward backlog when you’re working with a single team. But that can quickly fall apart the moment you have multiple teams working across several locations. How are you supposed to keep all those stories in order?

Solution: Build in a feedback loop. Scheduling user-test events is essential, but they can’t just happen at random intervals. Instead, you need a routine feedback loop to ensure that your various teams and the client are always on the same page. Setting up an original thought team from the start will help you capture and prioritize these stories.

Put your Agile doubts to the test with Daikibo 

These solutions are just some of the ways that Daikibo makes it possible to scale Agile at the enterprise level. To sum it up, rather than working on one thing at a time (in the typical fashion of the Waterfall model), Daikibo works on a little bit of everything all the time, following a structured approach. As a software developer, it allows you to build an entire foundation rather than getting started with just a single step.

To learn more about the methods, frameworks and pipeline for Daikibo, check out Pluralsight’s on-demand webinar on Scaling Agile for enterprise with Pluralsight author Xavier Morera and Daikibo expert Jeff Bartlett.

Watch now: Scaling Agile for enterprise