Flexibility and agility are the heart of project success

​Today, agile concepts have been adopted by many companies and their IT teams with a goal of sustaining performance when there is a required change in direction.  In general, this allows the team to maintain balance, strength, efficiency and control over the project.
 
Agile methods allow us as IT service providers to continually be responsive to what’s important throughout the project. In other words, agile methods allow a team to:

• Identify and work on the most important items first
• Embrace and manage change
• Focus on direct communication
• Demonstrate working product or tangible services to stakeholders
• Reflection and adjustment

 
When you combine agile methods with Redstone core values and methodology, the project process is dynamic. Coined the RedstoneXperience, which uses a scrum pathway, our methodology allows project teams to foster ideas, continually give and receive feedback, define and decide on next steps, adjust and adapt, and ultimately deliver a successful outcome.
 
We recently worked with a client who was on technology that no longer supported by Oracle. They needed to upgrade (migrate) their existing Oracle Imaging & Process Management (IPM) software (v7.7.4.0) to the most current version of the software. 
 
Their driving force behind the upgrade was Premier Support for IPM 7.6 SP2+ ended June 2010.
 
The logical support path would be to move to Extended Support; however, Extended Support was also unavailable for their specific product version.   
 
The project had a critical timeline and failure was not an option. Below are three highlights which made the project a success.
 
Organizational Support – The client, driven by a Project Management Office, had the full support of mid and Executive-level management.  This support helped to marshal the project through its successful completion when larger obstacles were encountered.  Transparent communications from knowledgeable teams provided the necessary and timely information to make mission-critical decisions throughout the project timeline.
 
Business Readiness Preparedness – The system was critical to the success of the organization.  Planning for and ensuring a smooth transition for thousands of employees was another key to success.
 
Team Synergy - Diversity + Creativity + Focus = Team Synergy.  The combined power of the project team allowed stakeholders to efficiently communicate project milestones and navigate obstacles.
 
​The greatest benefit to an agile process is the flexibility to function with transparent communication.  This transparency encourages the sharing of ideas with knowledgeable, self-organizing and empowered teams, ensuring the customer’s priorities remain integral to the process and the most effective solutions are applied.

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