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In my article yesterday I started exploring the similarities, or perhaps more correctly the synergies, that exist between Business Agility and the Agile development approach.

Having further researched this matter I’ve come across a number of interesting articles, dealing with various aspects of this topic, the summary of two of which is found below:

In “Four Ways to Know Whether You Are Ready For Change“ (HBR, June 2010), Chris Musselwhite and Tammie Plouffe make the observations that the differentiating factor between companies who manage change well to those not managing change so well is the view that change is not a discrete event but a constant opportunity to evolve the business. Such companies are distinguished by their reaction to the following four factors:

1. Change Awareness - they are in a constant state of readiness to redefine themselves as necessary;
2. Change Agility - they are able to engage their employees at all levels, to quickly change direction and shift attention and focus to areas delivering greater competitive advantage;
3. Change Reaction - they are able to react quickly to changing circumstances; and
4. Change Mechanisms - their internal support systems and processes are flexible enough to accommodate fast pace changes without impacting existing operations.

In “IT Agility Drives Business Agility and business Agility Drives Profits” (CIO Magazine, 19/05/2010), Michael Hugos makes the observation that “Business agility is about finding ways to wrap otherwise commodity products in a blanket of value added services that can be constantly tailored to respond to customers’ changing needs” and “since most value added services are information based, that’s how IT becomes part of the profit equation in a company instead of just a cost center.” He goes on to say that while some companies gain competitive advantage through cost cutting measures (allowing them to better compete in the market place), Agile companies achieve similar and subsequently better results via the introduction of smart IT solutions that enable their future growth.

There is obviously much more out there, all pointing at the conclusion that Agile IT practices can help drive Business Agility.  The conclusion from this discussion, as outlined yesterday, is that there is a greater role Agile can play outside it’s natural playground and that those driving Agile in the IT domain can also play a leading role in coaching the organization around them how to apply Agile principles to managing change and risk in a more effective and efficient way.

Think about it!

Related posts:

1. Agile and Business Agility
2. Business Requirements SME’s – Analysts or Practitioners
3. More on the Topic of Complex IT Processes