Agile is probably the best approach when it comes to developing complex IT solutions. It’s widely used in product development, but unfortunately, it’s still not that straightforward when you’re working for external clients. The problem is that in far too many situations it’s the corporate purchasing department that awards the seller with a contract, and fixed-scope, fixed-time and fixed-schedule is the only solution you can pitch for and count on.
The good news is, however, that in many cases there is a place for negotiations and you can have a chance to present your vision of how the project should be delivered. You won’t probably end up in a T&M agreement, but you can have a chance to agree on the model that would enable you to benefit from using Agile and talk the client into some adjustments to the process.
I was personally involved in several discussions like that and I think that the most important part of your presentation is to concentrate on how the client can benefit from using Agile and what are the main advantages of Agile over traditional waterfall approach. It’s not the time for describing details of the framework, it’s your chance to present some convincing and easy-to-understand-at-first-glance slides that would hopefully result in awarding you with something better than fixed-scope, fixed-schedule and fixed-price agreement.
Below please find a compilation of slides that I used in some of my presentations, and that shows the advantages of Agile over waterfall approach. I hope you’ll find them helpful.
[slideshare id=55973679&doc=piotrnowinskiscrumbenefits-151209124444-lva1-app6892]
