Councils test Agile benefits

The main positive impact of 'agile' working is successful business collaboration, based on real business commitment and the sense of true collaboration between provider and user, according to a report by Socitm Insight. The document titled Agile: a methodology for our time? covers an agile pathfinder programme which Socitm Insight ran with six councils between September 2011 and last April. The projects involved were: • London borough of Barking and Dagenham: transforming its intranet. • Cambridgeshire county council: introducing a families information service. • London borough of Hackney: meeting the 2012 Olympics deadline. • Huntingdonshire district council: managing web improvements. • Leeds city council: replacing its website. • Solihull council: improving social care documentation. The report says that the common experience from the six councils was the sense of a major change to the way in which ICT-enabled projects and activities should be carried out. "The case studies in this briefing clearly demonstrate breadth, flexibility, effectiveness and benefits in the right circumstances and with people who understand where 'agile' is and is not the correct approach," the report says. Agile involves adopting a modular, iterative approach, involving service users, and developing a project in a way which is responsive to change. Christine Peacock, head of IT at Hackney said that the London borough now uses agile for all its projects. "We present it as just the way we now manage ICT-enabled projects around here," she said. "It has invigorated our team and it has delivered." The report concludes: "The question left in the mind from the debriefing workshop was 'Why would every council team across the web and IT communities in the UK not want to work like this?' "The evidence here suggests that we are at the start of a new culture change to the management of projects just as significant as years ago the introduction of Prince project management signalled a new approach of discipline and formality to the scoping and monitoring of projects." This article is published by Guardian Professional . Join the Guardian Government Computing Network free to receive regular emails on the issues at the top of the professional agenda.