Agile” in Japanese companies is full of mistakes!

Agile services that provide one-stop support for project execution that leads to results

Agile software development has been attracting attention as a method for promoting DX. Although many companies are working on agile software development, not many have been able to link the results to their businesses. In particular, many small and midsize companies are not sure where to start. Getting out of this situation is the key to accelerating DX for Japanese companies. We asked TDC SOFT Inc., a solution vendor with strengths in agile software development, about how to do this.

Agile is not a "do" but a "be"

To begin with, Agile is not something you ‘do’, it is something you ‘become’. It is a corporate culture and mindset that is necessary for organizations to survive in times of rapid change. However, many organizations think of Agile as a superficial use of IT tools. This has created a situation where ‘somehow it doesn’t work’ or ‘we just repeat demonstration tests and that’s it.'” (Kuroda)

In addition, now that Agile has spread like a buzzword, more and more companies are engaging in Agile software development at the behest of top management. It is obvious that starting a project without the members actually involved in development having a clear understanding of the project will not produce results. Some companies are even using “fake Agile,” which is just a shortened version of the waterfall development process.

Integrated support from mind acquisition to development and ongoing operations

So how can we “become” agile? Figure 1 summarizes the key points.

Making People Shine at Their Best,” “Delivering Value Continuously,” and “Experimenting & Learning Fast” represent the essence of Agile. At the same time, it is important to “make safety a requirement. This is because trial and error, which is essential for Agile, cannot be promoted without a corporate culture that tolerates failure. Creating a corporate culture and mindset that allows employees to try new things without hesitation is what Agile is all about.

However, simply having these things in place does not guarantee the success of a project. It would be difficult for a company unfamiliar with Agile to suddenly proceed with an Agile project on its own. That is why TDC SOFT Inc. offers the “Agile Service. This service consists of the following three pillars (Figure 2).

[1] Consulting/Coaching

[2] Development and operation support

TDC SOFT Inc. members also participate in the actual product development and subsequent continuous product improvement. Thus, TDC SOFT’s greatest strength is its ability to provide full support from preliminary consulting to development and ongoing project management.

TDC SOFT Inc. has many members who have experience in multiple client projects. In some cases, we assign teams that have worked on previous projects to other projects as-is. This allows us to carry over the quality of the development team’s practices and relationships.

[3] Scrum Training

The company provides training for people with no Scrum experience and mock Scrum projects to support the acquisition of practical skills in addition to knowledge. The company says that these training programs make it easier for people to get started.

In order for us to continue to provide this kind of service, we need to be proactive in our own human resource development. One example of our efforts to this end is the “tech campus,”” says Kuroda.

In addition to holding study sessions as self-improvement activities for internal use, the company is also actively creating and disseminating content for external use. Through blog posts and YouTube videos, they also support their clients’ agile shift. TDC Software acts as a hub,” Kuroda continues, “and by sharing agile knowledge with multiple clients, we aim to become agile together.

Developed first product in 4 months with no defined goal

With the support of TDC Software, many Japanese companies are making the agile shift. Here are two of them.

The first is the case of an energy company. In order to promote carbon neutrality, this company wanted to develop a system to visualize the usage of multiple energy sources and adjust the amount of electricity generated and supplied. However, since this is a completely new system, the formulation of a policy was difficult. Although they decided to conduct a demonstration experiment, they were unable to define the goal they wanted to achieve.

When consulted, TDC SOFT Inc. proposed agile software development. A scrum team was formed, which included the company’s own members, and the project was launched. The first product was developed in only four months, and the team went through the agile software development cycle of checking and improving the product with the relevant parties. The team then developed the first product in just four months, and had all parties involved check it and make improvements. By carefully examining and narrowing down these ideas, we were able to give shape to what we were aiming for,” Inoue explains.

The client also appreciated the great results achieved in a short period of time, and decided to continue the Scrum team. The same team is currently developing another product using Scrum.

The second case study is the construction of a portal site for customers. This company had an urgent need to revamp its aging portal site infrastructure. Initially, the plan was to develop the site using a waterfall method based on a packaged product, but it was determined that this would not be able to respond quickly enough to the ever-changing needs of the client, and agile software development was proposed by TDC SOFT Inc. and adopted.

We did two-week sprints, taking full advantage of the various AWS services to build a system that is resilient to change,” Inoue said.

What both cases have in common is the successful implementation of agile software development in a short period of time and the decision to continue as is once the first cycle of the project is completed. As mentioned in the beginning that Agile is all about establishing a corporate culture/mindset, TDC SOFT’s Agile services are not just about system development. It can be said that the true value of Agile is brought out by building a strong relationship of trust with the customer.

Recently, we have seen an increasing number of TDC SOFT Inc. members leaving the client’s team when it reaches a mature stage and joining another team within the client. Through these activities, we hope to spread the culture and mindset of Agile to a wider audience,” Kuroda emphasizes.

Agile software development has become an inevitable path for accelerating DX. For Japanese companies facing challenges in shifting to Agile, TDC SOFT Inc. will be a powerful partner that will push them forward.

This article is a reprint of an article advertisement that appeared in Nikkei XTECH Special from March 31, 2023 by permission of Nikkei BP.
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