Waterfall or Agile: Why Not the Best of Both Worlds?

For all the debate over which methodology to use, it’s possible to have a hybrid approach to both Agile and Waterfall.

Project Assistants’ own preferred methodology leverages the advantages of both methodologies to deliver reliable and flexible process. Like Waterfall, the process is rigorous on the front end to define the design. As the process moves through the build phase, it becomes more scrum-like to allow for modifications and iterations.

Agile acolytes believe that Waterfall is too rigid, finding that it’s almost dangerous to stick to a design throughout the project. The fact of the matter, though, is that it is generally prudent to have the design specifications before development occurs.

The more rigid the requirements are, the more design phase should resemble Waterfall. For this reason, a pure Agile methodology is only applicable when you are building a system from scratch. If on the other hand, you’re doing a package to an existing software, you shouldn’t do anything that remotely resembles scrum.

In a technology environment where almost everything is built on some extant system, there’s almost always some requirement that needs to be laid out from the beginning. From there, let the iterations begin!