In the world of developers, being part of an agile team is cool – they tend to be innovative and customer focused.  Our research has shown that Agile is growing and has tripled since 2008.  While it continues to gain momentum it is not always the best process for all organizations.  The majority of teams are using a hybrid approach and are constantly evolving their process to best fit their project needs.

In a recent article on Software Quality Connection, Lisa Morgan explains how and why many teams are moving to a hybrid approach. She discusses why many teams struggle to go only agile and quotes John Simpson saying, “The difference between the [hybrids] and the Agile purists is that the majority of companies still need to maintain the structure and control inherent with requirements management best practices.”  Lisa further explains that while many larger organizations prefer older methods that define all requirements upfront, they tend to be slower to develop.  According to Forrester Research Senior Analyst Tom Grant, too much documentation can cripple a team’s velocity but the lack of documentation can damage a team’s success.

At the end of last year we conducted an industry-wide survey including over 800 participants about the challenges, trends & successes in requirements management today.   Our findings showed that 40% are hybrid, and 26% are waterfall, and that only 19% are purely agile.

For more information about today’s world of RM, download a copy of the 2011 Report.