For the last two years we have been asking survey respondents about which product development methods their organizations utilize with an eye toward the trend line. We have found that survey respondents have indicated that Waterfall continues to decline from 18% of responses in 2012 to 13% in 2013.
Additionally, responses for Blended (a mix of Waterfall and some variation of Agile) have continued to decline as well year-over-year. In 2012, 53% of respondents indicated that they were using Blended methods while only 43% stated that was the case in 2013.
Agile was the greatest beneficiary of these erosion’s in the other product development methodologies. In 2012 only 13% of organizations indicated full Agile adoption but the number increased significantly to 30% in 2013. This is likely due to the fact that some of the Blended responses converted to Agile. In other words, Blended might well have been a transitional point that organizations were passing through to full Agile adoption.
If you find this data interesting, we encourage you to take part in this year’s survey. There are only 23 questions and the average participant spends 11 minutes to complete the online questionnaire. All responses are kept strictly confidential unless you tell us otherwise.
Doing so makes you eligible to receive a free copy of this year’s results prior to general distribution. Consider it our way of saying thank you for your participation!
Greg Geracie is a recognized thought leader in the field of product management and the President of Actuation Consulting, a global provider of product management consulting, training, and advisory services to some of the world’s most well-known organizations. Greg is also the author of the global best seller Take Charge Product Management. He is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on high-tech and digital product management.