Agile software development and it project performance in South Africa: A positive relationship?

IT project performance is a topic which is often researched as these projects continue to fail at an alarming rate. Significant amounts of money is invested in IT projects yet the returns are not as significant as expected. Agile Software Development (ASD) has become popularised as a means to improve IT software projects performance rates. Traditional software development methods take a linear and structured approach while agile methods are more flexible and iterative in nature. ASD methods primarily alleviates challenges around project changes as IT software projects experience changes more than other types of projects. Although there is considerable research regarding the impact of ASD on IT project performance, research is lacking within the South African context. This research aims to fill that gap by exploring the impact ASD has on IT project performance in South Africa. This research uses a quantitative approach through a web-based structured questionnaire. The target sample is individuals which are actively involved in IT software projects in various industries across South Africa. The initial results show that ASD methods are used in a multitude of industries and not only IT as often believed. The most prolific ASD methods are Scrum and Extreme Programming which signifies that South African software projects use the same methods as their international counterparts. IT software projects are positively impacted by ASD methods as these projects are more successful and experience less challenges and failures. This aligns with previous research which empirically argues that agile methods improve IT project performance rates. Furthermore, ASD methods have a positive impact on the constraints of time and scope. This implies that IT software projects which use ASD methods are more consistently on time and manage scope more effectively. Alternatively, the impact on the constraint of cost was disputed as half the respondents indicate ASD methods have a positive impact while the other half indicate ASD methods do not. The impact of agile methods on cost is also debated in literature as there are contradicting findings around this constraint. ASD methods are primarily used on medium to large software projects which challenges the notion that agile methods are best suited to small to medium software projects. The findings of this research are mixed when compared to previous research. A number of findings confirm previous research while others contradict and challenge previous studies. The research indicates that ASD methods have a positive impact on IT software projects and that there are still a number of areas which need to be tackled when adopting these methods. Moreover, further research must be conducted to determine the impact ASD methods have on other IT project types. Although the findings are positive overall, agile methods are not the "saving grace" to instantly and dramatically improve IT project performance.