Implementing ICT projects using Agile and Waterfall for Government

For many years, most public government ICT projects were carried out using the Waterfall methodology. The basic development life cycle format of Waterfall meshed quite well with the rigid vertical -and usually functional- hierarchy and processes of the classic public government entities. In recent years, other methodologies have proven to be more effective, especially in ICT projects, the most predominant being Agile. Therefore, government agencies all around the world have been trying to apply the Agile methodology to their own ICT projects. However, Agile has fundamental differences with Waterfall in its implementation: the lifecycle is repeated iterations of specific stages. This format, along with the implementation speed and requirements of the methodology, requires a different structure of the implementing agency, such as matrix or projectized, rather than a functional structure. The scope of this book is to compare the two methodologies for government and private sector ICT projects, discover their pros and cons, match their implementation lifecycle stages with the structure of a typical government agency and a private company, and culminate with tangible results.