Introducing Agile to the Federal Government is not only difficult, it is like our friend Sisyphus here to the left. Pushing the stone up hill only to have it roll back down.
It rolls down with a change in administration. With a failure of a major project that used agile. With a change in the whim of the leaders. With an over promise under deliver approach of some vendors.
I'm working on an upcoming webinar on introducing agile into the federal IT space. This has been going on for a year, and we're nearing the outcomes from our efforts for a webinar, a one day course and a three day course.
There is a useful report that outlines both the problem and some solutions around this problem that is worth the investment. Visit the site under the cover picture to the right, read the report, follow the links, and see where this complex topic is headed.
If any domain is in need of agile approaches it is Federal IT. But not any approach will work. All the hand waving, Cum By Ya talk of self directed teams sitting in the same room with their customer, letting the requirements emerge as the money is being spent, probably isn't going to pass the smell test of Congressional oversight of spending the public's money.
Something else is needed. The integration of Agile with the contractual management of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
As the webinar progresses, the courses development, and the planned book emerges, along with the hands on deployment, I'll post more.
