Agile vs Waterfall: Which Methodology is Right for Your Project?

[0:00]Agile versus waterfall, what's the difference? Here are three key differences between both methodologies that can help you determine which one is best for your project. First, the process. Waterfall is pretty linear. You pretty much have a defined phase of software delivery and you basically complete one phase and then you complete the next phase like testing and then you coding development and then deployment. It's very structured and it works best when everything around requirements and customer needs are clear from the start and they're not going to change. Agile on the other hand is iterative. You work in short sprints allowing for adjustment and feedback so you take the entire cycle and you work around the whole thing. Second, flexibility. In waterfall changes are difficult to implement once you're deep into a project, but with Agile, change is built into the process. Agile thrives on evolving requirements so that you can get feedback from customers and adapt as you go. Third, project focus. Waterfall focuses on completing the project as a whole with everything delivered from start to end in one viable process. Agile instead delivers small usable increments of value, so instead of waiting for months to get feedback and results, you get working versions of your product on regular updates fairly consistently. So Waterfall is ideal for projects with well-defined requirements upfront, very fixed scopes around time and money and etcetera where changes are unlikely, but Agile is better suited for projects where requirements are change. Project scope is going to change and you're going to need to seek rapid delivery and continuous improvement where you're going to engage with a customer throughout the process.