A Systematic Comparison Between Traditional and Agile Methods Essay

A Systematic Comparison Between Traditional and Agile Methods - Essay Example Project management is a methodical technique to managing and scheduling project resources and tasks from inauguration to completion. However, these tasks and resources are separated into five stages, i.e. initiation, planning, executing, controlling, and completion or termination of the project. In fact, this standard format of the project management can be used for almost every kind of project, in view of the fact that its basic purpose is to systematize the different processes of project development (Kerzner, 2006; Haughey, 2009; TechTarget, 2008). Normally, the project management techniques are classified into two categories: traditional project management and agile project management. In traditional project management, project plans and cost estimates are normally developed once, in a front-loaded mode, and the remaining activities of a project involve adjusting to reality. On the other hand, in agile project management, every iteration is an opportunity to go back over the plan and adjust to reality for the next iteration (Freedman, 2010). Traditional project management approaches Traditional project management works fine for a lot of projects and environments. Actually, traditional project management makes use of the traditional tools and techniques for management and solving problems. In simple words, â€Å"the traditional project management is 'a collection of tools and techniques that can be used to perform an operation that seeks an end product, outcome, or a service†. These traditional tools and techniques can include the use of PERT chart and Gantt chart to estimate the schedule or plan the project (TutorialsPoint, 2012). The major advantage of the traditional project management methods is that they are plan driven and they follow a sequence and management approach to project development. Thus, the use of the traditional project management methods allows completing a complex project in a sequential phase wise manner where all the requirements are collected and approved at the beginning. And on the basis of these requirements software design is completed next and finally master design is executed to build high quality software. Another advantage of the traditional software development methods is they are very well-organized and purposeful planning and control methods. These methods allow us to recognize the distinct project life cycles (Rehman et al., 2010; Szalvay, 2004; Serena, 2007). Despite a lot of advantages associated with these methods, they have certain drawbacks as well. According to these methods, all the project requirements must be completed and approved before the project is initialized. On the other hand, in case of a large size and complex projects it is not possible to collect all the requirements before beginning the project. Hence, we will need to make some changes to the project requirements which will change design and as a result the entire project development will be affected (Rehman et al., 2010; Szalvay, 2004; Serena, 2007). In addition, the traditional project management methods are aimed at dealing with large size development projects, and the issues and challenges in determining and handling these endeavours to effectively carry results. Additionally, these methods were a great deal