Waterfall and Agile Methodology

Waterfall Methodology- is also called as Traditional model and it is a linear and sequential approach to business analysis. In waterfall model the project planning will be done at the start of the project there will be no planning done at the mid phase of the project or during the execution of the project before the project starts the planning will be done and project will go on phase by phase before completion of a phase the project will not move on to the next phase . As in waterfall the project goes ahead completing one phase after the other phase. The entire system will be developed and delivered at the end of the project there will be no demo or any working software will be delivered to the stakeholders before the completion of the project. In waterfall model the involvement of the client and the stakeholders input will only be at the start and end of the project because once the project starts there is no chance of adding extra features or any changes and due to this changes can be costly. Agile Methodology- is also called as scrum methodology and it is a iterative and incremental approach to business analysis. This model is a incremental planning model and welcomes change and plans accordingly . This model evolves around four main principles 1-Individuals and Interactions over tools and Process 2-working software over documentation 3-people collaboration over contact negotiation 4-Responding to change over following a plan Individuals and interactions over tools and process and people collaboration over contact negotiation means talking, communication, sharing ideas with people are important than tools and process because at the end of the day people only created tools and process. This will result in motivated individuals which will effectively result in the betterment of the team Unlike waterfall model , Agile methodology is all about customer satisfaction, welcoming change, frequent delivery, collaboration, motivating individuals, face to face conversations, small pieces of working software will be delivered in iterations to the the client and will be getting the feedback and will be working accordingly and client involvement will be done throughout the project and flexibility is the key. As a business analyst if I should choose which model is the best i would say it depends on the project if the project is simple then waterfall model is best and if the project has many features, modifications, complications then Agile model is the best. As a conclusion both the model are necessary depending on the projects whether you are building a waterfall project or your exploring a new domain where agile is necessary. some projects even need both of these and they are called as hybrid projects for example i have developed a ATS project for my previous recruitment company firstly i developed the entire project using waterfall methodology and then after submitting the project to stakeholders they asked me to add the additional features to the project so then i moved on to agile scrum methodology where i did some enhancements to the project . so both the methods are very useful depending on the projects and both the methodologies are equally important to a Business Analyst