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My company is a custom software services company for external clientes, which means our typical project is one in which the contract already states the full budget of the project.

Our typical project starts by defining requirements (improving the proposal high-level requirements), then we code the project, test it and ship it. We have an acceptance phase were the client tests the software and in that phase we can usually implement small changes asked by the client, or we charge extra for change requests.

In some projects we have intermediate releases so the clients can check the progress of the project and give feedback on it.

In summary: something like waterfall...

I've followed the "agile" movement for a bit now and I always see it being a good match for a "product" company, or a company building software for an internal client. But are there good stories / advantages on using agile methods in my kind of company/projects?

What are your experiences, what do you think about this?

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    Is there a current problem with the approach as it sits today? Is "waterfall" working for you? Don't hunt for a solution when a problem may not exist... Commented Mar 15, 2011 at 15:59
  • Always room for improvement, I want to spark discussion and learn from others if they are doing it better :)
    – AlfaTeK
    Commented Mar 15, 2011 at 16:01
  • Add items that you think need improvement. It will ultimately generate better answers and discussion. Commented Mar 15, 2011 at 16:03

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If you want to lump TDD into the Agile umbrella; it would certainly provide a benefit.

If you are able to produce more resilient code upfront; time required to implement changes by the customer should in theory scale down with TDD being employed. This would in turn save the company money.

A solid, well tested code base benefits any organization.

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