The CMS Watch Trendwatch blog had a post yesterday on when the project honeymoon ends. We’ve all experienced this—when our relationship with clients shifts from “how can we help them succeed” to “how do we keep from bleeding money.” I think a big part of this is our failure to estimate well, and the fact that we prepare a big statement of work up from (BSOWUF? cf. BDUF).

At Acquia we use Scrum for product development and I want it to figure prominently in our PS delivery methodology as well. I’m not sure that the honeymoon never ends with an agile method, but I think the disappointments and the defensiveness of traditional methods are minimized. During the course of an agile project, you have regular feedback on progress, all validated with working software.
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