Part 1. Agile fundamentals and a supporting case study

The following two chapters will provide a foundation for understanding what agile is and introduce a case study that we will use throughout the book. Chapter one will discuss the origins of agile and contrast agile to traditional software development practices. Chapter one also focuses on correlating agile to the two most important goals for many companies: making money and holding down costs.

Chapter two will introduce you to our case study, Acme Media. Acme Media has business needs that are driving it to become more agile. They have not delivered software very well in the past, and there has not been urgency surrounding their projects. This has all changed with the rise of online advertising. The team needs to learn how to deliver valuable software quickly, else their customers will shift to their competitors.