ABSTRACT
This chapter examines factors that facilitate or inhibit the adoption of agile methods in an organization. The chapter presents an overview of agile methodologies and a critical analysis of their core values, and seeks to find the middle ground between the perhaps exaggerated claims of agile enthusiasts and those who claim that agile methods are nothing but Rapid Application Development in another guise. The limits of agility are explored from a theoretical and empirical perspective, the latter via a qualitative study conducted using senior managers and information technology practitioners. The chapter concludes that agile methods do appear to offer promising productivity gains in particular situations and organizational contexts but are not a panacea for the ills of software development in general. A significant amount of further empirical research is required to establish the viability of agile methods and identify those contexts where they offer optimal value.
