Travelers Insurance Company of
Hartford, Connecticut has adopted agile development
methodologies. The insurance field can be competitive,
and Travelers wanted to have the shortest “time to
implement” in the field. Travelers set up development
teams of six people—two systems analysts, two representatives
from the user group (such as claim services),
a project manager, and a clerical support person. In the
agile approach, the users are physically assigned to the
development team for the project. While at first it might
seem that the users are just sitting around drinking coffee
and not doing their regular jobs, that is not the case.
The rapport that is developed within the team allows for
instant communication. The interaction is very deep and
profound. The resulting software product is delivered
quickly—and, generally, with all the features and
nuances that the users wanted.