The Project Management Institute (PMI) triple-constraint tells us that only one among resources, function, or time can
dictate a project’s plan. Even though software development is as much art as it is science, SAS is a for-profit business that
strives to meet and exceed customer expectations. Using their waterfall-based software development model, product
teams were required to negotiate technical and market requirements before proceeding. Prototyping often helped convey
conceptual requirements, but prototypes sometimes were purposefully temporary. In like manner, testing teams were
typically engaged after all program coding had been completed. This practice created problems if the nature of test results
exposed defects developed many months prior.
The agile methodology has given SAS a reliable foundation for continuous innovation. It has fueled a spirit of critical
thinking and fostered an environment that helps to promote discussions that were previously difficult to confront. This
“agile mindset” has had and is having impacts on areas systemic to how SAS R&D operates such as schedule
management, process management, and workload management. SAS experienced benefits with agile that are summarized
below: