"SCRUM" the "LAMP"

I have been asked many a times for different projects whether SCRUM/Agile development is the way to go for small to medium scale projects that are built using LAMP technologies.

My colleagues at IBM and others who have worked with me in Enterprise applications have seen me evangelize SCRUM/Agile development in projects for the big corporate giants. They have seen me asking, in fact pleading the management to move to "Sprints" rather than persist with their long drawn project planning meetings and releases. Its interesting that they ask me this question, I would assume that knowing me and where Enterprise applications are headed the answer would be quiet obvious !

For the uninstantiated , I would like to tell you a small fable that will help us to understand the paradigm. One fine day a Chicken and a Pig decide to do business together. The Chicken suggests that the two involve themselves in a scheme involving ham and eggs. In reply, the Pig always notes that, for the Chicken, only a contribution is required (as a chicken can simply lay an egg and then resume normal activities), while for the Pig a "total commitment" (or total sacrifice) is needed (as in order to make ham or bacon, the pig must be slaughtered).

This differentiation probably is more important to a small project (in this case LAMP based projects) and start ups where the 'owner' is tight fisted. An IBM project can afford to have "Chickens running around" in the park ( and even a Rooster ) but a project wherein the line separating success and failure is razor thin rather have Pigs than Chickens.

SCRUM is the best model around that follows the paradigm to the tee. Right upfront it separates the Chicken's from the Pigs (and the Roosters) and I think that's the best first step for a startup or a small project.

I will cover how best to use SCRUM for a LAMP project in another blog but for today I guess I have answered the question, there is nothing better than "SCRUM(ing) the LAMP".