Over the past few years, Agile has secured considerable popularity and is being adopted by many organizations. The Agile methodology introduced advantages that were not possible with the traditional “Waterfall model.” With an Agile approach, teams can deliver powerful features in short delivery cycles. These quick deliveries are why Agile can increase customer satisfaction.

Though many software vendors are using the Agile approach, there is still a lot of confusion about the difference between Agile and Scrum. This blog post is going to provide an overview of each and compare them. 

Agile vs. Scrum

What is Agile?

Agile is a set of principles that teams use to guide the delivery of a software project. As there isn’t any detailed planning of a project, it is more adaptable to changes in software application requirements throughout the project. There is an iterative and incremental approach in Agile where cross-functional teams work on product iterations over a set time-span.

12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto

Agile refers to an approach aligned with the following 12 Agile manifesto principles:

• Customer satisfaction is the highest priority and will be achieved by delivering valuable software continuously to customers.
• The team welcomes changes in software requirements even during the later stages of software development.
• The team can deliver working software, even on a short timescale.
• Outward-facing employees and developers must coordinate together daily until project completion.
• Build projects around enthusiastic team members and provide more support if needed.
• Face-to-face conversation is essential to convey any important information to and within the development team.
• A project’s progress is measured by working software.
• Users should maintain a constant pace indefinitely to promote sustainable development.
• Technical excellence and good design should be the primary focus.
• Simplicity is essential.
• The best architecture and design arise from the self-organizing teams.
• The team should reflect on how to become more effective and adjust to the behavior regularly.

Approaches to Implementing Agile

• Scrum
• Kanban
• Extreme Programming
• Feature Driven Development
• Adaptive System Development
• Dynamic systems development method
• Lean Software Development
• Crystal Clear

What is Scrum?

Scrum is the most popular Agile methodology, which helps manage software development with an iterative approach. The fixed-length iteration is known as a sprint which allows teams to ship software frequently. A sprint will last for one or two weeks, and a meeting is conducted at the end of each sprint by team members and stakeholders to discuss the next steps.

Scrum Roles

Product Owner

The PO is the primary member who is in charge of the project vision. This person mediates communication between the stakeholders and scrum team to build and manage the backlog.

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is responsible for organizing meetings and dealing with challenges that arise in a project. SM is responsible for making sure that the team follows the Scrum process and interacts with the PO to ensure that the product backlog is available for the next sprint.

Scrum Team

The Scrum Team consists of people with various development, testing, engineering, and documentation abilities. It usually contains 5-7 members. The ST plans the amount of work to be completed in each iteration.

Scrum events

Product backlog

The Product Owner and Scrum Master work together to prioritize the stories properly based on user stories and requirements. The developers refer to the product backlog to complete tasks during each sprint.

Sprint planning

Sprint planning keeps track of the work that needs to be done in a sprint. The scrum group completes this step together. The group plans what feature will be delivered in the sprint and determines how to code the functionality.

Daily Scrum

A 15-minute stand-up meeting is conducted daily. This is known as a Daily Scrum and is used to check if the team is on track. During these meetings, the team members discuss development goals and challenges.

Sprint Review

At the end of a sprint, the team conducts a Sprint Review to check development progress and discuss the next set of action items.

Sprint Retrospectives

During a Sprint Retrospective, the team discusses all of the successes and challenges of the Scrum process faced during the last sprint and the improvements required for the next sprint.

Agile vs. Scrum: What is the final verdict?

As you can see, Agile and Scrum are the two types of process management methodologies that are used in software development. 

In Agile methodology, instead of using a detailed plan at the beginning of projects, it implements an approach that encourages customer feedback and development changes regularly throughout the project cycle.

Scrum methodology is an iterative process of Agile that concentrates on delivering high value in a minimal amount of time. The project is broken down into smaller builds (sprints) with a specific time frame. The time duration is generally one or two weeks and involves daily stand-up meetings to check progress on goals and discuss challenges. Once the sprint is finished, the team gathers again to discuss an approach for the next sprint.  

Now you know that Scrum is a subset of Agile, and therefore, we can’t say if one is better than the other. However, the Agile approach implemented using Scrum methodologies far exceeds the output of the traditional “Waterfall model.” And it will continue to bring greater customer satisfaction and agility to development teams everywhere.

Written by Soumya Turlapaty.

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Hello friend. We’ve been busy making improvements to AirSend recently and some of those updates are in the Actions tab. The purpose of this brief blog post is to take a closer look at the cool things you can do with AirSend Actions now.

Expand to a Kanban View

You can now expand your Actions tab to a full Kanban view to more clearly see and organize your to-do list. Simply click the window icon in the upper right corner of the Actions tab.

Quickly Add Actions and Subactions

You can now quickly add actions with the “Add Actions” bar and add subactions by click on the “Add Subtask” icon that appears when you hover your cursor over an action. Break things down to reduce stress. No task is too complicated for AirSend to help you handle.

View Actions Assigned to You

Easily switch between seeing only the actions assigned to you and seeing all of the actions in the Channel. This reduces visual clutter to help you quickly see exactly what you need to get done.

Sort by Due Date or Date Created

You can also sort actions by due date by clicking on the calendar icon in the upper right corner of the Actions tab. If there are no due dates assigned, the actions are sorted according to the date they were created by default. Never forget a deadline again.

Sort by Completed or Incomplete Actions

If you want to see what actions are completed and what actions still need to be done, this feature is perfect. Simply click on the checkmark icon in the upper right corner of the Actions tab to switch between completed and incomplete actions.

Quickly Search

Last but not least, you can now quickly and easily search for actions using the convenient search bar located right in the Actions tab. That way nothing can slow you down while you’re in the zone.

We hope this update was helpful to you!

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We live in a digitalized era where e-commerce has become an everyday part of life. This is a world where buyers have access to an endless variety of products, and sellers can expose their products to potential customers all over the world. At the top, there are e-commerce companies like Amazon and Alibaba. At the grassroots level, tools like drag-and-drop websites, dropshipping, and social media have many people starting their own small e-commerce businesses from home.

The question now is not “Can I start a business?” but “How do I make my business successful?” Although the tools and technology needed to set-up an e-commerce business are widely available, succeeding in e-commerce requires sufficient resources, strategic positioning, and constant evolution.

Below are three common misconceptions about running an e-commerce business and their corresponding realities.

You can succeed in e-commerce with minimal resources.

Many believe that cost-saving is one of the most significant benefits of an e-commerce business. They think that the only resources needed are an internet connection and a laptop. This is a misconception.

Successful e-commerce businesses need sufficient human, technology, and financial resources to succeed. In fact, the most profitable companies use both dedicated teams and external resources to maximize their digital touchpoints’ utility. We will discuss dedicated e-commerce teams later in this article. First, let’s talk about some of the external resources that successful businesses use.

According to a Forrester report on e-commerce, 27% of global purchase influencers at wholesale or retail companies prioritize innovation as part of their 2021 objectives. External resources can help. Utilizing external resources that come with technology partnerships provides businesses with the innovative power, tools, and capabilities they need to deliver an excellent customer experience within budget and time constraints.

Examples of possible technology partnerships include review platforms, digital workspace tools, and CRM platforms.

E-commerce businesses require less skill and experience to run than brick-and-mortar stores.

Another misconception is that unlike physical businesses, online companies can be run by anyone with an idea and an internet connection. People think that because establishing a physical business is a difficult task compared to setting up an online business, there is less pressure and stress on online business owners. They think it’s easy for the owner to manage his business activities worldwide by sitting in his room or office with a laptop.

The truth is that successful e-commerce businesses require both strong C-level support and a digitally fluent team of experts.

C-level support means that everyone is on-board with the chosen e-commerce strategy, especially those at the company’s top. This support ensures that initiatives will receive enough financial and human resources to succeed. Additionally, leaders must set the right expectations and work hard to follow through on promised growth.

One thing that can help leaders deliver set targets is hiring and maintaining a digitally fluent team. While this can be challenging since digital talent remains rare, ensuring that the business has qualified talent fulfilling key roles such as business technology, merchandising, fulfillment, marketing, and customer service is essential.

E-commerce businesses should sell to everyone.

The final misconception is that since online businesses have access to everyone who has access to the internet, they should try to make everyone their customer.

While it is true that people can purchase your products from any part of the world at any time, in a highly competitive landscape, e-commerce businesses that offer something unique to a highly specified set of customers and who can communicate that exceptional value are best positioned to succeed.

Choosing a specific target customer, knowing everything about them, and providing products or services that solve their pain points is how any business, online or not, succeeds. Since the barrier to entry is lower with online companies and competition is high, this becomes even more important. Most digital businesses have both offline competition and aggressive players like Amazon. Having a strategy to stand out becomes very important.

The Bottom Line

While we live in a world where e-commerce exists everywhere, running a successful online business requires much more than a laptop and an internet connection. Running a successful online business is an ongoing process that requires dedicated teams, ample external resources, strategic targeting, and an ever-evolving mindset.

The competitive landscape is constantly changing, requiring companies to evolve and adapt. The most successful e-commerce businesses will optimize their talent, strategies, and market opportunities, while others get lost in the noise.

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