Defining Agile SCM

The May issue of the CM Journal is devoted to the theme of CM & Agility. Myself and Rob Cowham wrote an article for it entitled Defining Agile SCM: Past, Present and Future.

In our earliest articles on the topic, we defined Agile SCM as "the pragmatic application of sound CM principles & practices in accordance with Agile values, using Lean thinking, to serve the needs of the business!" We wish to elaborate what that means in terms of SCM for Agile development, but even more importantly in terms of how we should apply Agile, Lean and their related principles to SCM processes and procedures.

Basically, we try to emphasize that Agile CM is more than just CM for Agile projects, it also means making CM itself be Agile and using the principles tools and techniques of Agile, Lean, TOC (and even some Six Sigma) for CM. Give it a read through and then give us your feedback!

There is also (finally) a new forum on CMCrossroads.com specifically for Agile CM. Of course one of the discussion topics is "what is Agile CM?" and a lot of detractors saying there is no such thing - that it's just plain old CM for Agile projects and that CM is still CM. I contend it ain't the same old CM, and that Agile CM does more than simply apply classic CM discipline & principles to Agile projects, it also applies Agile/Lean principles, tools and techniques and is just as different from traditional plan-based CM as different architectural styles.