 Welcome to IT Project Management, a combined methodology. In this learning activity, you'll explore how to combine waterfall and agile methodologies for your next software development project. Waterfall has been around since the 1950s. It's a sequential design process, which means work flows steadily downward. The team completes all of the software development in one phase and then hands the project to the client. Agile was introduced in the late 1980s. Unlike waterfall, agile is an iterative development process that uses sprints for quick validation. It also places an emphasis on early testing to ensure the product actually works. Today, it's common to find software developers combining these two methodologies. While there is no correct way to use these together, developers typically take the best bits of each one to create their own project management plan. Before we examine how a team combines these methods, let's take a moment to review some weaknesses of the waterfall methodology that agile addresses. We can also review agile weaknesses that the waterfall methodology addresses. As you can see, each methodology has its pros and cons. Let's look at how a project blends waterfall and agile and uses the best parts of each process. Daisy's dog walking business is growing so rapidly that Daisy has double-booked herself a few times, which causes a doggie disaster. She needs a tool that organizes her business and allows her clients to schedule their dog walking times. Daisy needs this project completed as quickly as possible, so she hires your company to design and build the software. Your team meets with Daisy and a few of her clients to understand everyone's needs. Once your team knows what they need to do, they use the traditional waterfall methodology to create a project plan for Daisy's dog walking software. It identifies target deliverable dates as well as itemized costs for Daisy to review and approve. Once the project gets started, your team switches to agile and works in iterative cycles to provide Daisy with a working prototype within a week. Daisy and her clients test the prototype and provide feedback. Your team makes changes based on their comments to ensure the software is meeting everyone's needs and they publish the next version of Daisy's software. Within a few weeks, Daisy has new software that keeps her business growing, her clients organized, and their dogs exercised. As an added bonus, Daisy is so thrilled with her new software that she recommends your company to all of her friends and your work triples. If your team only used the traditional waterfall methodology, Daisy and her clients would have to wait until the end for the finalized software. This could cause her several weeks of continued scheduling mixups. If your team only used agile, Daisy wouldn't have the target delivery dates and itemized costs up front. Blending both methodologies enables your team to meet Daisy's needs much quicker. Combining the agile and waterfall methodologies is a successful approach to completing many software projects. Using the strengths from both by incorporating agile methodologies into a less rigid waterfall process increases the flexibility and speed at which the projects are completed. You have finished IT project management, a combined methodology.