The weak links of Agile value chain (part 2 of 2)

Rapid shrinking of the time window separating new product release launches imposes pressure on functions outside product development. Consider for example, if development learned how to roll out a new product release every 90 days, continuing to target education content refresh 60 days after product GA no longer makes sense. Sales, services and support teams - all have much less time to get up to speed with latest changes and advancements in the product to stay ahead and be ready to provide solid quality experience to the company's customers.

Similarly, other teams may be impacted on the front end of the shortened product release cycle. User interface designers for instance will no longer have ample time to iterate new wireframe designs ahead of the development phase. Some UI design teams in an effort to be relevant will attempt to integrate into the scrum teams, others will struggle to maintain functional independence at the expense of their ability to stay relevant.

Any company engaged in complex activities aiming at growing sustained and profitable business can be represented by a chain with each link representing a different function within the company. Each function plays a critical role in delivering the winning end-to-end customer experience. Software product development is just one of such links, hence the company-wide benefits of adopting Agile methodology by this team alone are constrained by the rest of the company remaining outside of this transformation.

It goes without saying, the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.