There's an increasing amount of forum traffic about when / if / how Agile methods can be harnessed with ITIL for use in an IT Operations environment. The line of questioning seems to suggest that the people-centric elements of Agile are only used in software development and just doesn't mesh with the rigour and control sought by ITIL adoption. Having implemented both, I think this argument is flawed on both sides:

1. People adopt agile to provide rigour and control over previous unwieldly waterfall projects

In a recent article on TechRepublic, Ilya Bogorad reminded me how the mere possession of an IT buzzword does not make for good practice. In this instance, the topic of discussion was ITIL, the increasingly popular IT Service Management approach, or a "framework of common sense" for IT service providers, as some analysts point out.

The same cautionary tale is true for Agile, which as a buzzword is currently on the ascendancy, but as a practice has been around for as long as anyone capable of remembering can recall, albeit in different guises: RAD/JAD, Scrum, and DSDM set the scene for what is now roundly known as Agile close to 20 years ago. So why the current hype?

Traditionally, hype is fuelled by a promise of something new or better than before. That's true for Agile methodologies - done correctly, they can deliver successful software projects faster, cheaper, and to a greater degree of quality than traditional lifecycles.