A paradigm shift is currently taking place in the way that organisations manage projects for the development of new and innovative products such as software and business process outsourcing according to Susan Atkinson of gallenalliance solicitors.

Organisations across all sectors are increasingly turning to the principles of agile and lean to accommodate unprecedented levels of change.

Initially agile and lean practices were only considered to be relevant to IT projects. But it is no longer possible to ring-fence many projects as ‘IT specific’. It is only when an organisation exploits its IT capabilities to the full that it gains a competitive edge, so it is essential that such projects receive the full attention of the business.

The adoption of agile and lean requires a change in approach across the whole of an organisation. It impacts on the business practices, management structure and corporate culture. But, notwithstanding these challenges, many organisations, regardless of their size, are embracing this new way of working.

New ways of working are also feeding through to how organisations contract with their suppliers and customers. Contracts should accurately reflect the underlying business practices, and therefore need to reflect the agile and lean practices. Traditional contract models are brittle, do not readily embrace change and are unsuited for agile and lean practices. Instead a new contract model, based on the supply of capacity is required.

“I anticipate that over the next couple of years there will be a large shake-up in the way that contracts for the development of new products and services are procured, drafted and negotiated, to reflect this new way of working,” Atkinson concluded.

Susan Atkinson was speaking at a recent SCL seminar on the impact of agile and lean methodology.

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