Project Planning Tools: Agile and Waterfall Framework Analysis

This report delves into the realm of project planning tools, focusing on the Agile and Waterfall frameworks. It begins with an introduction to project planning tools, outlining their positive and negative impacts on project outcomes. The report then provides detailed descriptions of both Agile and Waterfall methodologies, exploring their unique characteristics and applications. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to a comparative analysis of the two frameworks, highlighting their respective strengths and limitations. The Agile framework is presented as an iterative approach with continuous customer interaction and adaptability, particularly suitable for complex projects, while the Waterfall model is described as a sequential, phase-based approach best suited for projects with well-defined requirements. The report concludes by emphasizing the suitability of the Agile model for various project types, offering a comprehensive understanding of project management tools and methodologies. The report also provides insights into how these tools can aid in managing complex IT projects and leading IT process improvement practices.

Running head: PROJECT PLANNING TOOLS
PROJECT PLANNING TOOLS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Agile Framework.........................................................................................................................2
Overview..................................................................................................................................2
Strengths of Agile Methodology.............................................................................................3
Limitations Agile Methodology..............................................................................................4
Waterfall Framework...................................................................................................................4
Overview..................................................................................................................................4
Strengths of Waterfall Framework..........................................................................................5
Limitations of Waterfall Framework.......................................................................................5
Comparison between Agile and Waterfall Framework...............................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Project planning tools are used for the management and organisation of a project and its
tasks within. These tools help both individuals as well as a team. These tools measure
effectiveness and organisation of the work. Unlike its name, these tools are not only for the
management of the project but also these are customizable according to the needs of the team or
an individual and the goals of the project. Some of the positive impacts of these tools are
efficient setting of goal, improved communication, customer satisfaction at a greater level,
expertise at high level, accurate assessment of the risks (Herr et al. 2019). Some of the negative
impacts of the tools are higher costs, complexity increases at instances, communication
overhead, lacking in creativity (Sánchez 2015).
Project management planning tools
Agile Method
The term “Agile” is used for the group of iterations and developmental stages in a
process of software development and every stage has its own Agile framework. Some of the
popular methodologies of Agile Framework application are Scrum, Dynamic Systems
Development Method, Crystal and Feature Driven Development (Ahimbisibwe, Cavana and
Daellenbach 2015). Every methodology has its own uniqueness and they include all the iterations
in the development stage. Throughout the developmental phase, all of the integral functions are
continuous in nature. In agile methodology planning, testing, integration and other forms of
developmental stage are always continuous in nature resulting to form the product from the agile
methodology (Moe et al. 2015). All of the stages in an Agile methodology is kept as light as it

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could be. This approach reduce the complexity of the project and due to minimum rules in the
framework, the execution of the project is accustomed to any circumstances (Abrahamsson et al.
2017). The primary objective of the Agile framework is to develop the project in incremental
stages. In addition to it, such instances will surely bring all the flaws of the project that are
needed to be fixed in its developmental stage. The outcome of the project consists of minimum
issues that are analysed after the review from the customer. Hence, this product always focuses
into the quality of the product.
This method can be appropriate for the projects due to its simple architecture and iterative
approach. Long and complex projects are always appropriate for the usage of the Agile method.
Waterfall Method
The first process model that was introduced for planning and managing the development
of a project is Waterfall model. It is also termed as linear-sequential life cycle model due to its
linear flow of stages throughout the developmental life cycle of the project. The primary
uniqueness of this project is its simple nature. Waterfall framework is easy to understand and
easy to work on (Gungor and Karagoz 2015). Small projects in which the final requirements are
certain, waterfall framework is mostly used. In this framework, every stage is fully completed
before proceeding to the next stage. Unless the first process is completed successfully, the
succeeding stage is not started. During the developmental stage of the project, after the
completion of each stage, the outcome is reviewed and necessary modifications are made and
then moved forward to the next stage. Hence, while following this framework for the
development of any particular project, every stage remains error free and thus the final
requirements are met with no issues. All the issues in the course of the development are resolved
immediately in that particular stage of occurrence.

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The waterfall tool can be appropriate for the management and planning of the project due
to its “easy to implement” nature, though this method would not be appropriate for the complex
ones.
Analysis and critique of selected tools
Agile Methodology
Strengths
The advantages or the strengths of Agile methodology are as follows:
1. Due to continuous and rapid nature of the delivery of useful software, customer
satisfaction always remains high.
2. Emphasis on interactions and people is highly focussed rather than focussing on tools and
processes. The interaction between the developers, customers and testers or analysts
remains continuous throughout the process starting from the initial stage to the final
stage.
3. Frequent delivery of working software within weeks rather than months (Flora 2018).
4. The best form of communication that is face-to-face communication is used in this
process.
5. Cooperation between the developers and the people gets done on a daily basis and done
closely.
6. Continuous attention is put into the designing and excellence of technologies.
7. Circumstances are changed regularly.
8. This approach also welcomes late changes.

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Limitations
The disadvantages or limitations of Agile methodology are as follows:
1. The list of deliverables for the large projects is difficult to assess in the initial phase of
the development life cycle of the project.
2. The necessary documentation and designing remain out of emphasis.
3. In case the customer is not clear about the outcome of the project, the entire development
of the project could be taken off the track (Martins and Zacarias 2017).
4. The decision taking authorities remain only confined with the senior programmers. The
amateur ones do not have the authority except they are equipped with the experienced
resources.
Waterfall Framework
Strengths
The advantages or the strengths of the Waterfall framework are as follows:
1. This framework is simple to understand and easy to implement for the development of
the project.
2. Management of the model is easy due to the rigid nature of the framework (Stoica et al
2016).
3. As every stage of the development has its own deliverables and outcomes along with the
proper review process, the management is done in a specific and efficient manner.
4. There is no overlapping of the phases of the development. Every phase is completed and
its processing is done separately and the linear following is maintained. One phase is
completed at a time.

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Limitations
The disadvantages or limitations of the Waterfall Framework are as follows:
1. There is no backtracking in the phases. When the application is in testing stage and any
necessary requirement comes up in between then moving back in the previous stages and
making the changes is not possible.
2. No working application is produced during the life cycle of the development.
3. Risk and uncertainty increases with time.
4. Does not support the object oriented or complex projects.
5. For long project, this model is not appropriate(Kisielnicki and Misiak 2017).
6. The projects where there is a high probability of changes to be occurred during the
process of development, this model is not recommended at all.
Comparison between Agile and Waterfall Framework
Agile Waterfall
Iterative approach is followed. Lean thinking is
used and changes the scope of the project.
When the scope is unknown, the method works
well.
Changes are allowed whenever necessary due to its
simple structure and module division.
Availability of customer is required throughout the
process of development.
Sequential approach is followed and the
development process is divided into multiple
stages.
When the scope is certain, this method works well.
Changes cannot be made in between once the phase
is completed.
Availability of customers is only expected at a
definite time interval.

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Conclusion
In the above discussion of two frameworks, it is witnessed that though both the model
follows a simple structure, but they do differ in their process of execution. Agile model proceeds
with an iterative approach and every stage is revised to make any changes that are necessary for
the project either from the customer or developer’s end. While the waterfall model divides its
entire process of execution into few integral phases, which gets completed one at a time and only
after the completion of a particular phase, the process moves toward the next phase. For complex
and long running projects, the best tool for the management is found to be the Agile
methodology. The comparison is witnessed between the models and the particular strengths and
limitations are analysed. Therefore, this report can conclude by stating that for either small and
simple or long and complex, agile model is appropriate as it allows all of the necessary
functionalities that is important for the successful completion of the project.

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References
Abrahamsson, P., Salo, O., Ronkainen, J. and Warsta, J., 2017. Agile software development
methods: Review and analysis. arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.08439.
Ahimbisibwe, A., Cavana, R.Y. and Daellenbach, U., 2015. A contingency fit model of critical
success factors for software development projects: A comparison of agile and traditional plan-
based methodologies. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 28(1), pp.7-33.
Flora, H.K., 2018. Adopting an agile approach for the development of mobile applications.
Gungor, M.A. and Karagoz, I., 2015. An Object-Based Tool for Wavelet Thresholding to Reduce
Speckle Noise. Journal of Image and Graphics, 3(1).
Herr, D., Blum, J., Himes-Cornell, A. and Sutton-Grier, A., 2019. An analysis of the potential
positive and negative livelihood impacts of coastal carbon offset projects. Journal of
environmental management, 235, pp.463-479.
Kisielnicki, J. and Misiak, A.M., 2017. Effectiveness of agile compared to waterfall
implementation methods in IT projects: analysis based on Business Intelligence
projects. Foundations of Management, 9(1), pp.273-286.
Martins, P.V. and Zacarias, M., 2017. An agile business process improvement
methodology. Procedia Computer Science, 121, pp.129-136.
Moe, N.B., Cruzes, D., Dybå, T. and Mikkelsen, E., 2015, July. Continuous software testing in a
globally distributed project. In 2015 IEEE 10th International Conference on Global Software
Engineering (pp. 130-134). IEEE.

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Sánchez, M.A., 2015. Integrating sustainability issues into project management. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 96, pp.319-330.
Stoica, M., Ghilic-Micu, B., Mircea, M. and Uscatu, C., 2016. Analyzing Agile Development-
from Waterfall Style to Scrumban. Informatica Economica, 20(4).