I didn't say the process is useless. That remains to be seen. My point was that the events described in the article have stretched the meaning of Agile so far that it can now be used to describe any software development process at all, regardless of whether it actually conforms to the principles that originally inspired Agile.
Agile can now mean anything. Therefore it means nothing.
The new IBM process won't be entirely useless. It will likely be very expensive for IBM consulting customers and slightly damaging to the souls of the software professionals required to use it. It will be the IBM development process, with a new set of names and jargon terms.
Imagine, for example, that the new development process is called Celeriflex. All the SV startups jump on Celeriflex like fleamen on a Belmont. They crank out awesome software and make huge exits. Some of those startup veterans use their payout to create consultancies to teach Celeriflex to other software businesses. They make money hand over fist. Then businesses whose primary product is not software notice. Their management hears good things about Celeriflex and orders the CTO/CIO to implement it. Eventually, the largest companies for whom software is a significant source of revenue keep doing what they have been doing for decades and use words culled from Celeriflex consultant documentation to describe it. At that point, Celeriflex is dead. The SV startups are using Speedcode now...
Inside their comment, I think there is a point that's pretty interesting: New buzzwords will be formed because there are a lot of shops that simply won't do something the way that IBM or (Microsoft for that matter) does. In other words, there are a lot of shops where if the conversation contains "...the way Microsoft organizes" or "...the way IBM plans their projects" it will immediately be a no-go, but if you call the same process "underscore projecting" and say a lot of startups use it, it will be considered.
Agile the concept has worth. I've been successful with it.
But the term and phraseology have been co-opted by the PMI wonks to mean waterfall 2.0 -- The writing was on the wall as soon as "Certified Scrummaster" became a job requirement.
Agile can now mean anything. Therefore it means nothing.
The new IBM process won't be entirely useless. It will likely be very expensive for IBM consulting customers and slightly damaging to the souls of the software professionals required to use it. It will be the IBM development process, with a new set of names and jargon terms.
Imagine, for example, that the new development process is called Celeriflex. All the SV startups jump on Celeriflex like fleamen on a Belmont. They crank out awesome software and make huge exits. Some of those startup veterans use their payout to create consultancies to teach Celeriflex to other software businesses. They make money hand over fist. Then businesses whose primary product is not software notice. Their management hears good things about Celeriflex and orders the CTO/CIO to implement it. Eventually, the largest companies for whom software is a significant source of revenue keep doing what they have been doing for decades and use words culled from Celeriflex consultant documentation to describe it. At that point, Celeriflex is dead. The SV startups are using Speedcode now...