Frequently Asked Questions
Who is AgileZen?
AgileZen is a simple, elegant, Web-based Kanban board created by Enkari Ltd in Ohio. Their vision is to be a Basecamp-like project collaboration tool focused on the Kanban methodology. The company is not solely focused on software development teams, and so aligns well with Rally's mission of helping companies create an Agile business.
Why is Rally acquiring AgileZen?
Rally is the world's leading provider of tools, training and coaching for helping companies scale software agility. Rally's Kanban board mashup was launched in 2009, and over time we believe Kanban will become an important component of Agile ALM. AgileZen is the early leader in Kanban tools and enjoys a strong reputation with several Rally customers, plus it has customers outside technology organizations. So acquiring AgileZen helps Rally serve the emerging need for Kanban in our core ALM market, and extends our offerings for project collaboration and process improvement tools used throughout the Agile business.
What is Kanban?
Kanban literally means "sign board." In Lean processes, Kanban is the signaling tool for visualizing and tracking work as it flows through the stages of a value stream. A value stream for a software development team might have the workflow states of Backlog > Ready > Working > Done> Production.
Kanban supports the simple Lean concept that Work In Progress (WIP) should be limited to establish a "pull" workflow system that promotes a continuous and predictable flow of value delivery. In addition to giving project stakeholders transparency into the WIP, Kanban exposes bottlenecks, queues and waste in a process so that teams can deliver high quality, high value work.
How Do Scrum and Kanban Compare?
In a recent independent report ‚"Agile Development: Mainstream Adoption Has Changed Agility," Forrester Research Inc., January, 2010, Forrester noted that, ‚"When it comes to selecting an Agile methodology, Scrum is the overwhelming favorite."
Unlike Scrum, the Kanban approach is still early in its application to software-driven projects, and examples of Kanban used in large, coordinated, multi-team software programs are just emerging.
Both Scrum and Kanban excel at promoting collaboration. Both give transparency into the WIP to drive process improvement, and both focus on early delivery of prioritized value. While both methods are considered light-weight, Scrum is more prescriptive than Kanban. For example, Scrum establishes a consistent cadence where cross-functional teams use timeboxed iterations to plan and deliver product increments. Kanban does not enforce a timebox, but prescribes that work be made visible using a board, and that you limit the WIP allowed in each workflow state. Choosing which tool and process better fits your project depends on your context. Rally's expert coaches can help you explore how Kanban might complement your Agile projects.
What do Rally and AgileZen have in common?
Both Rally and AgileZen understand that Agile and Lean tools help organizations dramatically improve their productivity, time-to-market and quality. Both products are offered as a hosted Web service for easy and low cost adoption by distributed teams. And both have several editions, from Free to Unlimited.
How does AgileZen fit in with Rally's strategy?
Rally's strategy is to complement our award-winning Agile Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) products with world-renown coaching services and learning resources for creating the Agile business. This combination allows us to uniquely, and fully, partner with software-driven companies moving through the difficult process of organizational change.
Today, Scrum is far and away the most popular approach for Agile project management and process improvement. Kanban will become an increasingly important methodology as Rally helps companies grow their knowledge of how Lean processes remove barriers to flow, and this a key reason for the AgileZen acquisition.
What is Rally's strategy for Kanban?
Rally will offer AgileZen as a straightforward Kanban board for single teams that appeals to a wide variety of industries, including many organizations outside technology.
Since 2009, Rally's Kanban board mashup allows Kanban projects to work alongside Scrum projects. We are working on porting AgileZen's Kanban board to Rally ALM as well as scaling Kanban practices to support large multi-team programs. Rally customers can contribute to our Kanban discussions and track our release commitments in our customer community site at www.agilecommons.org
With Kanban in both Rally ALM and AgileZen, which should I try and buy?
If a simple Kanban board to manage a single team's work is all you require, then you can take advantage of the AgileZen product and sign-up for a free edition of AgileZen at www.AgileZen.com.
For teams that want to use Scrum, or for multi-team programs that eventually wish to support Kanban and Scrum projects, Rally ALM is the better product. Rally ALM has robust cross-project collaboration tools with add-ons for quality management and portfolio management features that help you improve the full idea-to-market lifecycle. Rally ALM also has many capabilities that appeal to teams with more demanding requirements surrounding customization, integrations, performance and enterprise-class administration.
What will happen with the AgileZen product?
AgileZen can still be purchased at www.AgileZen.com. We are increasing the investment on the AgileZen product and are excited to enhance its performance while maintaining its simple and approachable user interface.
How will the AgileZen product be priced?
There are no significant changes planned to the AgileZen pricing.
If I am a customer with a current AgileZen support contract who do I contact?
Support for AgileZen remains unchanged. Please contact support@agilezen.com or 1-888-909-LEAN.
