User:Agilista/sandbox

VersionOne is a SaaS-based provider of agile project management software, agile coaching and training services. Founded in 2002, VersionOne is based in Alpharetta, GA with a satellite office in Midtown Atlanta. The company states that they have more than "50,000 software teams in over 170 countries" as of August 2013. VersionOne’s customers range from five-person teams to global software organizations such as Adobe, Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, Novell, Sabre, Symantec, Thomson Reuters and Wells Fargo.

History
VersionOne helped pioneer the agile management tool in 2002, having been an agile-focused tool since Day One. Today VersionOne remains an open, comprehensive agile lifecycle management platform competing in the high-end agile management tool market – and in June 2012 having introduced a lightweight version of its product, Catalyst Edition.



Agile Development Methods
Agile development methods break tasks into small increments with minimal planning and do not directly involve long-term planning. Iterations are short time frames (timeboxes) that typically last from one to four weeks. Each iteration involves a team working through a full software development cycle, including planning, [|requirements analysis], design, [|coding], unit testing, and acceptance testing when a working product is demonstrated to stakeholders. This minimizes overall risk and allows the project to adapt to changes quickly. An iteration might not add enough functionality to warrant a market release, but the goal is to have an available release (with minimal bugs) at the end of each iteration.

Agile methods emphasize face-to-face communication over written documents when the team is all in the same location. Most agile teams work in a single open office, which facilitates such communication. Team size is typically small (5-9 people) to simplify team communication and team collaboration. Larger development efforts can be delivered by multiple teams working toward a common goal or on different parts of an effort. This might require a coordination of priorities across teams. When a team works in different locations, they maintain daily contact through videoconferencing, voice, e-mail, etc.

No matter what development disciplines are required, each agile team will contain a customer representative. This person is appointed by stakeholders to act on their behalf and makes a personal commitment to being available for developers to answer mid-iteration problem-domain questions. At the end of each iteration, stakeholders and the customer representative review progress and re-evaluate priorities with a view to optimizing the (ROI) and ensuring alignment with customer needs and company goals.

Agile development emphasizes working software as the primary measure of progress. The agile method encourages stakeholders to prioritize "wants" with other iteration outcomes, based exclusively on business value perceived at the beginning of the iteration (also known as value-driven).

Specific tools and techniques, such as continuous integration, automated or xUnit test, pair programming, test-driven development, design patterns, domain-driven design, code refactoring and other techniques are often used to improve quality and enhance project agility. VersionOne was the first to offer customers a choice of customized agile methodology templates, as opposed to prescribing a single approach or process. VersionOne provides a series of simplified, point-and-click configurations for tailoring the system to align with a customer’s own unique agile development processes and terminology. With extensive investments in its user interface over the years, VersionOne supports the enterprise-wide adoption of any agile methodology – including Scrum, XP, Lean, Kanban and hybrid – with a focus on reducing associated consulting/training costs and risk.

Uses
Organizations use VersionOne for product planning, requirements definition, release and iteration tracking, and defect and test management. VersionOne’s value proposition is to enable all project stakeholders – executives, project management, product managers, customers, programmers and testers – work together in a single, integrated tool for coordinating software delivery plans, priorities and progress. More than 50 pre-packaged agile metrics, reports and executive dashboards provide real-time visibility to cross-functional development teams and their stakeholders.

Competitors
VersionOne’s key competitors include Rally Software, Atlassian Greenhopper/JIRA, Thoughtworks Mingle, IBM Team Concert, HP Application Lifecycle Management and Microsoft Team Foundation Server. VersionOne was recently named to the SD Times 100 list of innovators in this class, for the third year in a row.

Community Support
Since the company’s inception, VersionOne has demonstrated a commitment to the agile community. It is the single most active sponsor of and contributor to agile events, conferences, associations and user groups all over the world. In 2011 alone, the company invested $2 million in sponsorships, speaking engagements, and hundreds of local, regional, national and international agile events. The company also maintains an extensive partner base, having added 90 agile consulting partners in 2011 alone.