Just the other day I was thinking about the core ideas of Agile software development, and I believe I came to an interesting conclusion. I think the core of agile development is all about one thing -- Aggressively attacking risks. Well, maybe there is more to it  but that is what I'll talk about in this blog entry.

Whether you start up a new software project, or join an existing team that has been constructing something for years, you need to consider what the risks to the project are, and especially what you can do about them.

Risk of not shipping on time (or not shipping at all)
Practice makes perfect. Start shipping from day one -- That is, for instance ship a new release every week. Naturally it depends on the kind of product you are working on, but more than often this is perfectly feasable. In fact, this happens every single day for many web-applications, and users may not even notice.

Risk of building the wrong thing
Have developers work closely with users throughout the project, and encourage them to build an executable and testable model of the business domain, without too much focus on integration. This ensures that the product can in fact solve the core business problem.

Risk of not being able to integrate different parts.
If there is a risk of integration issues, practice! Integrate risky parts from day one of the project. For instance, communication protocols that you haven't tried before may be risky. While accessing a database may be a walk in the park. Find out which integration points require early integration, and balance those efforts against the efforts involved with the risk of "building the wrong thing".

Risk of high long-term maintenance costs.
What you need is a software solution to a business problem. What you don't need is unneccessary technical complexity. Aggressively attack complexity, and make sure your product is still capable of solving the business problem.

Risk of shipping software with defects
Where are your defects? In the business logic, or at the integration points between different modules? No matter which, the answer is simple: Test it (automatically) -- From day one! And use every single defect found, to improve the development process so that you introduce less errors in the future.

Risk of unacceptable performance issues
Have your team commit to a measurable performance goal. ...And you never guessed -- Measure it from day one.

The key to long-term success, is knowing what your long term success factors are, and figuring out how to address them on an everyday basis. What is our long-term succcess factor? I bet you are looking for a cost/earnings ratio close to zero viewing at the entire lifecycle of the software product. This is done by either increasing the earnings, or lowering the cost of development and maintenance. Also a short time-to-market is most likely attractive to your company. Thus, address those every day.

That's it for now. Keep working on reducing your risks out there.