Extreme selling in the early stage space

Agile software development practices have revolutionized the craft of building software in today's market. Those who have gone down this path may not realize that they also have a very powerful marketing story to tell. The software industry has spent decades building an unparalleled and well-deserved reputation for missing deadlines, exceeding budgets, and generally underachieving. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect is the degree to which failure is accepted. Offshore development, while offering attractive hourly rates, has only exacerbated the problem. Failure is still the norm - it just costs less per hour! At the end of the day, software development has become synonymous with risk. Agile development offers the first effective vehicle to mitigate that risk. Contractor firms who have succeeded in building effective agile development shops should be looking to wield this as a marketing club! Moreover, they should carefully examine their market niches to see how agile development most effectively addresses the salient risk areas