1. Agile State of the Art Survey November 2010
Scott W. Ambler
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

2. Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
How To Use These Slides
I have provided these slides, and the raw data behind them, so that others can use them in their own work.
You may reuse all, or a part of, this slide deck as long as you provide a clear reference to the source.
The suggested reference is: Results from Scott Ambler’s November 2010 Agile State of the Art Survey posted at
Some slides have notes
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

3. Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
About the Survey
Survey ran from October 28 to November
Survey link:
Sent out to several agile mailing lists, including the and
Posted a message on the Agile Alliance LinkedIn discussion forum
Linked to from page
Data, summary, and slides downloadable from
180 respondents
19% were programmers or agile team members, 36% were managers or team lead/Scrum masters, 13% were architects/architecture owners
71% had 10+ years in IT
21% worked in orgs of 500+ IT people
55% North American, 29% European, 6% Asia Pacific
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

4. Team Experience with Agile
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

5. Who Received Agile Training?
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

6. Who Received Mentoring in Agile Strategies?
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

7. Funding Strategy on Experienced Agile Teams
66% of teams provided an initial estimate/budget. Of those:
67% evolved their estimate throughout the project
51% did staged funding
66% of teams did evolutionary funding
48% of teams did staged funding
20% of teams did either evolutionary funding or staged funding, but did not provide an initial estimate
Experienced teams = Pretty much agile but working out a few kinks or Mature agile team
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

8. Iteration Length on Experienced Agile Teams Average = 2.3 weeks
Experienced teams = Pretty much agile but working out a few kinks or Mature agile team
Average calculated as a weighted average. Variable and no iterations not included in average. 1 day or less considered as 1 day. 1 week or less considered as one week. 7+ weeks taken as 8 weeks.
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

9. Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Transition/Release Phase on Experienced Agile Teams Average = 4.6 weeks
Experienced teams = Pretty much agile but working out a few kinks or Mature agile team
Average calculated as a weighted average. 1 day or less considered as 1 day. 1 week or less considered as one week weeks taken as 14 weeks.
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

10. Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Transition/Release Frequency on Experienced Agile Teams Average = Once every 11.4 weeks
Experienced teams = Pretty much agile but working out a few kinks or Mature agile team
Average calculated as a weighted average. More than annually considered to be 14 months
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

11. Funding Strategy on Inexperienced Agile Teams
72% of teams provided an initial estimate/budget. Of those:
62% evolved their estimate throughout the project
49% did staged funding
56% of teams did evolutionary funding
49% of teams did staged funding
12% of teams did either evolutionary funding or staged funding, but did not provide an initial estimate
Inexperienced team = Just starting or adopted several techniques but not fully agile
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

12. Iteration Length on Inexperienced Teams Average = 2.6 weeks
Inexperienced team = Just starting or adopted several techniques but not fully agile
Average calculated as a weighted average. Variable and no iterations not included in average. 1 day or less considered as 1 day. 1 week or less considered as one week. 7+ weeks taken as 8 weeks.
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

13. Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Transition/Release Phase on Inexperienced Agile Teams Average = 6.0 weeks
Inexperienced team = Just starting or adopted several techniques but not fully agile
Average calculated as a weighted average. 1 day or less considered as 1 day. 1 week or less considered as one week weeks taken as 14 weeks.
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler

14. Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Transition/Release Frequency on Inexperienced Agile Teams (Average = Once every 13.8 weeks)
Experienced teams = Pretty much agile but working out a few kinks or Mature agile team
Average calculated as a weighted average. More than annually considered to be 14 months
Copyright 2010 Scott W. Ambler