Increasingly, public and private sector organizations are adding Agile to their traditional approaches for managing software development and business projects. While any of several forces could be driving this change, the result is essentially the same: deliver functionality with improved business value, less risk, and short timeframes.
Edwards Performance Solutions has earned a reputation for helping clients plan and control activities more effectively at the portfolio, program, and project levels. To meet the emerging need for Agile solutions, Edwards’ innovative team developed ECHO – Secure-Repeatable-Agile™ as a means for supporting Agile, waterfall, and Agile/traditional Hybrid projects within one common framework.
Our ECHO framework also promotes adoption of Agile across multiple projects and at the enterprise level. It provides a method and tools to plan from the top down and report from the bottom-up. Edwards has perfected ECHO to address all projects using a consistent planning, and reporting management approach. We can establish standards-based best practices to manage all types of projects portfolios using a single management framework of tools and practices.
ECHO – Secure-Repeatable-Agile™
ECHO provides Federal agencies and commercial organizations with the methodology, training, and tools to impldement agile at all levels of the IT organization while addressing their SDLC management controls and OMB/Executive reporting requirements. It provides an enterprise agile approach tying software development projects to organizational goals and objectives – addressing Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) and other governance policies.
ECHO is a standards-based framework which incorporates best practices throughout the management hierarchy (portfolio, program, and project). Edwards based the ECHO management approach and practices on the principles presented in the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT), Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide, and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Edwards also designed ECHO to be compliant with proven quality methods and standards by incorporating critical elements from the Carnegie Mellon Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®), International Standards Organization (ISO), and Six Sigma. Each of these disciplines validates the ECHO framework.
Edwards’ Technical Services
Edwards provides practitioners who hold certifications in Agile, traditional project management, ITIL, Six Sigma, COBIT, and Microsoft technologies. Our consultants can configure project management system and standard operating procedures to address Agile, traditional, and hybrid projects. Edwards has a training division that can configure our standard courses to address your specific needs for institutionalizing Agile practices within your organization. Our senior consultants can implement practices to address program and portfolio level initiatives to scale Agile practices to the enterprise level.
- Agile management is rapidly becoming a de facto technique for project delivery
- Institutionalizing good Agile practices at all level of the organization is necessary to obtain anticipated benefits
- Our ECHO framework provides a clear approach (tools, methods, and training) to transition to Agile and mature your project management organization
