Gartner Research

Scrum Essentials

Published: 14 June 2023

Summary

Scrum is the most popular implementation of agile. However, the apparent simplicity of Scrum’s lightweight framework masks implementation complexity. Technical professionals must develop deep expertise in Scrum to harness its full potential for delivering business value.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • Among the 80% of organizations performing agile development, 87% use Scrum, which makes it the most popular implementation.

  • Successful adoption of Scrum improves customer satisfaction, reduces time to market, raises product quality and increases return on investment.

  • Inconsistent processes, cultural challenges and a lack of senior management sponsorship are the most significant factors holding back agile transformation with Scrum.

  • The 2020 updates to the Scrum Guide improved the clarity and implementation of the framework, but are not being universally applied by Scrum teams.

Recommendations

Technical professionals improving product development with Scrum should:

  • Implement standard Scrum for at least six months to gain experience

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Analysts:

Peter Hyde

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