How to Measure Software Agility

by Paul Allen

Too often, the term "agility" is bandied about, especially in relation to SOA, without real meaning. For example, we are used to measuring the various quality attributes of a piece of software. Performance comes in the form of response time; capacity is expressed, among other things, in terms of bytes of storage; security is expressed in terms of freedom from denial-of-service attacks, and so forth. But what about agility? Is it just a good thing, as many seem to assume, like happiness or moral goodness? Or can we define it and measure it, as with performance, capacity, and security? Due to its importance in addressing ever-demanding and more complex business requirements, it is imperative to define and measure agility.