South African Journal of Information Management (Jul 2024)
The current state of agile methodology utilisation in a South African insurance company
Abstract
Background: South African insurance companies are under pressure to adapt to the constantly changing environment and customer-changing requirements. Agile software development presents itself as a viable solution for swiftly meeting these demands. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the current utilisation of agile methodologies within the South African insurance sector; this article aims to bridge this gap. Objectives: The purpose of this theme is to fully understand the extensive level of the experience for the participants and the nature of projects the participants have been involved in and lastly time frames of the projects and how long have insurance been using agile methodology. Method: For this study, purposive sampling that involves the selection of the units to be observed based on your own judgement about which ones were the most useful or representative will be applied. The criteria were based on the participants having played a role as stakeholder in a project that has used agile methodology within the selected organisation within the past 3 years to remain relevant to this study purpose. Results: The identified pattens from the respondents showed that agile methodology is currently utilised for the following in the selected insurance company: software upgrades new product new function Conclusion: In summary, the current state of agile methodology utilisation in a South African insurance company is associated with application transformation to cloud computing, work transformation, onboarding of new applicants, environment enhancements, schema amendment, introduction of new product such as sales force, automating insurance claims documents, scheme enhancement, fund anniversary and renewal of people’s schemes. Contribution: This comprehensive research significantly contributes to the body of knowledge, shaping the strategic direction of agile methodologies within software development project environments.
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