Agile methodology witnessed that software development is fast-paced and quality delivery in a short time span. Now IT industries practice Agile methodology globally for an SDLC. However, the success of the project depends on the two major parts of the agile methodology i.e. Scrum and Kanban frameworks.
Though Scrum and Kanban are different, it goes hand-in-hand in software development. Therefore choosing one over another is quite a difficult decision. There are few differences in both frameworks but still few organizations use both the framework while development.
First, we will understand Scrum and Kanban and later discuss the differences.
Scrum :
The beauty of the agile methodology is, it serves the business needs completely with quality and that too in a specific time period. And this can be achieved because of the scrum methodology.
Basically Scrum is a methodology or a work method in which a team measures the progress of the software development in a predefined time frame which is also known as a sprint.
There are some predefined tasks or user stories that need to cover under one sprint. A Scrum Master who takes a quick call with all the teammates to confirm whether the things are progressing smoothly and address the issues raised by the team.
Scrum is broadly carried out through the events or ceremonies
- Daily Scrum: Stand up a meeting with all team members to plan everyday work. Discuss issues and workarounds. Each team member has to set the goal to complete the task.
- Sprint Planning: Discussing and planning the requirement coverage within a given time frame.
- Sprint Retrospective: This is the end of the sprint, in which everyone has finished their respective work and can discuss how to improve the next sprint process and find the other opportunities for improvement.
Kanban:
Kanban is the visual board or project management software tool also known as kanban board which shows the pictorial representation of the work progress. i.e. How many user stories have been developed? How many are tested? Etc. This representation gives a clear picture to the team for further planning. This process is also iterative and incremental.
However, the scrum team also uses the kanban board for better clarity and understanding of the work progress. Using a kanban board adds an extra layer to visualize their project.
Kanban methodology is divided into the following phases.
- Visualize the workflow: Creating the model of the business processes workflow for better understanding
- Limits The Work in Progress(WIP): It basically restricts the maximum amount of work in different stages. By doing so, a team can concentrate on the current workflow.
- Continuous Improvement: The team is constantly working on the improvement of the workflow by analyzing and tracking the flow.
Differences Between the Scrum and Kanban:
Though both the methodologies go hand-in-hand, it is up to the organization whether to use both the methodologies or not.
| Scrum | Kanban |
| It is a methodology which allows to deliver the software in quick time in bits and pieces. Approximately in 2-4 weeks, releases 1 sprint. | The main objective of this methodology is to identify the issues and fix it. |
| Predefined roles and responsibilities to each team member | No such predefined roles for team members. |
| Predefined criteria is used to develop the sprints on the priority. | No such specific criteria has been set in the development. |
| As every phase is handled back to back, continuous sprints will get delivered. | There is no such fixed time decided prior |
| Change requests during sprints are strongly discouraged. | Change requests are allowed in the middle of the development till the project completion. |
| Ideal for projects which demand constant changing requirements | Best for the projects where the business demands some evolutionary changes based on existing processes. |
I hope this information will give you an idea about the Scrum and Kanban briefly.