Agile vs Waterfall model: Is your DataBase agile ready?

With Agile, developers deliver iterative products along the way. These products won’t be exactly what was requested "not at first" and one iteration will likely look very different from the next. But the iterative systems will let users get work done right away, without having to wait until a “final” version comes along. And, even then, the final isn’t final, as developers will evolve the application based on internal and external customer demand. 

So, that's what we talked about Agile but what if your database is not capable of effecting this level of change in a way that is efficient and cost effective, you’re never going to be able to do Agile software development in the way it’s meant to be done. One thing that prevents developers from implementing the kind of changes just discussed is fixed schema. With relational databases, for example, you have to define all of your data models up front, which is really hard to do in a rapidly changing environment. And that means there’s a really good chance that you’re going to eventually encounter data requirements that don’t match the models. What then? Well, you have to go back to square one and spend a lot of time (and money) to revise the data model, rewrite the ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) process. Companies simply can’t be Agile and innovative when developers are trying to use a database that wasn’t designed with "Agile" flexibility in mind.

"In fact, “today” is really the operative word when it comes to Agile. Developers must be able to work today to meet today’s customer demands. Tomorrow just doesn’t cut it in today’s dynamic digital environment."