Despite its adaptability to the needs of each project, the adaptation of RUP is hard work, and the model therefore has numerous detractors, who consider the process to be excessively “ceremonial”. These voices prefer other less “ceremonial” (Agile) processes, in which a large part of the elements required to carry out a project are optional or less formalized, especially in the early stages.

Agile development seeks to minimize the time required to gather and consolidate requirements. Like evolutionary development, it focuses on fast, incremental development to perfect the SW product as it is being built by involving the end user and the development team. Agile processes, therefore, seek to exploit the value of the people forming the team as well swift, effective communication to build software quickly and make any changes required as soon as possible.

The result is faster software development that is aligned with the client needs which are often imposed by a market that is often changing at breakneck speed.

It is essential in agile development to identify the key user requirements and begin the development process immediately. Those needs that add value to the product are identified in successive iterations, an others are modified if conceptualization is found to be too difficult, making it more efficient to address the problem once an application is in place. Meanwhile, the end user or customer must be kept closely involved in the development process.

Various agile development processes exist, and these may be more or less appropriate depending on the characteristics of each project. Where there are no process restrictions, Kynetia pursues agility, choosing the process with the best fit for each development, allowing personalization with the minimum of changes.

The most widely used processes in Kynetia, together with RUP, are:

• Scrum – More than a development methodology, Scrum defines a management framework for agile development projects. The main objective is that deliveries from each iteration should maximize value for the business for which the software is being built. It is based on the repetition of iterations every 15 to 30 days (typically four weeks), known as Sprints in the model jargon.
• Agile UP – This model is an adaptation of the agile UP (Unified Process) formalized by Scott Ambler. It is an iterative and incremental software development framework. Agile UP is often viewed as a highly ceremonial process, because it specifies numerous activities and artifacts involved in the performance of a software project. As a process framework, it is adaptable. The best-known such adaptation is RUP.