SAR 

Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52-62, ISSN 2619-9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51-07 March 2022. 

A Comparative Case Study of

Waterfall and Agile Management
Renad Mokhtar, Mashael Khayyat

Department of Information Systems and Technology, College of Computer Science and Engineering,
University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract – This paper represents a real case study Project management is accomplished through the
provided in a medium-size insurance company based appropriate application and integration of the project
on analysis that has been made regarding whether to management processes identified for the project.
apply the agile methodology of project management or Project management enables organizations to execute
traditional methods of project management.
projects effectively and efficiently [1]. Nowadays,
Researchers and end-users agreed that agile methods
are more effective in projects and have added value in projects have become a key factor in all
a very short time compared to the traditional waterfall organizations. Moreover, every project needs a
approach. The research analysis has been conducted project manager, who is capable of initiating,
based on data acquired through a survey from the planning, designing, executing, monitoring, and
respondent associated insurance company. Further, it controlling. Even if the project managers were
is demonstrated that the use of the agile methodology qualified, they still needed to follow the standard
in insurance companies in Saudi Arabia is more proposed procedures to achieve a successful project.
helpful than the waterfall methodology because of the There are many ways to approach an effective and
quality-related outcomes it offers to the project efficient project inside any enterprise. However, the
managers.
most used these days are Waterfall & Agile.
Keywords – Agile, Waterfall, Sprint, Project Project management is significant for every
Management, methodology, Product Development, organization because it confirms the estimation of a
phases, and requirements. project, how to be done and delivered, when and the
price of that project is set by the team of project
1. Introduction management. It confirms that the given project has
real value for the opportunity of the organization.
Project management is the application of Better project management can ensure that project's
knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project main objectives clearly merge with the organization's
activities in order to meet the project requirements. strategic objectives [2]. Project management helps
organizations confirm that an accurate plan is present
to perform strategic objectives and goals. Suppose it
DOI: 10.18421/SAR51-07  is left to the members to arrange the project by
https://doi.org/10.18421/SAR51-07  themselves. In that case, the organization may find
Corresponding author: Mashael Khayyat, 
that the team is working without accurate
Department  of  Information  Systems  and  Technology,  information and data and without applying the
College of Computer Science and Engineering,University of  method described before the project is given [3].
Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Project management is essential because it offers
Email: mkhayyat@uj.edu.sa guidance and leadership in a project; if it is not
present in any project, then it may go with no
Received:   02 February 2022.  guidance, control, or aim. The leadership from the
Revised:     14 March 2022.  senior to team members may enable them to do their
Accepted:  19 March 2022.  best in a project, and it helps to give vision,
Published:  28 March 2022.  motivation, training, and inspire the team to do their
   2022  Renad  Mokhtar,  Mashael  Khayyat;  best in a project [4].
published  by  UIKTEN.  This    work    is   The Aim
licensed  under  the  CC BY‐NC 4.0.    The paper will capture the pros and cons of
implementing Agile or Waterfall in project
The  article  is  published  with  Open  Access  at  management, and also, to show a real case study on
www.sarjournal.com  an insurance company that has used both approaches.

52      SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022. 
 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022.
By achieving these aims, the researcher in this study
intends to identify how different project management
styles can be implemented within the insurance
industry and the ways of the employees regarding
this process of integration. This research aims to
identify the future implications of using agile
Waterfall project methodologies in research.
 Significance
The paper will make recommendations to project
managers, leaders, and even students who are willing
to enrich their knowledge on such a field and will be
a powerful reference to whom would work or use
these methods. The other key objective of conducting
this research is to conduct a critical analysis
regarding the two major project management tools
and methodologies and how they can assist in
carrying out the operations within the insurance
companies.
 Background
In the project management industry, many well-
known approaches have been implemented since day
one, and among those are agile project management
and waterfall project management.
 Waterfall
Waterfall in project management involves plotting
the project in different and continuous stages, with
every stage starting after the first stage has been
finished. It is the system using the most traditional
way to manage a project when the members of a
team are working in a linear way to a fixed end
objective. By this method, everyone involved in the
project has a clear and definite part of the project,
and no stages or objectives are estimated to change.
Every member of the team is working properly and
has a role in mind and completing their work [5].
Waterfall in project management can be important in
a detailed and large project which needs a complete
idea to complete that project according to the stages
set, and the second stage of the project cannot be
started without completing the first stage. Because a
defined timeline is necessary for large projects and
variations in the timeline may be expensive and
discourage [6].
The waterfall software development method is
used for some primary needs of the product and strict
regulatory requirements. When the project has strict
direction for the requirements, minimal changes and
modifications can be made [7]. Also, the waterfall
strategy is the best and more suitable for the project
in an organization where strong and strict procedures
are followed, and for this rigorous procedure, agile
strategy can be challenging for the organization [8].
When the owner of a product does not want to be
involved in managing the project, then the waterfall
strategy may allow contribution only at the time of
innovatory and large projects, mainly when the
potentials from a project and its requirements are
SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022.                                                                                                                                    53
 
described in detail at the beginning [9]. The waterfall
strategy can be more fit in the development of a
current product when the organization's staff
members are offering the development in a current
legacy product where all its effects are well known
and have to interface with the product that is
identified or present [10].
Projects comprise the project's schedule and
timeline, which are fixed and cannot be changed and
when the project's financial plan is given and cannot
be increased [11]. The waterfall method can be
useful for the project when it is controlled by price or
timeline; the needs of the project and its opportunity
are well known. This method gives a set of
procedures that depend on the agreement's value by
the previous stage. It requires working in linear
stages and never starts the second stage before the
end of the first one [12].
The result of using the waterfall method is that it
does excellent work giving a defined feature set
according to the given financial plan or time.
 Agile
Agile project management is a repeated strategy
that helps manage the development project of
software that works on constant issues combining it
with customer feedback. It contains the short project
cycles, continuous analysis, and adaption
simultaneously covering many teams' work [13].
It provides benefits to the person who is working
alone with their selected method instead of following
the linear way. One of the purposes of an agile
strategy is to offer advantages in a whole operation
more than only once at the end of the project. The
agile projects should focus more on showing the core
value and performance of faith, authorization,
flexibility, and relationship [14].
It focuses on giving individuals authority and their
connections with the project early and bringing
continuous value into an organization. Agile project
management concentrates on providing more value to
the organization's priorities in time and within the
given budget, mainly when the project's risk is less
than its delivery [15].
When the project has limited primary needs and
does not need to meet the strict or firm regulations,
an agile development method may result in project
inspiration and reduced time to market [16]. The
agile approach will help the organization where strict
rules do not need to be followed, and the
organizations have the luxury to work with flexibility
[17].
When the owner of a product wants to be involved
in managing the project, the agile method may allow
the owner to contribute to a project. The owner is a
part of the project team and the owner of the product
necessities and can assess the product opportunity
and its operations [16]. Moreover, the agile software
 
 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022.
development method may be useful and helpful for
the team trying to create innovations in the
production method that was not present before. It
helps the product owner find the elements of a
project and its necessities innovatively [18].
When the organization has to deliver the project in
a short period, then using an agile approach may be
suitable and right for that project, in which
procedures and results are more essential than the
large requirements and documentation [19].
Furthermore, an agile approach is the best for a
project with a flexible budget and offers more rapidly
to the market with a change in a financial plan. If the
change's invaluable effects are helpful for the
organization, then an agile strategy is right because
sometimes changing valuable features can be
beneficial for the organization. It also needs a little
added time and extra money to implement [20].
Agile can offer more effect to the organization in a
short period and provides flexibility in the team's
procedures, which can be beneficial for the
opportunities of the projects.
 Problem Statement
The problem that has been studied in the proposed
research is related to the identification of the benefits
and challenges of different project management
methodologies such as agile Waterfall along with the
ways through which they can be applied within
projects in construction industries.
2. Literature Review
The knowledge area related to project management
that has been selected is project quality management.
This is because the aspect of quality management in
the case of project management is based on
incorporating all the key elements of quality that can
be used to improve the overall efficiency of a project.
According to [21], the waterfall technique in the
context of project quality can be used. In accordance
with this particular methodology the tasks can be
performed in a sequential manner. Hence, there is
minimal possibility of any overlapping. In addition to
that, all these phases are extensive documents that
assist in proper auditing of the projects that are being
conducted. However, it is argued by [22] that the
problem with the adoption of waterfall projects is
that they are generally not considered suitable for
complex projects, which sort of decreases their utility
for the project managers. Therefore, it is suggested
by [23] that in order to make appropriate use of the
waterfall technique in a particular project, it is
important that the previous phase is completed before
the start of a new phase. In this way, the authors
believe that there are possibilities of reducing the
benefits of the waterfall model of project
management. In addition to that, implementing this
technique can be considered useful in improving the
overall quality of the projects.
54                                                                                                                        SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022.
 
Apart from the waterfall technique, the other
technique of project management that is needed to be
applied in different projects is agile methodology.
According to [24], agile method in the case of a
project is based on the development of short cycles
that can be considered as sprints that focus on
constant improvements within a product or service
development. Furthermore, it is stated [25], that there
are different benefits to be achieved with the help of
the application of the agile methodology in project
management, such as an increase in the overall focus
on the specific needs of the customers along with the
reduction of waste. In addition to that, there are
benefits required to be gained by applying the agile
methodology, such as having better controls on the
outcomes of a project and being flexible enough to
manage the issue of unforeseen circumstances within
a project.
In contrast to the benefits of the agile methodology
illustrated above, some limitations and shortcomings
cannot be ignored. One of these is related to poor
planning regarding the resources which needed to be
allocated for a project [26]. In contrast, it is argued
by [27], that the problem with the application of the
agile methodology in project management is that it
lacks documentation of different activities that are
part of a particular project. Therefore, it makes it
difficult for a project manager to document and
monitor other activities that are being performed
within a project.
 Comparative Study of Waterfall Vs Agile in
the Light of Literature Waterfall
The developers need some stages like planning,
analysis, design, and implementation, which can be
followed by a software development life cycle
(SDLC) (see Figure 2). Many models for software
development life cycles have been made, such
Waterfall, agile, quick prototyping, spiral, and V-
Model; among them, the waterfall strategy is the
oldest and most well-known. It contains various
stages towards the completion of a project, and the
outcome of every stage converts into the input of the
next step. Therefore, the primary stage has to be done
each time and then move to the second stage. The
waterfall project may complete the project after the
specified time; therefore, it is necessary to work in
linear stages and never start the second stage before
the end of the first one. For this purpose, planning is
an essential feature of a waterfall strategy, which
allows the team to complete their project on time by
working in sequence [28]. The project manager's role
is to find out how the team can accomplish large
productivity by using fewer resources and little
expenses, workers, and time. It may help increase the
development procedure by keeping all workers
working on completing the project and reducing time
waste [29].
 
 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022.
 Pros
The findings of [30], did not agree with the
findings of the current research as its stated that the
advantage of the waterfall method is that the
planning and designing of a project are created by the
team and customers because they initially settle for
the result. As every participant of the project knows
all deliverables, the design can be achieved easily
[30]. One of the significant benefits of the waterfall
strategy is that the project can be appropriately
achieved within the estimated price resources and
timeline. This method may help measure the progress
of the project because all opportunity of the project is
known earlier, which may be the cause of minimum
chances to delay. The procedures can be simply
copied for the same projects [31].
 Cons
The analysis presented by [9] agreed with the
findings of the research as he stated that the waterfall
method assumes that the users have a full hold on the
project needs, but this is inaccurate. The user may
have different knowledge about the result than the
delivered one, which may cause changes or rework
and may be expensive and take too much time as the
waterfall strategy adopts the linear method, which is
not so flexible for unpredicted events and cannot
assume the changes quickly [9]. One of the
disadvantages of the waterfall method is that it is not
perfect for a large and challenging project as it uses
linear tactics. Issues in the waterfall method can only
be recognized in the testing stage, and the working
product can be achieved in the last stage [32]. There
are five elements of Waterfall project methodology
(see Figure1).
Figure 1. Elements of Waterfall project methodology
 Challenges
The waterfall method is not suitable for the
organization that uses the technology and expertise
because a project can be completed by requirements,
design, testing, and coding in the waterfall
development method, which works with each
module. Every single stage of the software project
includes method that can be risky because everything
is regularly changing, and by this method, an
organization can quickly update the system [33].
SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022.                                                                                                                                    55
 
The waterfall method gives the outcome at the end
of the project due to which the client or developer
cannot understand where they are now while waiting
for the project completion. Due to this, a large risk
exists in the waterfall method as neither clients nor
developers know when the project will be delivered
or received which usually takes too much time for
controlling the damage. There is a risk with this
method that no one can check the project until the
project is finished [34].
 Usage
The works of waterfall project management are
collected by the types of procedures, and every
project follows a similar pattern. The more suitable
way is starting with the requirements than designing,
coding, testing, and at last operations towards the
objectives [35].
Requirements: The organization analyzes the
requirements needs and gets the information on
which software can be used.
Design: The organization select the methods, make
strategies, and idea for software production.
Coding: The organization finds out a way to solve
the issues and write down the codes.
Testing: The organization checks the codes and
makes sure that codes are doing the same thing
without any problems and issues.
Operations: The organization arranges codes in an
invention atmosphere and gives support.
 Agile
The term Agile was introduced in the early 1990s
by some articles, which depend on the developers
finding a new strategy and method for the
development procedures of software. Agile software
development is a perception, idea, and technique
introduced for the reaction of long-rising defeats and
obstructions by using the waterfall methodology. It
helps the organization for an iterative strategy in
developing software with smaller development
cycles with low weight and many other results. The
agile method contains an iterative approach for
developing software that can be done in an extremely
cooperative manner by self-regulating teams in an
efficient work schedule [36].
The agile approach has been used and applied by
most organizations. A routine of agile project
management is for more than three years as a method
of variation and conversion for an organization. The
agile approach is mostly used in the software
development process. The agile project management
increased the popularity in the domain due to the
contrast with the old method, which is a waterfall
approach. The agile approach offers an organization
a more flexible, effective, and outcome-led way of
recognizing its development system. Following this,
this approach's routine has extended quickly in every
section and most of the organization's functions [37].
 
 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022.
 Pros
The agile method can be beneficial to keep up with
the new requirements in the industry. Every business
market is changing the agile strategy to help the
developers adjust to the new requirements and design
quickly through short planning cycles. It focuses on
delivering the project within the time limit and
provides more flexibility to the project when it is
delivered to the clients [38]. As maintenance exists in
the agile method, the project improves significantly.
The vital effect of project management is the
improvement, and the agile strategy is continuously
improving as the awareness is useful for the next one
[39].
One of the major benefits of the agile method is
that it involves the project owners and all
shareholders make important decisions about the
project. In the agile method, communication with the
shareholders will be helpful for the team to know
whether the project is done on priority and accuracy.
The issues with the requirement are spotted quickly
and resolve it which may help to save valuable time,
prices, and struggles. It engages and links all the
participants of a project to each other by which
everyone is on the same understanding about the
anticipations and delivery of requirements [40].
 Cons
The agile method can be a drawback for any
project due to the project manager's regular planning,
which can confuse the developer and mismanage the
time. As the project managers are present ahead in
the project's progress and keep in touch with the
resource continuously about the time and struggles
need to complete the project. The agile strategy
requires expert resources and excellent
communication skills to work efficiently with the
team and provide the complete project on the
deadline. It takes too much time to find out expert
resources and exceptional communication skills [41].
One of the agile method's main drawbacks is that
most people cannot identify the meaning of agile,
which may cause making assumptions that are not
supported by the development teams. Sometimes, to
escape the drawback in the agile method, some
shareholders may offer some modifications in the
meetings' current requirements [42].
 Challenges
The agile method can face challenges due to the
variations in the project method. The developer may
face difficulty in adopting the new habits and
requirements in a project. The organization may
receive the developer's comments that "this is the
56                                                                                                                        SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022.
 
way we are always working and now change in the
method will not work here". It is an easy way to
work with old procedures and adapting the change
can make a developer work wrongly [13].
The organization's requirements and documents
involved with the shareholders and analysts may be
new to the agile method. By using the agile
methodology developer cannot get a clear message or
what a project owner wants from them due to a lack
of skills from the project owner's business side. The
project owner always wants to get the best result
initially, but due to his involvement, the developers
might face difficulty in completing the project [16].
Some organizations and project owners want to
identify the benefits of a project and the expense to
complete it. As in the agile method, the result cannot
be estimated, so it is not easy to know the cost and
benefits or whether the developer will make the
project entirely. Therefore, it is better to see the cost
and time for a project's detailed requirements, its
exploration and design, and planning to complete it.
To overcome this challenge, developers should
review the conditions and design them regularly [43].
 Usage
Agile project management mainly focuses on
giving more opportunities to the organization in
delivering the project on time within the estimated
budget. A large project is broken into small tasks that
are then arranged and organized by the team
regarding its importance [44].
The models of the agile methodology are given
below:
Analysis: All critical data and information should
be collected and analyzed by which upcoming issues
can be solved.
Design: In this stage, the entire design and plan of
the project are formed.
Implementation: It is also known as coding, in
which the features of a designed project are
implemented, and the basic code is generated.
Testing: To check the project and resolve the
issues in the code. The progress of the project should
be tested regularly and fix all the problems until the
perfect project reveals.
Deployment: When the software has been checked
and the all-important iteration is done, then the
project is provided to clients. It is the deployment
stage.
Maintenance: Maintenance of software is essential
because if the user got any problems and hurdles in
the software, it should be fixed quickly.
 
 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022. 

 Discussion
The analysis has been made considering the
findings that were derived through the section of the
results. The findings that were gained suggested that
it is vital to identify the measures that can be
successfully applied within the projects in the
insurance industry.
The findings that were provided through the survey
by the respondents suggested that out of the two
project methodologies, the agile the agile
methodology could be safely considered as most
suitable and useful in many terms. As seen in Figure
Figure 2. Agile SDLC
3, the most important useful terms are illustrated.
 Case Study Moreover, it enables the project managers to be
This case study is concerning the insurance flexible and complete projects efficiently as
company in Saudi Arabia, which is real. The compared to the waterfall methodology. The findings
company owns 300 employees working in that gained from the respondents also stated that the use
company with an essential role in delivering the of agile is considered more helpful in terms of
projects. The company comes in the top 5 insuring achieving quality-related outcomes of a project.
companies working locally. The company offers
many types of insurance for a single person or a
corporate level. The waterfall strategy brings
challenges and problems for the company like delay
in the project delivery, impossibility to understand
the requirements, failure in the end result which
causes to hold the project or rearrange it, the
requirements or coding is stable and cannot be
changed and is not able to fix the issues. The stages
of a project may take too much time to complete it.
Therefore, the company decided to implement new Figure 3. Benefits of Applying Agile  
methods and objectives in 2020. The method
includes updates from the waterfall approach to an Having reliable data in any scientific paper is
agile approach; for example, the team and project's necessary. In fact, reaching that level of reliability in
size, the project requirements and necessities, the secondary data is difficult since it has lacked
company's reliability, and changes which is requested knowledge. Therefore, this research paper combines
by the product owner at the time of working on the primary data with secondary; to cover the gap of
project. It can be a challenge for the entire company secondary data and to increase the quality of the
to change Waterfall to agile because the change in research. Figure 4 shows the workflow of an
the way of working is also necessary when insurance company that follows agile methodology in
conducting the different projects from all its projects.
departments and sections, especially for the IT
department, which owns all the projects and is
responsible for delivering it on time. The company
can change Waterfall to agile for providing a better
project. Learning and training may help the
employees adopt the agile method, leading to
underline the change of thinking. The team can be
focused on the advantages and how the company can
involve the project owner, who confirms that every
task gets the deserved attention and offer to market
quickly. The agile method may be beneficial when
the communication between the project participants Figure 4. Agile Workflow of an Insurance Company
is regular, giving a clear message or understanding of
the project.

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In addition, Figure 4 illustrates how the agile collection of preliminary data might be costly in
process is applied in the insurance company. The contrast with the secondary data. Therefore, it is not
process starts with gathering requirements with the an easy job to gather primary data. Some studies are
stakeholders' involvement, then initiating an complicated and need commitment; in such cases, it
adjustable plan from the senior project manager. is impossible to get the preliminary data [47].
Those team members are assigned to specific
responsibilities and within a timeframe for each 4. Results and Discussion
phase. After the requirement is analyzed, the
designers start to design the UI/UX interfaces by The first question that was asked about the
prototypes. These prototypes are reviewed by respondents' awareness about the two project
stakeholders and can be modified at any phase of the methodologies (Waterfall and Agile) (see Figure 5).
process as it may go through many rounds of Out of the 82 respondents who participated, 78%
improvements until it meets stakeholders' needs. reported that they have heard about both agile and
Now we move to a vital phase, which is Waterfall.
product/service development. The purpose of this
phase is to deliver a workable product at the end of
the iteration. Of course, the developer can support the
stakeholders by adding more sprints to improve the
product itself. Since the product is deployed and
ready in the testing environment, the agile team and
stakeholders start testing, validating, and verifying
the product/service functionality and rectifying
defects or errors if they exist. Furthermore, after all
the fixes and changes are applied, the project Figure 5. Methodology Knowledge
manager evaluates the current product and notifies The second question was related to the choice of
the agile team that this product is ready to pass into one methodology on more than one project. 44% of
the production phase, based on the evaluation results. the respondents indicated their tendency to use both
Meanwhile, if the stakeholders have requested a new Waterfall and agile; whereas 35% of them stated that
change or do some modifications, they are acceptable they would use agile. Only 13% said that they used
and can get backward in the process and add them only the waterfall methodology (see Figure 6).
easily. During the production phase, the agile team
has to ensure that the product is being launched
successfully. Note that customer experience is taken
into consideration in each step of the iteration. Thus,
the agile team continually supports the stakeholders
for the deployed release.

3. Methodology

The primary data is a research method in which the Figure 6. Used methodology
researcher gets the data and information all by
themselves. The method includes surveys, interviews The third question was related to completing the
or testing which is gathered by the researcher project on time by using the waterfall methodology.
according to the research project directly from 40% of the respondents stated yes, whereas, almost
primary sources [45]. The advantage of primary data 26% of them disagreed with this statement. The
is specific according to the researcher's necessity remaining 34% of them were not sure about this
during the data collection. The researcher has full issue (see Figure 7).
authority on collected data and information. He can
select the design, method and technique of analyzing
the data because of having full control over the
collected data. The validity of primary data can
be reliable because it is not a matter of personal
biases, and the data is perfect. The collected
information is not from the previous sources;
therefore, it is up to date as it got in real-time [46].
On the contrary, the primary data drawback is that it
might consume too much time for the researcher. The Figure 7. Waterfall Meets Deadline

58                                                                                                                        SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022. 
 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022. 

In contrast to the previous question, the

respondents in the fourth question were asked about
their opinion regarding the timely completion of
projects that are being completed using the agile
methodology question stated (Do you think that
project following Agile methodology was completed
on time?). Over 57% of them stated that yes; the use
of agile methods helps complete projects in a timely  
manner. Just over 29% of them said that they are not Figure 10. Waterfall Phases
sure; whereas only 13% believed that agile
methodology did not help in completing projects in a Then, the seventh question was: From your
timely manner (see Figure 8). experience, what are the main disadvantages of
Waterfall methodology? Around 38% believe that
there are different kinds of drawbacks associated
with Waterfall methodology such as inflexible,
difficulty to deal with errors, and extensive length of
the documentation process (see Figure 11).

Figure 8. Agile Meets Deadline

Then, to obtain further information from the

respondents, the fifth question was related to which
methodology would be used to fulfill the
expectations and satisfaction of business. 58.5% of
the respondents believed that they think agile is the
most suitable methodology (see Figure 9).
Figure 11. Main Disadvantages of Waterfall methodology
Then, the respondents were asked whether they
found any advantage of using Waterfall methodology
on the project at which they were working. Many of
them, i.e., 61% of them, stated yes regarding this
statement. Moreover, a question about if they found
Waterfall has advantages, then select the best answer
that describes water fall methodology, and then the
majority of the respondents think Waterfall is a linear
methodology that requires minimum resources;
therefore, it is beneficial (see Figure 12).

Figure 9. Meeting business expectations and customer

satisfaction methodology

Since different stages are involved in the waterfall

methodology; therefore, the sixth question was as
follows: "In Waterfall projects, in which stage the
team faced issues?"
The survey results demonstrated that 30.5% of Figure 12. Waterfall Definition
them, stated that they met problems at the
requirement phase, whereas, 23% highlighted the Then some questions have been asked to enrich the
implementation phase as a significant problematic knowledge about the two methodologies as the
area. Altogether 22% of them were not sure about the following:
phase that is causing them the issue (see Figure 10).

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 SAR Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 52‐62, ISSN 2619‐9955, DOI: 10.18421/SAR51‐07 March 2022.
Regarding moving from Waterfall to Agile
methodology 68.3% of the responses reported that
they indeed faced challenges while moving from
waterfall to agile methodology, whereas 31.7 said no
they did not face challenges.
Then, to those who faced challenges, they have
been asked to identify the challenges that they have
been faced while applying the Agile methodology
(see Figure 13).
Figure 13. Faced Challenges
Figure 13 showed that the significant challenge
highlighted by the respondents in terms of the
application of agile methodology is the issue of
frequently changes.
In addition, since it was essential to compare the
two project methodologies as part of the purpose of
the research; 67% of the respondents feel that agile
methodology is more efficient in delivering projects
than the waterfall methodology. Agile methodology
was also identified as a source of bringing tangible
improvements in the projects by 84% of the
respondents. Considering the benefits of using the
agile methodology above 85% of them reported that
they intend to continue using the agile method of
project management. Moreover, out of the 82
individuals who took part in this research, more than
81% of them stated that they would recommend
using agile for mid-size and large companies.
5. Conclusion
The conclusion that can be derived through the
overall analysis in this research suggests that the use
of agile methodology within projects is better suited
for the project managers to achieve favorable project-
related outcomes compared to the waterfall
methodology. This is mainly because applying this
particular methodology helps in flexibly working on
different projects in insurance companies. Therefore,
insurance companies should incorporate the elements
of agile methods within their processes.
60                                                                                                                        SAR Journal – Volume 5 / Number 1 / 2022.
 
Different limitations can be linked with the
findings of this research. The first is that these
findings are only based on primary data, and
therefore the use of secondary data was completely
ignored. Furthermore, the availability of secondary
data in Saudi Arabia was not enough, especially in
the insurance industry.
The other limitation that we have identified as
significant in the case of current research is related to
the fact that the findings were limited to insurance
companies. Therefore, these findings would be
difficult to apply in the context of any other industry.
Some other limitations that created difficulties in
writing this research paper included the restriction of
time and cost. Since there was limited time to
complete the entire finding; therefore, it prevented
the researcher from analyzing in a further detailed
and in-depth manner.
Keeping into view the entire analysis that has been
presented throughout the research, the
recommendations that can be identified as important
are illustrated below.
The project managers of insurance companies in
Saudi Arabia should focus more on agile
methodology as compared to waterfall methods
because of the extensive degree of benefits that are to
be gained through agile methodology. However, in
other cases, analysis needs to be conducted about
how a proper combination of waterfall and agile
project methodology can be used. The rationale for
doing so is that it can result in improving the overall
quality of a project.
And at last, we can remember the quote by
Frederic Douglass "If there is no struggle there is no
progress."
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