Perceived impact of agile principles: Insights from a survey-based study on agile software development project success

Context: Agile methodology has emerged as a fundamental framework guiding software development projects, emphasizing values and principles for achieving successful project outcomes. Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of agile principles, there remains a gap in empirical research investigating their actual impact on agile project success. Objective: This research aims to examine the relationship between agile principles and project outcomes and provide empirical evidence supporting the importance of agile principles in achieving success in agile software development (ASD) projects. Method: A total of 298 Agile project practitioners participated in an online survey between August and September 2023 to test this study's research model using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. Results: We find a significant relationship between adopting agile principles and project success, with regular delivery, technical excellence, team member proactivity, and customer collaboration showing the highest impact on Agile project success. However, process simplicity was found not to be significant in the study. Conclusions: Our analysis verifies the importance of Agile principles and suggests areas for further study to successfully understand their impact on Agile projects. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on agile principles and their impact on software development project success, opening avenues for future research and the refinement of agile methodologies. These insights could assist organizations in optimizing Agile practices and decision-making, leading to more successful and efficient software development projects.