Agility counts in developing small-size software

A common question in practice is "what are the circumstances in which agile methodologies should be adopted for more effective software development?" For instance, is the agile method suited for the development of modern industrial automation software? Actually this is a hard problem to address, and the right answer can be determined only by the requirements and constraints of each individual project. The size of projects in the industrial automation arena varies from small-size software with limited specific functionality to large-scale software systems with comprehensive functionality and rigorous requirements. A number of agilists are seeking ways to expand the use of agile methodologies for efficient development of larger software-intensive projects and effective management of distributed development teams. However, for safety-critical industrial automation software development, caution should be exercised in employing agile methodologies, as the detailed analysis of each software elements is needed and the system may have intense interactions with other software and hardware systems.