E-Business
10 Things CIOs Need to Know About Agile Development- Gartner

Gartner Inc. has reiterated that chief information officers (CIOs) are under pressure to support fast-evolving digital business scenarios but are finding traditional project and development methods unsuitable.
According to Gartner, enterprises are increasingly turning to agile development to speed up projects and illustrate their value.
Speaking ahead of the Gartner Application Architecture, Development and Integration Summit in Sydney this month, Nathan Wilson, research director at Gartner, said that executed well, use of agile methods has the capability to transform IT-business relationships and have a major positive impact on IT value delivery.
However, the value will be delivered only if the CIO and the entire IT management team are dedicated to the culture change that is necessary for success.
“Done well, agile development can be an integral part of the portfolio of methods that the CIO uses to deal with increasing business demand for innovation,” said Mr. Wilson. “Done badly, agile development will create a lot more problems than it solves.”
Gartner has identified 10 guiding principles for agile development:
Agile Is Not One Thing
Agile development methodologies are a set of approaches to software development that share a common philosophy but are sharply distinguished in the details of their implementations.
They therefore tend to be adapted to different sorts of problems.
Sophisticated organizations with a lot of experience may well use more than one of these approaches, but an organization that is getting started should select one approach and master it before attempting other approaches.
Agile Is Not A “Pick’n Mix” Methodology
Agile methods are highly systematic. Every component element of the methodology is crucial to the success of the methodology.
A common mistake is for an organization to embrace some elements of an agile methodology, such as the sprint, but to ignore or play down other elements, such as managing “technical debt.”
Such organizations enjoy the kudos that comes from rapid development and release of new code, but they are storing up trouble by failing to address technical debt.
Embracing Agile Is A Joint Business-IT Activity
The full benefits of agile cannot be achieved without engaging with business leaders, management and the user community.
If the rest of the business does not have an immediate appetite for working in a new way, careful planning and communication will be needed to bring different communities of managers and users on board.
With Agile, It Is Important To Walk Before You Try Running
Experienced agile practitioners can tackle large-scale developments — the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.
But it takes many years to develop the necessary skills to be able to take on such large-scale software projects. Any organization that is starting out on the agile journey needs to start in the foothills to develop the confidence and competence to take on larger tasks.
Embracing Agile Is Embracing Continuous Learning
Agile practitioners must be committed to continuous improvement in quality and cost-effectiveness, which means that every development is analyzed for lessons that can be used to improve policies and working practices.
This analysis and learning are not the responsibility of a small number of senior practitioners; they are fundamental components of the workload of all agile practitioners.
Furthermore, the learning is not just appropriate to the programmers who are directly involved in software development; it is also essential for all the related skills, such as project management, architecture, quality assurance and IT budget management.
Agile Is About Teams And Teams Of Teams
The basic organizational unit of delivery in agile development is a small team, typically expressed as “seven, plus or minus two” people — both developers and quality assurance.
From an HR perspective, managing agile teams involves walking a fine line between keeping productive teams together and moving individuals between teams to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas.
If people are moved too frequently, the teams fail to develop into highly productive units; if people are not moved between teams enough, then each team starts to become isolated and diverges from the other teams.
It is important to note that physical location of teams is much more important with agile methods than with conventional approaches to development.
Documenting, Managing And Eliminating Technical Debt Is A Core Concept Of All Agile Methods
Technical debt is the difference between the state of a piece of software today and the state that it needs to be in to meet appropriate and necessary requirements for quality attributes such as reliability, performance efficiency, portability, usability, maintainability and security.
All development creates technical debt.
The difference with agile methods is that technical debt is recognized and added to the backlog, not swept under the carpet. Any organization that seeks to embrace agile methods must put in place the necessary elements of the chosen method dedicated to ruthless refactoring and the elimination of technical debt.
Working With Third-Party Development Service Providers On Agile Development Demands Special Care And Attention
Many user IT organizations have a long history of outsourcing application development to specialist service providers.
While there is a role for service providers in agile development, it is a very different commercial model and a very different engagement model.
Since colocation with business users is axiomatic to agile methods, the opportunities for sending large amounts of work offshore are somewhat limited, so some form of supplemental staffing is likely to be a more useful model.
The Impact Of Agile Goes Well Beyond The Software Development Teams
An integral component of the agile methodologies is the concept of “continuous delivery.”
Agile methodologies are predicated on continuous engagement with business managers and users, and lead to the delivery of a continuous stream of new and modified software into the operational environment.
This demands significant changes in working practices for both business governance and relationship management and the infrastructure and operations teams.
Other Software Development Methodologies Will Still Have A Place In Your Portfolio
In most commercial and public sector organizations, the application portfolio will present many different classes of development problems, some of which will be well-suited to agile, while some may be better-suited to incremental, iterative development and some to a modified waterfall model.
Agile is not “better”; it is simply better-adapted to some problems, but not so well-adapted to others.
E-Business
Check Point Reveals Nigeria as Second Most Targeted African Country for Cyberattacks in November

The November 2025 Global Threat Intelligence report released by Check Point Research on Tuesday, shows Nigerian organisations faced an average of 3,374 cyberattacks per week.

Making the country as one of the primary targets for cybercriminals in Africa last month, with a record of a staggering volume of digital threats despite an overall decline in attacks across the continent.
The report shows that this figure places Nigeria second among the four major African nations analysed, trailing only Angola, which topped the list with 4,251 weekly attacks per organisation.
While Africa as a whole saw a 13 percent year-on-year decrease in cyber incidents, Nigeria’s high numbers reveal a persistent vulnerability within its digital infrastructure. Kenya and South Africa followed Nigeria with 2,384 and 1,863 weekly attacks, respectively.
The report also identified government institutions and financial services as the most targeted sectors across Africa. Globally, the education and research sector remained the most frequent victim, hit by an average of 4,656 attacks per week.
A significant highlight of the report is the emerging threat posed by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). Check Point Research found that one in every 35 GenAI prompts submitted within corporate networks globally posed a high risk of sensitive data leakage.
In Nigeria and abroad, employees are increasingly using AI tools that operate outside of formal security frameworks. The report noted that 87 percent of organisations using GenAI were affected by ‘high-risk’ prompts, which often included the input of proprietary code, customer data, or internal communications into public AI models.
Ransomware continues to be a primary tool for extortion, with global incidents rising by 22 percent year-on-year. While North America remains the most targeted region for ransomware, the impact is increasingly felt in emerging markets like Nigeria.
The most active ransomware groups identified in November were Qilin, Clop, and Akira, which primarily targeted industrial manufacturing and consumer goods sectors.
E-Business
JustMarkets Launches Global Boost Contest With Gold Prizes for Traders

JustMarkets, a worldwide broker with more than 12 years of experience in the online trading realm, is launching the Boost Contest, which represents a large-scale trading activity with the purpose of motivating traders, with the most proficient traders being awarded for their exceptional performance through a number of valuable prizes. This activity will last until the 31st of January, 2026.

JustMarkets
A Competition Developed with the Goal of Providing More Opportunities for Traders Worldwide
Boost Contest competition participants will be traders with Standard, Pro, or Raw Spread accounts of the MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 platforms.
To participate, traders will only be required to have a minimum account balance of $100 with a minimum of 3 traded lots. These were the requirements set for participants. Of course, the purpose of such a competition is for every broker client to participate. At the same time, however, JustMarkets sought to encourage traders to conduct in-depth analysis, different strategies, risk, and discipline. It was with this objective that this form of competition was established.
Multiple-tier rewards system with real gold
What sets the Boost Contest apart is the Weekly Lucky Draws component, in which traders compete for real gold prizes, awarded in three levels, based on their cumulative trading volume achieved through the competition:
Tier I (more than 100 lots): 15 grams of gold (3 winners)
Tier II (50-99 lots): Gold worth 10 grams (5 winners)
Tier III (10-49 lots): 5 grams of gold (7 winners)
This competition design thus provides traders with different levels of activity with the same opportunity of benefiting from valuable rewards.
Weekly Draws to Encourage Continued Participation
Apart from the top-level prizes, the competition also includes a series of weekly prizes. Traders participating in the competition will qualify for entry into the draw if they execute a minimum of three trades per week. Five lucky traders will be awarded $200 every week.
The introduction of the Boost Contest meets JustMarkets long-term obligations in:
Engaging traders through effective rewards programs
Fostering regular and organized trading practices
Enhancing transparency and integrity within all promotion endeavors
Offering a welcoming space where traders with different skill sets can participate
This reflects the purpose of JustMarkets, which is not only to offer traders good trading terms but also opportunities that add value to the entire trading experience.
A Global Platform Built on Trust and Innovation
As a globally recognized trading platform, JustMarkets continues to invest in initiatives that elevate client experience while adhering to high operational standards. The company maintains a robust technological infrastructure, offers multilingual support, and upholds strict security principles, all foundational elements behind long-term client trust.
The Boost Contest shows JustMarkets dedication to create a convenient and transparent trading environment where everyone can reach their full investment potential by clear rules, transparent rewards, and a stable trading ecosystem.
E-Business
Microsoft Empowers 350,000 more Nigerians with AI Skills

Microsoft, in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria, Data Science Nigeria, and Lagos Business School, today announced a major milestone in its AI National Skills Initiative (AINSI), with more than 350,000 Nigerians reached with AI skills through the programme. This achievement builds on Microsoft’s longstanding partnership with the government, which has delivered digital training to over 4 million people since 2021.

Microsoft
The milestone underscores Nigeria’s commitment to inclusive, technology-driven growth and reflects strong progress in preparing individuals and organisations to thrive in the digital economy.
“Nigeria cannot afford to wait,” said Abideen Yusuf, General Manager, Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana. “AI is reshaping every sector, and the countries that move fastest on skills will lead. We must equip people now, at scale and with intent, so the immense opportunity presented by AI doesn’t pass us by.”
Olayinka David-West, Dean of Lagos Business School, emphasised this point: “AI skilling is no longer optional for Nigeria’s digital future—it is the foundation of our competitiveness. At Lagos Business School, we believe that equipping leaders and citizens with AI capabilities is essential for driving inclusive growth, innovation, and national transformation.”
As it stands, a significant percentage of Nigerian graduates are still to acquire digital skills, highlighting the importance of workforce readiness. Launched in January, the second phase of the Nigeria skilling programme, under Microsoft’s AINSI, aims to reach 1 million citizens over three years, strengthening Nigeria’s AI capability and national competitiveness. AINSI is helping drive a range of different programmes designed to embed AI skills across every sector of the economy.
Empowering organisational leaders
Over the past year, AINSI has advanced ethical and inclusive AI leadership in Nigeria’s public sector. Working with Lagos Business School, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Microsoft has trained 99 public sector leaders, including Members of the National Assembly and senior executives from 58 ministries and agencies. These sessions equipped leaders with strategies for AI-powered reporting and sector-specific roadmaps.
Equipping developers for the future
Developer-focused programmes are creating a strong pipeline of technical talent. Through government-driven initiatives like Developers in Government (DevsInGov) and the 3 Million Technical Talent initiative, led by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, developers in public sectors have gained new skills. Around 645 participants have been trained in analytics and AI integration. Another 1,000 developers learned advanced skills in areas such as DevOps, machine learning and data science. These efforts are helping Nigeria’s workforce prepare for the future by advancing AI fluency across the digital ecosystem.
Bringing AI skills to every tech user
To reach everyday tech users, developers, and business leaders, Microsoft hosted a flagship programme, Microsoft AI Skills Week – engaging over 235,000 participants through AI digital literacy workshops, business leader strategy sessions and an Agentic AI hackathon. Partnering with VISA, TeKnowledge, UNICEF, Data Science Nigeria, and Lagos Business School, the initiative trained more than 11,400 individuals and certified over 1,700. A standout moment was the Agentic AI hackathon, showcasing innovative solutions for document verification, risk assessment, and fraud detection, demonstrating the real-world impact of AI skills in fintech.
“Our collaboration with Microsoft has demonstrated that AI readiness requires coordinated investment across every stakeholder group — government, developers, educators, and communities. By building capacity for evidence-driven governance, responsible innovation, classroom integration, and community adoption, we are laying the foundation for a globally competitive workforce. True digital transformation happens when the entire ecosystem moves forward together,” commented Dr. Bayo Adekanmbi, CEO/Founder, Data Science Nigeria.
Looking ahead, Microsoft and its partners will continue driving Nigeria’s digital transformation through targeted upskilling in AI and cybersecurity, expanded access to AI education, and ongoing developer training. These activities aim to build local expertise at all levels and support Nigeria’s young population in taking an active role in Africa’s digital future.
“Nigeria is on track to capture 43% of Africa’s projected $136 billion AI-driven productivity gains by 2030,” concluded Yusuf. “By collaborating with the government to equip leaders, developers, and tech users, we’re building a future-ready workforce and helping Nigerians adopt and adapt the technology, thereby maximising its potential.”
E-Financial2 days agoSupreme Court Clears Fidelity Bank in ₦225bn Sagecom Saga
E-Financial2 days agoPreventing Financial Crimes Amid Mounting Insecurity: Why Following the Money is Now a Survival Imperative
E-Financial2 days agoUnion Bank Clinches Top Workplace Practice Honour at Sustainability Awards
Broadcasting2 days agoDavido, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Karl Toriola, Others To Be Honoured At The Most Influential People of African Descent Awards In Lagos
Telecom2 days agoNITDA Charts Path for Kano as Innovation Hub
News1 day agoSiBAN New Executive Council to Champion Vision for Nigeria’s Digital Economy
Telecom1 day agoNCC Blames NOGASA for Abuja Outage
E-Financial1 day agoTax Reform or Financial Exclusion? The Trouble with Mandatory TINs













