Disciplined Agile
Also known as: DA; DAD
PMI's hybrid agile framework providing a toolkit of practices drawn from Scrum, Kanban, XP, and other sources.
Disciplined Agile (DA, originally Disciplined Agile Delivery / DAD) is a hybrid agile framework articulated by Scott Ambler and Mark Lines presenting a toolkit of practices drawn from Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean Software Development, DSDM, RUP, SAFe, and other sources, with explicit guidance on choosing practices fit for context. Originating in Ambler's IBM Rational work on Agile Modeling and Agile Unified Process in the 2000s, Disciplined Agile Delivery was published in 2012 and expanded to enterprise scope (Disciplined Agile 2.0 in 2015, then Disciplined Agile Enterprise / DAE) covering DevOps, IT, and full enterprise concerns. PMI acquired Ambler's company Disciplined Agile Consortium in 2019, integrating DA into PMI's certification portfolio as the principal hybrid-agile framework alongside but distinct from PMBOK. DA's distinctive feature is the goal-driven, choice-aware presentation of options at each lifecycle decision point rather than prescription of particular practices.
Core components
- Goal-driven approach: identify the goal, consider options, select context-appropriate option (rather than prescribed practices)
- Six lifecycle options (Agile, Lean, Continuous Delivery: Agile, Continuous Delivery: Lean, Exploratory, Program)
- Process goals organized across Inception, Construction, Transition phases
- Toolkit of practices drawn from Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean, SAFe, DSDM, RUP
- Disciplined Agile Enterprise (DAE) extension covering DevOps, IT operations, portfolio management, governance
- PMI certifications: Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM), Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM), Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC), Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC)
Primary use case
Hybrid agile framework for enterprises needing context-aware practice choice rather than single-method prescription; post-2019 PMI flagship hybrid-agile certification; alternative to SAFe for enterprise-agile transformation programmes; reference framework for organizations integrating Scrum, Kanban, and DevOps delivery without committing to a single method; consulting and training market integration of agile-method practitioners with PMI-certified communities.
Common criticisms
- Disciplined Agile has been criticized within the agile community as 'agile by committee' — Ron Jeffries, Dave Thomas, and other foundational agile voices argued the toolkit-of-options approach undermines the values-based integrity of specific methods like XP and Scrum, producing mix-and-match practice without coherent commitment
- the 2019 PMI acquisition was contested as commercializing Ambler's work in ways inconsistent with DA's own values and as creating PMI-internal product overlap with PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition's hybrid-and-adaptive content
- certification proliferation (DASM, DASSM, DAC, DAVSC) risks Scrum-Alliance-style certification-mill dynamics
- empirical evidence of effectiveness is dominated by Ambler-affiliated case studies and PMI promotion, with limited independent academic evaluation
- the goal-driven decision-point structure imposes substantial documentation and choice-explicating burden that practitioners report defaulting away from in actual implementation
- integration with SAFe (the dominant enterprise-agile framework) is competitive rather than complementary
- community vitality has been mixed since the PMI acquisition.
Lineage
- Child of
- PMBOK Guide
- Siblings
- Scrum, Kanban, DSDM, PRINCE2 Agile