What does an IT Accelerator do on the Scrum team?
To shed some light on the journey of software development, we make a series of videos featuring different people on our team. This time, we talk to Koen ter Velde. He explains what exactly an IT Accelerator does. Below is a short summary of the interview.
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Koen, what is an IT Accelerator?
"An IT Accelerator is someone who supports the Product Owner in a SCRUM process in working out functionalities and making choices during the development of a software application. I think you can see the IT Accelerator as someone who can think along with both IT and business. And therefore knows how to find a good combination in that."
Why do you need to have one in your team?
"An IT Accelerator ensures, firstly, that the Product Owner's requirements are worked out properly. And secondly, that they are translated well to the development team. So he has to understand both the Product Owner's business side, of the customer, and also the IT world the developers are in."
What is the difference between a Business Analyst and an IT Accelerator?
"The difference between a Business Analyst and an IT Accelerator is that the latter is closer to the IT side of things. He will also be able to think faster from a technical point of view and must therefore also have more knowledge of IT. As a result, he will be able to assess sooner whether a piece of business functionality is feasible and realistic.
In what way do you help the Product Owner?
"One of the things I do during a project is to help the Product Owner set priorities. This is often difficult for a Product Owner because they often have no experience with IT projects and therefore do not quickly oversee the effects of their choices."
