How and when is something considered industry standard?

Question

Hey all,

I'm currently working on a proposal for my organization which includes a shift from waterfall development methodology over to a Scrum framework.

As I work for a university, citations for all of my work is extremely important. As I was looking to add a citation for my statement of Agile being the industry standard, I kind of hit a wall.

Who is it that decides when something become industry standard and how is that decision made?

Answer 1

It's been said that a technology is "mature" when people can discuss it without having to ask "What format?" (e.g., VCRs reached maturity when Sony gave up on Betamax and started making VHS recorders).

Answer 2

Agile is currently an industry fad. People are starting to use it because it is buzwordy* (pun intended).

Industry standards are defined by time tested methods that work and become standard when the vast majority start to use them.