The document introduces agile development methodologies and provides an overview of how to implement them in an organization. It discusses benefits like increased productivity and faster time to market. However, it also notes challenges like difficulties with estimation and working with non-agile teams. The document recommends leveraging agile best practices where possible and understanding that implementation requires requests of management and teams to change roles and processes.
1 of 15
More Related Content
Agile Implementations - Tim FitzGerald - US Assure
1. Introducing the Agile Development
Methodologies into your Organization
March 2014
Tim FitzGerald
US Assure
2. 101 Agenda
• Agile Techniques
• Iteration Flow
• What Agile Does not mean
• Suggested Approach
• Agile Roles
• Scrum Master
• Product Owner
• Team
• Product Backlog Cycle
• User Stories
• Sizing user stories
• Agile Planning
• Stand-up Meetings (SCRUM)
• Iteration Planning Meeting
• Velocity
• Team Capacity
• Demonstration
• Retrospective
3. Todays Agenda – Why Agile, What to consider, Expect challenges
Learn about why you should consider introducing Agile into your development
organization. Participants will learn some of the benefits and challenges of
implementing Agile into your Culture.
Takeaways from the presentation:
1. What Agile is and why you should consider it
2. Considerations for how to modify to match your organization
3. Challenges and change management items to plan for
4. 1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and
continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile
processes harness change for the customer’s competitive
advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a
couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout
the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individual . Give them the
environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job
done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to
and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
At it’s core Agile is really 12 Principles
5. 7. Working software is the primary measure of progress,
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors,
developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace
indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
enhances agility.
10. Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is
essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-
organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more
effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
…and a whole lot of change management
7. • Ad hoc - No planning
• Constant stand-ups
• Code and Go
• No documentation
• No Architecture involved
• No process or discipline
• No management
What Agile Doesn’t Mean
“Hater’s View”
“Evolved View”
8. Traditional differences of Agile vs. Waterfall
• Knowledgeable, collocated,
collaborative developers
• Customer involvement is a critical success
factor
• Reliance on tacit interpersonal
knowledge
• Empirical processes
• Evolving requirements, rapid
change
• Smaller teams
• Premium on rapid value and fast time to
market
• Product is built incrementally
• Plan-oriented developers; mix of
skills
• Mix of customer capability levels and
participation
• Reliance on explicit documented
knowledge
• Prescriptive processes
• Requirements knowable early;
very stable, change is painful
• Larger teams
• Premium on high-assurance
• Product delivery all or nothing
Agile Waterfall
9. Requirements management is very different across the
methodologies
• Defined in business value terms
• Elicitation activities measured in
hours/days
• Easy to write at different levels of detail
• Defined, owned, and prioritized managed
by the customer
• Handling Change
• Change is expected (Requirements evolve
as the project evolves)
• Agile looks to the future for one release
Agile User Stories Waterfall phased requirements
• Defined at a very detail level
• Elicitation activities measured in weeks or
months
• Heavy emphasis on getting all the
requirements right the first time
• Change is expensive (done all the work
upfront)
• Implies that the user/customer know the
requirements and they will remain unchanged
(unrealistic if never done before)
10. US Assure and many companies have seen increased productivity and reduced
“time to market” using lean and agile concepts
Is about gaining speed and efficiency
through improving processes
One of the major principles of Lean is
to eliminate waste
Lean
Is a conceptual framework for
undertaking technology projects which
is designed to promote “agility”
There are a number of agile methods
(XP, SCRUM, Agile Modeling, AMDD,
DSDM, AUP, FDD, Crystal, etc) in use
today
Scrum is one of the “agile
processes” that is most popular
Agile
Process is open and visible to stakeholders
Focus is maintained on delivering the highest priority items first
Risk is reduced as work is produced in small batches (reducing complexity) and
modifications incorporated at the start of every new sprint
Increased productivity, reduction of process inefficiencies, increased morale
Benefits
11. Although, one size does not fit all organizations or cultures
• There are now over 10+ defined “Agile” methods, and they vary considerably.
(Ex: The Scrum approach is time-boxed, Kanban is buffer-based)
• There are variations of extreme programming, Test based development, The Dynamic
Systems Development Method (DSDM) , while the Rational Unified Process (RUP) try’s
to scope an entire project before development starts.
• Anyone who claim to have the unified definition of Agile, also has a “defined” Cloud
based offering they want to sell you .
• To me; Agile is about driving better communication, collaboration, changing cultural
behaviors and creating flexibility in order to drive value to the business faster.
12. Try to leverage many of the Agile “Best Practices” for your project development where
it makes sense for your company
BEHAVIOR LEAN / AGILE
STATE
CURRENT STATE TARGET STATE
Active Customer Engagement (Daily)
Co-Location of Teams
Dedicated Resources
Constant Collaboration
Small Batch size (Iterative Development)
Incremental Delivery
Adaptive Planning (vs reactive)
Empowered Teams
Customer Value Focused
Sustainable Pace
Reliable Delivery
Appropriate Approval Level / Cycle Time
Appropriate Documentation Types / Level
Agile Engineering Techniques
13. Implementing a new methodology takes time and will introduce new risks
and issues
• You will see over-estimating and/or inaccurate estimation initially (Takes ~3-6 sprints to refine)
• Efficiencies may not be fully realized due to lack of modifications in approval process
• Efficiencies may not be fully realized due to lack of modifications in documentation process
• Well managed controls from an audit perspective are not fully defined
• Resource constraints in partner and / or support organizations can cause issues
• Working with partners and other waterfall based organizations can be challenging
• Limited agile coach resources may be available to scale adoption
• Organizational and personal tolerance to change may create headwinds
While some may think Agile is cool and cutting edge, it’s also hard at first, so remember:
14. Change requires requests of you, your management, and your teams
• To be open to change for project operating principles:
• Teams need to Commit, take Ownership for their commitments, and ask for help and guidance
when they need it
• Leadership needs to Trust that teams will live up to their commitments, and trust that they will
ask for the help they need
• Leadership needs to be prepared to provide support and guidance to solve problems when the
team asks for help
• News, whether good or bad, needs to be given and received in the spirit of openness,
collaboration, cooperation, and without fear of retribution; the focus will be on how to get back
on track
• Team members will have to change the way they do their day-to-day tasks
• Traditional command and control type management needs to transition to facilitative leadership
and supportive coaching
• Agreement on project roles
• Approval to initiate next infrastructure project as agile