AGILE ADOPTION IN A WATERFALL ENVIRONMENT BY KEVIN MURRAY PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT // KEVIN.MURRAY@VALTECH.CO.UK // TWITTER: @KEV_C_MURRAY

BACKGROUND TO PROJECT

VERY LARGE CALL CENTRE CMS FOR JOBCENTRE PLUS

SEEN AS ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR CLAIMING BENEFITS

30,000 USERS, UP TO 5,000 CONCURRENT USERS

HIGHLY COMPLEX APPLICATION MULTIPLE SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS (VERY POLITICAL LANDSCAPE)

COMPLEX INTEROPERABILITY

WATERFALL SOFTWARE DELIVERY LIFECYCLE

UN-DYNAMIC CUSTOMER

VERY TRADITIONAL WATERFALL

REQUIREMENTS

12 WEEKS

48 WEEKS TO THE END OF UAT

DEVELOPMENT

12 WEEKS

SYSTEM TEST

12 WEEKS

UAT

12 WEEKS

BACKGROUND TO PROJECT

VALTECH BECAME DEVELOPMENT LEAD IN 2005

INTRODUCING RUP AND MAKING IMPROVEMENTS STRAIGHT AWAY

INTRODUCED ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCED PRIORITISATION BASED ON TECHNICAL COMPLEXITY

STARTED TO INTRODUCE AUTOMATED UNIT TESTING AND CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION

ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT

28 weeks to the end of UAT (plus 25% more dev)

4 x 4 WEEKS WEEKS

4 x 4 WEEKS

4 x 4 WEEKS

4 x 4 WEEKS WEEKS

REQUIREMENTS

DEVELOPMENT

SYSTEM TEST

UAT

KEY PROJECT ISSUES

LAST MINUTE RUSH AT THE END OF EVERY ITERATION

SYSTEM TEST WERE A SEPARATE TOWER, LOOKING FOR EXCUSES TO SLIP

HIGH NUMBER OF DEFECTS HIGH DEFECT RATES IN SYSTEM TEST AND UAT

QUALITY WAS STILL BETTER THAN PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENT LEAD

MOST DEFECTS NOT SEEN AS A DEVELOPMENT TEAM PROBLEM! COSMETIC DEFECTS, EXTERNAL DESIGNS CREATED IN VISIO

AMBIGUOUS REQUIREMENTS

CURRENT LIVE PROBLEMS

BLAME WAS FAILING BETWEEN SILOS

COST OF DELIVERY PAIN

DEFECT TOTALS INTO 3 FIGURES FOR EACH RELEASE

AFTER FIRST ITERATION, 25% OF DEV EFFORT WAS SET ASIDE TO FIX DEFECTS

TEAM OF 20, EQUATED TO APPROXIMATELY 300 MAN DAYS JUST FIXING DEFECTS DURING THE DEVELOPMENT CYCLE (OUT OF 1600 DEVELOPMENT DAYS PER RELEASE)

WHY WE WENT AGILE

AWARENESS OF DELIVERY PAIN

ALWAYS LOOKING TO IMPROVE

WE WERE BECOMING VERY AGILE AWARE

WE HAD A CATALYST, AN AGILE COACH HAD JUST

JOINED THE TEAM

MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER BUY IN

VALTECH LED TEAM HAD MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS

PROGRAMME AND PROJECT MANAGERS HAD COMPLETE TRUST AND ALLOWED US TO TAKE THIS FORWARD

END CUSTOMER WAS AWARE BUT WASN’T TO BOTHERED AS THERE WASN’T A DIRECT IMPACT ON THEM

AGILE EVOLUTION

AGILE EVOLUTION –

ADDRESS LAST MINUTE RUSH DAILY STAND UP MEETINGS

CONSCIOUS DECISION NOT TO CALL IT A SCRUM

USED ROTATING SCRUM MASTER, LARGE TEAM, EVERYONE GOT INVOLVED

KEPT TO 15 – 20 MINUTES PER DAY

DAILY STAND UP MEETING ALWAYS HAPPENED AT THE SAME TIME

PROVIDED ACCURATE STATUS UPDATES, DAILY

MOTIVATED THE WHOLE TEAM

ADDRESS ISSUES EARLIER

AGILE EVOLUTION –

ADDRESS LAST MINUTE RUSH

BURNDOWN CHARTS

EARLY VISIBILITY

PRINTED OUT AFTER STAND UP & STUCK ON THE WALL BY THE OFFICE DOOR

TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY - PROJECT AND PROGRAMME MANAGERS SAW DAILY PROGRESS

AGILE EVOLUTION – OUR BURNDOWN

AGILE EVOLUTION – OUR BURNDOWN

AGILE EVOLUTION –

ADDRESS HIGH DEFECT RATES

RELEASE AND ITERATION PLANNING ALL DEVELOPERS GOT THE BIG PICTURE, NOT JUST TEAM LEADERS

VERY INCLUSIVE, WE ENSURED BA’S, TESTERS AND EVEN THE DEPLOYMENT TEAM ATTENDED

DEVELOPER AND BA COLLABORATION REAL SCREEN SHOTS’ IN EXTERNAL DESIGN DOCUMENTS

AGILE EVOLUTION –

ADDRESS HIGH DEFECT RATES

FORMAL EMPHASIS ON AUTOMATED UNIT TESTING (DEFINITION OF DONE)

DEMONSTRATIONS

RETROSPECTIVES OVERHEAD OF GETTING EVERYONE TOGETHER AND RELUCTANCE FROM THE LARGE TEAM TO CONTRIBUTE

SATISFACTORY FEEDBACK ACQUIRED FROM DAILY STAND UPS

AGILE EVOLUTION –

WHAT WE DID NOT DO. ESTIMATING

ALREADY HAD ACCURATE MAN DAY ESTIMATING PROCESS

REDUCE SPRINT SIZE SOME TASKS WERE TOO LARGE

SPRINT PLANNING OVERHEAD

SYSTEM TEST WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO COPE

BUILD AND DEPLOYMENT OVERHEAD DUE TO TECHNOLOGY STACK

QUESTION OR SACRIFICE EXISTING GOVERNANCE AGILE ACTUALLY AIDED THE WATERFALL GOVERNANCE

NOT WHOLESALE CHANGES AND WE DIDN’T RISK DELIVERY

BENEFITS

NO END OF SPRINT PANICS USING MS PROJECT YOU DON’T ALWAYS GET THE FULL PICTURE COMPARED TO STAND UPS.

IF SOMETHING WASN’T GOING TO BE DELIVERED WE GOT KUDOS TELLING EARLY, RATHER THAN ON DELIVERY DAY

BETTER QUALITY REDUCED DEFECTS TO SINGLE FIGURES

TECHNICAL DEBT PROPERLY ADDRESSED CODE QUALITY

TEST COVERAGE

AGILE WAS SPREADING SILOS WERE COMING DOWN

BENEFITS

MORE COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH BAS WE IDENTIFIED BUSINESS BENEFITS WHERE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN ISSUE

WE IDENTIFIED AND ADDRESSED A BA BOTTLENECK

DEVELOPERS COULD INTERCHANGE AS BAS

WE STARTED TO FOCUS ON BUSINESS CRITICALITY PROJECT CULTURE CHANGE

NEW INTEGRATION PROJECTS HIT THE GROUND RUNNING PEOPLE, PROCESSES & INFRASTRUCTURE ALL AGILE

PROJECT OUTCOME

NOT WHOLESALE CHANGE

ADAPT AND EVOLVE, DON’T JUST ADOPT

MANAGEMENT SPONSORSHIP AND TRUST

UNDERSTAND YOUR BOUNDARIES

CHALLENGE WHERE YOU CAN DOCUMENTATION

GOVERNANCE

VISIBILITY, SO AGILE SPREADS ORGANICALLY

LEARN FROM MISTAKES

CAPTURE KEY INFORMATION

LEGACY

NO NEGATIVE NEWS HEADLINES // SYSTEM COPED DURING THE RECESSION

?

ANY QUESTIONS …

kevin.murray@valtech.co.uk

http://www.valtech.co.uk

http://blog.valtech.co.uk

http://twitter.com/valtech

http://twitter.com/Kev_C_Murray