© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

Dependable Technologies for Critical Systems

Adoption of Agile/Scrum in a Portuguese CMMI L5 enterprise:

Improvement Approach and Experiences

Délio Almeida, Quality Manager

21st June 2013, Agile & Scrum Portugal 2013

DEPENDABLE

TECHNOLOGIES

FOR CRITICAL

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© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

Critical Software | About us

3

• Spin-off of the University of Coimbra in 1998

• Global Software Engineering company

• Engineering Centres: ~250 engineers

- Portuguese Offices in: Coimbra, Lisbon, Oporto

• Strong investment in R&D and Quality

- 10% of turnover invested every year in R&D

- More than 20 people allocated to R&D

• Strategic Pillars

- Global Vision, People & Community, Quality

- Innovation and R&D, Reinvestment & Growth

• Investment in Quality Certifications

- SEI CMMI-DEV Level 5, AS9100C, ISO9001, NATO AQAP 2210, 2110,

NP4457

Coimbra University: 1290

Vision

To become an international

software technology and

engineering business,

recognized for excelling in

the provision of pioneering

and innovative solutions in

multiple markets, while

ensuring the highest quality

and dependability

Mission

To support mission and

business critical solutions

© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

DEPENDABLE

TECHNOLOGIES

FOR CRITICAL

SYSTEMS

The motivation for change….

4

Aeronautics Space

Defence Transports

Mission-Safety

Critical Solutions

CSW has always worked with:

• Conservative markets from SW eng. point

of view

• Highly mature and regulated

• Safety-Critical Software which cannot

simply fail ....

• Mature SW Development Processes based

on ESA-ECSS software standards, ISO

15504 (SPiCE), NASA SEL, BSSC Guides

• Characterized by detailed RFP, SoW,

highly specialized customers and

specialists, very good domain knowledge,

formal approaches to project and quality

management

© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

DEPENDABLE

TECHNOLOGIES

FOR CRITICAL

SYSTEMS

The motivation for change….

5

BUT, CSW has – also always worked - with:

• Non-conservative markets from a SW

engineering point of view...

• Highly dynamic and flexible markets Highly

mature and regulated

• Non-safety critical, but more mission

critical, who can live with some faults Safety-Critical Software which cannot simply

fail ....

• Who want good quality SW working and in

production Adopted Mature SW Development

Processes based on ESA-ECSS software

standards, ISO 15504 (SPiCE), NASA SEL,

BSSC Guides

• Characterized by more vague RFP, SoW,

not engineers, more flexible and informal,

high scope volatility, change in features...

Telecom Government

Finance

Health

Energy & Mobility

Enterprise

Critical Solutions

Search for more suitable SW development method

+ Business/Customer demand for Agile

+ New Product Development Unit , Spin-Offs paradigm and

internal developments

© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

SW Process Improvement Approach

• Launched CMMI Level 5 Organizational Performance Management Initiative : “Agile @ CSW”

6

SW Process Improvement Phases:

[1st Phase : Sub-Phase 1 – Define and Improve]

Define Agile Methodology, Work,

Processes and Report

Establish baseline, estimate ROI

[2nd Phase: Sub-Phase 1 – Piloting ]

Conduct Pilots (Update artefacts,

Select/Execute pilots, Evaluate Pilots and

Improve)

[2nd Phase: Sub-Phase 2 - Deploy]

Define and Execute Deployment Plan

[2nd Phase: Sub-Phase 3 – Monitor Deployment]

Monitor Deployed Improvements

[2nd Phase: Sub-Phase 4 – Evaluate Effects]

Evaluate and record the effect

1st

Phase 2nd Phase (Conduct Pilots, Deploy, Monitor, Evaluate)

235h 324h

• Impacts: Impact Level IMS Processes

Major 18

Minor 13

None 38

• More Impacts: • Changes in PMO, SPA, ENG, training plans, skills, tools, ...

• Around 70-80 active projects

© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

DEPENDABLE

TECHNOLOGIES

FOR CRITICAL

SYSTEMS

SW Process Improvement Approach – The references

Inspirational Sources:

• “The Scrum Guide, The Definite Guide to Scrum: The Rules of the Game”, Jeff

Sutherland & Ken Schwaber, Oct. 2011 www.scrum.org

• “Agile Contracts – Money for Nothing and Your Change for Free”, Jeff Sutherland,

SCRUM Training Institute, July 12, 2010 http://jeffsutherland.com/ (05-06-2013)

• “Mature Agile with a twist of CMMI”, by Carsten Ruseng Jakobsen (Systematic

Software Engineering ) and Kent Aaron Johnson (Agile Digm, Incorporated),

Proceeding AGILE '08 Proceedings of the Agile 2008

• Certified Agile Tester Manual, Version 2.1, iSQI GmbH, 2010, http://www.agile-

tester.org/ (05-06-2013)

• Lessons & in-house Experience from several projects ...

• Others...

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© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

Agile Challenges & Problems

Problems Description How we approached it?

P1 – Agile reference sources to

use?

So many available Agile/Scrum sources, sites

(Scrum Alliance, scrum.org, mitchlacey.com),

institutes, Training programs (CAT), and authors ...

Going back to the original author(s)

Looking for other CMMI companies who have done it!

Tailoring it to our Org. reality and experience

P2 – Scrum roles &

responsibilities

We have a projectized organization, strong matrix

structure, with multiple Departments/Units, with

already defined roles, no one wants to loose

strenght and importance ...

Tried to stick to roles definition!

Did accept some team specialization (e.g. Testers &

developers)

Tried to find internally the people with the best skills to

assume the new Scrum roles

Still not happy with the result ...

P3 - Agile contracts, how to

sell?

Trying to use Agile/Scrum in a fixed price contract

is hard ... Customers typically demand all

constraints fixed: cost, schedule, scope and

quality...

Following Agile Contracts approach from Jeff

Sutherland

Using our own selling experience and know how...

P4 – Agile mindset

Transformation

Internally, many think that we don’t need Agile, we

just need a robust and institutionalized

evolutionary or iterative waterfall life cycle ...

Involve all stakeholders from the start... The pros and

the ones against... Communicate a lot, use other

successful examples to show its its possible! Have

practioners writing the new process ...

P5 – How to measure the

Agile/Scrum Benefit ?

How do we know we are doing better ... Or we just

got worse ???

Being a CMMI L5 company, and by following a

structured quantitative process improvement initiative

this is guaranteed ... We baseline, we set goals/ROI, we

measure the pilots, we compare with the post-result

© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

DEPENDABLE

TECHNOLOGIES

FOR CRITICAL

SYSTEMS

Contacts

9

Portugal

Coimbra, Lisbon, Oporto

www.criticalsoftware.com

USA

Chicago

www.criticalsoftware.com

UK

Southampton, Somerset

www.critical-software.co.uk

Brazil

São Paulo

www.criticalsoftware.com.br

Angola

Luanda

www.criticalsoftware.com

Mozambique

Maputo

www.criticalsoftware.co.mz

Singapore

Singapore

www.criticalsoftware.sg

© 2013 Critical Software S.A.

Dependable Technologies for Critical Systems

Thank You! Délio Almeida

dalmeida@criticalsoftware.com