Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Being

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Client: I have $1000, 100 requirements and 10 days. Can you do it? Vendor 1: Yes. Vendor 2: Ummm, yeah but I don’t think you understand your requirements, so I’ll prioritize your requirements and start from the top. Let’s just see how we go aye?

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Agenda 1. What is agile development? 2. What are fixed contracts and their challenges? 3. How can agile help in fixed contracts?

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry What is Agile? “The ability to develop software quickly, in the face of rapidly changing requirements. ” Practices “Reflecting on The Manifesto from Agile Alliance, employ a set of Principles, Practices and Patterns (P&P&P) to provide the discipline and feedback, as well as keep our software flexible and maintainable. ”

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry The Manifesto of the Agile Alliance 1. Individuals and interactions over process and tools Practices 2. Working software over comprehensive documentation 3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation 4. Responding to change over following a plan

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Agile Practices User Stories One Team TDD Collective Ownership Short release iteration cycles Acceptance Tests Pair Programming Practices Continuous Integration Open Workspace The Planning Game Design Refactoring Metaphor Simple

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Agile advocates’ backgrounds People Bio Ward Cunningham Director of R&D at Wyatt Software, Principal Engineer at Tektronix Computer Research Lab, P&P Microsoft Corp, Director at Eclipse Foundation, CTO at About. Us. Kent Beck Founder and director Practices of Three River Institute, Agitar Software Fellow, Writer and Coach. Martin Fowler Independent Consultant, Writer, Public Speaker, Chief Scientist @ Thought. Works. Robert C. Martin Founder and President of Object Mentor. Writer, Coach. Stephen J. Mellor Chief Scientist at Mentor Graphics. Jeff Sutherland Ph. D from University of Colorado, CTO of Patient. Keeper.

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Service-Based Industry V. S. Software Product Vendor The drive Service based companies Software product vendors Solution driven. Platform driven. Addressing specific business Addressing a rather common, requirements. generic need. Practices Can be built on top of platforms by Public demand. software product vendors. MOSS Document Library – “Enterprise e. g. ; Document management”. Cha. Com – Registration, Notice of Action. This – “Get things done, go Change, Annual Return, Public Access. home early. ” Corrections – Effective interventions. MED – Energy Safety. Xero – “Online, simple, secure accounting system. ”

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Service-Based Industry V. S. Software Product Vendor The client Service based companies Client specific. e. g. Charities Commission Department of Corrections Ministry of Economic Development Software product vendor No specific clients. Rather general public who facing business Practices problems that these product help solving. e. g. Clients for MOSS, Action. This, Xero.

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Service-Based Industry V. S. Software Product Vendor $ The money Service based companies Software product vendor Clients pay us to write code for Practices Self funded, capitalisation, loans. them Or even better open source.

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Service-Based Industry V. S. Software Product Vendor The project Service based companies Software product vendor Project plan, scope, cost, delivery The vendor has the say over dates are negotiated between the various aspects of the project. service provider and the client. Practices However, the bargaining chip (the e. g. $) is with the client. MSFT: “CRM 4. 0 release will be Clients tend to dictate the re-re-re-scheduled a year later. contracts. End-Of-Story. ” e. g. Developer: “Hey can we push the Aciton. This deadline out for a week? This is Ed: “We’ll delay the release till taking longer than I had hoped. ” next week, let’s go and have a PM: “Hey client, can we deliver a beer instead. ” week later? ” Jeff: “Hooray!!!”

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry What are Fixed Contracts a) Scope b) Timeframe c) Cost d) Deliverables e) The project plan

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Why all clients want a Fixed Price/Scope contract 1) Budget 2) Vendor comparison and competition 3) Easier to manage 4) Project planning

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Challenges for Fixed Contracts “Customer collaboration over contract negotiation” Difficult to foster a trusting relationship Endless change requests demoralize the team Scope changes, cost increases and deadlines slip

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry How can Agile help in Fixed Contracts Welcome changing requirements with Change Exchange not Change Request a. On time, on budget b. Satisfied customers c. Re-reprioritized requirements d. Value focused e. Shortened feedback loop

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry How can Agile help in Fixed Contracts Frequent releases, and incremental delivery. a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) Early and frequent acceptance testing Timely feedback Importance and value focused delivery Satisfaction, client and service provider Confidence building Real sense of progress True Expectation Project Management

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry How can Agile help in Fixed Contracts The planning game with story cards and prioritization 1) Delivering valued features in early releases 2) Don’t sweat the details , only when required 3) Decide later 4) Less work upfront, start development early, deliver early 5) Helps change exchange

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry How can Agile help in Fixed Contracts Put dropped off requirements in a following up project. 1) One project late and over budget V. s. Two Projects on budget and schedule? 2) “Nice to have” features 3) Use the software before a follow up project

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry How can Agile help in Fixed Contracts Invest in relationships with clients, not current project budgets. a) Money trap b) Invest in happy customer c) Better off in long term

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Conclusions Most uncertainties surrounds Scope – this can’t be fixed. Onus is on us to educate/convince our clients and the community about variable scoping projects in service based industry. Long term investment - fostering a constructive, trusting, working relationship with clients.

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Resources and References Agile Fixed Price Projects Part 1 and 2 by Pascal Van Cauwenberghe http: //www. nayima. be/html/fixedpriceprojects. pdf http: //www. nayima. be/download/agilefixedprice. pdf Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# by Martin C. Robert, Martin Micah http: //www. amazon. com/Principles-Patterns-Practices-Robert. Martin/dp/0131857258 Slides will be available at http: //sundium. wordpress. com

Being Agile in a Service Based Industry Questions?