Home > Articles > Software Development & Management > Agile

Scaling Software Agility: Best Practices for Large Enterprises

When it comes to software development and software project management in general, agile changes everything. These changing paradigms provide both the power and the consternation of agile, because addressing change on such a wholesale basis in an enterprise is not a trivial thing. And yet, team by team, organizations are making these changes over time, allowing them to approach the full benefits of agile development. The authors of Scaling Software Agility examine each of these new paradigms to see what additional clues we can find as to what is so different about agile.
This chapter is from the book

With Ryan Martens1

  • Conceptually, agile is simple. Most everything is different.

What Are We Changing with Agile?

We've now reviewed a variety of agile methods and an iterative and incremental one that can be applied in a substantially agile fashion. As we begin to analyze them for commonality, we will find many common practices among them, and these common practices, plus a few extensions, form the basis for Parts II and III of this book.

And yet, when we compare the methods in aggregate to our former plan-based, stage-gated, and waterfall-like processes, we find far more differences than similarities. Indeed, it would not be too extreme to say that when it comes to software development and software project management in general, agile changes everything, as Figure 7-1 shows.

Figure 7-1

Figure 7-1 Changing paradigms in agile

These changing paradigms provide both the power and the consternation of agile, because addressing change on such a wholesale basis in an enterprise is not a trivial thing. And yet, team by team, organizations are making these changes over time, allowing them to approach the full benefits of agile development. Let's examine each of these new paradigms to see what additional clues we can find as to what is so different about agile.

New Measures of Success

The basic measures of success are different in agile. Teams and organizations evolve from conformance to plan2 to the ability to respond to change.

Measure of Success

Conformance to plan

Response to change, working code

Work breakdown structure

Feature breakdown

Single, detailed, complete plan

Two-level plan

Serial functions

Parallel functions

Follow the plan

Adapt to changing facts

Procedural stage gates

Time boxes, inspections

Documents models, reviews

Working code

This transition involves moving from traditional work breakdown structures to a "value-delivery focus" by implementing stories and requirements on a prioritized basis. Procedural and documentation stage gates are replaced with success measures based on working, tested, and demonstrated code. The plan is fluid and flexible; the actual is the best that can be achieved under the facts present at the time. More importantly, the actual is potentially shippable.

Different Management Culture

In many ways, agile turns the traditional approach to software management upside down.

Management Culture

Command and control

Leadership/collaborative

Management defines dates and scope

Teams bid stories

Management dictates implementation

Team selects approach

Culture of sign-offs

Shared learning

Protect the scope

Protect the date

Demonstrate at end

Demonstrate always

Weekly status meetings

Daily stand-up meeting

Traditionally, management fixed scope, dates, and resources and set the technical direction for the team. Management was also responsible for the team's performance. In agile, the table is turned. Management sets direction; the teams bid the work and figure out how to accomplish as much of the work as possible in the time frame given. The team self-organizes as necessary to meet the objectives. The team makes the technical decisions and corrects them on the fly as necessary.

Management's job is to eliminate impediments within the organization and trust the team to meet the objectives (this trust is reinforced daily with visibility of progress and the presence of working, integrated code). In turn, the team is fully accountable for the deliverable and is responsible for meeting the dates and delivering the requisite quality. Team empowerment and team accountability are two sides of the same agile coin.

Different Approach to Requirements, Architecture, and Design

Our strategies for how to approach requirements, architecture, and design evolve as well.

Requirements and Design

Big and up front

Continuous/emergent/just-in-time

Marketing requirements up front

Vision and backlog

Software specification up front

Just-in-time elaboration

Models and plans

Build in increments

Big design up front

LRM3 design decisions

Architecture is planned

Architecture emerges

Instead of investing months in building detailed software requirements specifications, architectural models, and even prototypes, teams focus on delivering early, value-added stories into an integrated baseline. Early delivery serves to test the requirements and architectural assumptions, and it drives risk out by proving or disproving assumptions about integration of features and components. If it doesn't work, the team refactors the code until it does, allowing for constant user feedback and visibility along the way.

No longer do management and the user community wait breathlessly for months, hoping that the team is building the right thing. At worst, the next checkpoint is only a week or so away, and with a little luck and foresight, users may be able to deploy or at least evaluate even the earliest iterations in their own working environment.

Revised Coding and Implementation Practices

Coding is different too. Instead of the developers working on all the functionality in parallel with a big bang at the end, the whole team "swarms" over the earliest and highest priorities first.

Coding and Implementation

Code all features in parallel/test later

Code and unit test, deliver serially

Build in parallel

Build serially

Integrate late

Integrate continuously

Hand off to test

Partner with test

Demonstrate at end

Demonstrate always

Individual code responsibility

Shared code ownership

Never miss dev. complete date

Never break the build

Test code later

Code unit test first

Integration is continuous. Testing is not deferred; it is done first (XP or TDD) or concurrently with the development of the code. Pairing is routine. Conversation is continuous. There is only one kind of code that results: tested, working, integrated code. Feedback is immediate and continuous. All team members know where they are every day and what they need to do that day to meet the goals of the iteration.

Changes to Test and Quality Assurance Practices

The testing and QA organizations are in for big changes as well.

Test and Quality Assurance

Big, planned/test late

Continuous/concurrent/test fast

Contract with customer

Partner with customer

Big test plan sign off

LRM testing decisions

Testing at the end

Test from the beginning

QA is responsibility for test

Everyone is responsible

Testers write all the tests

Everyone writes tests

Testing squeezed

Low features squeezed

Big stand-alone test teams

Integrated with dev

Automate tests later

Automate tests now

The impact on the testing organization is substantial. Often, entire QA and test organizations are refactored (largely disbanded as a separate organization) and instead dispatched to become part of individual component or feature teams. Testing is no longer a lifecycle phase; it is a continuous activity. No longer do testers test large blocks of untested code; rather, they tests systems that include new code that has already been unit- and acceptance-tested. Development of testing automation is the rule rather than the exception. Testing skill levels increase as testers participate in design decisions and test automation development. Programmers' skills increase as they understand how to write code that is straightforward enough to be tested. QA personnel do real QA instead of managing legions of manual testers.

New Ways of Planning and Scheduling

Planning and scheduling change too.

Planning and Scheduling

PERT/detailed/fix scope, estimate time and resource

Two-level plan/fix date, estimate scope

Detailed planning early

Detailed planning JIT

Measures on intermediate deliverables

Measures based on code

Protect the scope

Protect the date

Demonstrate at end

Demonstrate always

Weekly status meetings

Daily stand-up meeting

But contrary to rumor, planning does not disappear in agile; indeed, it is quite intense and it reappears at two levels: gross-level plans for releases and fine-grained plans for iterations. Planning doesn't happen just once, and up-front planning happens at every release and every iteration boundary. Planning is no longer lumpy and ad hoc—it is systematic and routine.

Planning is greatly simplified because the dates are always known in advance, and the teams, with the product owner driving, are responsible for determining priorities. Tracking is simpler too, because daily status meetings and frequent demonstrations illustrate progress. No longer is there a separation between plan and actual. Managers don't worry about interdependent events, such as who has a vacation this week—teams do.

The Biggest Change: Scope versus Schedule—Schedule Wins!

As we learned in DSDM, perhaps the biggest change of all is that, in the battle of date versus scope, the date always wins. That is, iteration length (or periodic release date at the release level) is determining scope instead of scope determining the length of a development cycle. In plan-driven methods, scope determined time, and two variables (scope and time) varied with every planning cycle and every significant change. Since agile methods fix the time and let that define scope, only one variable remains (the scope of what gets built). This frees the team to organize as necessary and to remain constantly focused on what can be accomplished by the date. And since the scope is always prioritized, team members can be assured that they will deliver the best possible solution in the time available, as the DSDM pyramid in Figure 7-2 illustrates.

Figure 7-2

Figure 7-2 Plan-driven (traditional) versus value-driven (agile) methods

If for some reason, the delivered result lacks sufficient functionality to be "above the bar" (which can only be determined by the users when they have a system to evaluate), have no fear because the next iteration is only a week away, and the next release will be available only a month or two thereafter.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020