Agile Methods

The Problem:

Agile Methods describe the state-of-the-art for software development processes, team organization, and project management.  Agile Methods, such as eXtreme Programming (XP), are, in many ways, common-sense written down.  However, that begs the question as to why that needed to be written down, and the leads to the observation, that writing it down is not enough.

Software’s biggest assets are its flexibility, and the speed at which something can be produced.  Software development’s biggest challenges are that software is so flexible, and the something that is produced is intangible.  The software development process is additionally complicated by a lack of discipline into real, meaningful measurements, and use of those measurements in planning.  Only in software, does the effort quickly get to 90% done, and then remain there indefinitely.

Traditional management styles and experiences that apply well to measuring executives, sales forces, and manufacturing, are difficult to translate to effectively managing software development.  However, without a firm handle on the software development process, it is difficult to make realistic plans, or even accurately assess the current progress.  Another symptom unique to software, is that it is always on-schedule, right up until the due date, at which point it is weeks or months or years behind.

But, it does not have to be that way.  Agile Methods do not invent productivity, but rather give insight into progress and lack thereof, so that the direction can be constantly refined.  That results in an overall efficiency, because the project hits its functionality/schedule target, rather than missing one or both, and needing to have “unplanned” recovery.


The Panoscopix Solution:

Panoscopix provides this service on-site, with expert consultants that have years of experience using Agile Methods in real-world situations.  This leads to a unique insight of what is natural about the methods, and what is new.  Even the appealing, if unfamiliar, is difficult to execute.  And when the Agile Methods process is “cheated”, it falls apart like any other process.

Panoscopix consultants have the breadth of experience to work with not only the developers, but also the project managers, and senior managers/stakeholders, to make Agile Methods a reality in their organization.  The result is better planning, more visibility into real progress, quicker feedback, and an improved risk profile for schedule and functionality.

Like any new or incipient process, it is important to start slow and grow.  However, there needs to be a firm view on the target, and an assurance that step-wise process adoption does not equal process circumvention (“cheating”).  Panoscopix has been on the inside of the full range of teams:
small team to large
co-located teams to widely remote
new product to legacy
independent software vendors to custom integrators

Deliverables:

This service provides the following deliverables:

• Readiness assessment to guide the organizations adoption of Agile Methods.
• Formal and informal training on Agile Methods to both managers and developers.
• Identification of projects to adopt Agile Methods, and a roadmap to adoption aligned with other milestones.
• On-going mentoring and feedback for lessons learned.