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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.
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