a very long engagement
TRANSCRIPT
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IBM Software Group
© 2009 IBM CorporationInnovation for a smarter planet
A Very Long Engagement
Rational DOORS one year on.Seb Rose
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet
The journey continues
The Rational DOORS team is working to adopt a more agile development methodology
IBM is very supportive of the idea of agileQSE acts as an ‘Improvement Community’ hub
Still a challenge agile is new, different, and poorly understood within large sectors of IBM
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet
A Very Long Engagement
A book by Sebastien Japrisot
Adapted in a film starring Audrey Tautou
Brief synopsisMathildes fiancée goes off to war (WW1)
He is sentenced to death by the military and is thrown into no-mans land
Mathilde refuses to believe he is dead
She continues to search for him, despite contracting polio
… uncovering corruption in the French government
… and eventually finds him decades later.
Adopting agile methods within IBM is taking longer than expectedThe next 5 slides describe where we had got to 12 months ago when I
last reported at XPDay
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet4
Consensus is not always easy to reach (2009)
Usage of RTC (& agile process definition)Are 4 week iterations too long?
How do we schedule technical tasks not directly relating to user story?
Should there be a separate test task for each implementation task?
Usage of DOORS within development processHow to integrate with RTC
Traceability from designs to tasks to change logs
Division of responsibilities between test & developmentIs a formal handover needed each iteration?
Who tests what (and when)?
How to coordinate allocation of resources from separate teams
Changing development practicesNew approach controversial (interfaces, small classes, dependency injection)
Validity of unit test approach questioned
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet5
Improve our build environment (2009)
Implement separate (continuous) integration builds
Complete rollout of Buildforge
Simplify multiple platform client build
More reliable integration of automated unit tests
Engage with operations group to integrate server environment with our process
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet6
Automate regression test backlog (2009)
Test resources have been allocated
Automate our manual tests scripts
Expand DXL API as required
Run tests from RQM
Make regression tests available to developers
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet7
Continue improving development process (2009)
Dependency breaking is still biggest hurdleSimplify architecture
Reduce re-build times
Facilitate unit testing
Ensure legacy code modifications are unit tested
Solve cross platform issues with unit test framework
Encourage adoption of test-first approach (TDD)
Drive development of future features with “customer” tests
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet8
Feedback methods need to be developed further(2009)
Identify and collect relevant metrics
Standardize user story sizing to stabilize velocity
Better use of retrospectives to improve process
Future projects would benefit from more “customer” involvementPrioritisation
Acceptance test design
Regular reviewing of nightly builds
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet
Where are we now…
The FVT test personnel are part of the development team
We have a Development (Project) Manager, but no ‘scrum’ master
There is still a degree of scepticism about agile within the teamWe are not self organizing
Limited use of TDD
Stories are too bigThe tasks they are implemented by are too big
Stakeholders are not sufficiently engaged
Downstream teams support requests from favoured clients
Project approval process tends toward over commitment
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet
Still to be addressed…
Team trust
Process management
Stakeholder engagement
Agile practicesTDD
Metrics
Retrospectives
Automated acceptance tests
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet
Conclusions?
Organisations are hard to changeEven when it looks like they want to change
Change happens slowlyOne step at a time
Celebrate small successes
Maintaining morale is crucialBoth your own & other people’s
“Patience is a virtue, but I don’t have the time” – Talking Heads, Psycho Killer
IBM Software Group | Rational software
Innovation for a smarter planet