This book by James Schiel organizes the knowledge accumulated during the largest implementation of agile development and Scrum ever attempted by the time in 2009.
Summary
Title: Enterprise-Scale Agile Software Development
Author: James Schiel
Themes: Agile, Career, Cases, Technology, Management, Business
Year: 2009
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439803226, 9781439803226
Pages: 382
Enterprise-Scale Agile Software Development is the collective sum of knowledge accumulated during the full-scale transition of a 1400-person organization to agile development-considered the largest implementation of agile development and Scrum ever attempted anywhere in the world.
This invaluable resource shows you how to improve project management practices and product quality assurance products, adopt new management methods and involve your current customers in development while inviting new ones.
This book also covers ISO 9001 quality development practices, which help you create consistently high-quality software in a cost-efficient manner.
In my opinion, if you read a book written in 2009 now (in 2022), you will be impressed that we have been discussing the same topics for more than a decade.
This book in 2009 went far beyond standardizing agile and Scrum practices. It divides the process into manageable tasks, demonstrating how to prepare for the change, plan for it, and then launch it.
My Book Highlights:
"... Agile development is about people, not a prescription. The intent of this book is to offer guidance and a tool kit..."
"... In the end, whether you decide to transition to agile development or not depends on your commitment to doing it right and your tolerance for being exposed to, dealing with, and solving organizational dysfunctions. You’ll need both commitment and tolerance in good supply to successfully complete a transition to agile development..."
"... I have seen agile development benefit organizations in a number of different ways. First and foremost, software quality is always improved by the concepts ingrained in agile development. The continuous testing of an application, rather than waiting for the testing phase of a project to see if it all works together, is one of the most effective practices that agile development provides to an organization. I have witnessed integration efforts that took months, only to be followed by projects that included continuous integration and testing that eliminated any special time during the project when the only thing happening was integration. This is also reflected in the practice of test-driven development, where the code and its associated tests are not only kept current and working but the tests are written before the code and are driven by the design, rather than being driven by the completed code..."
"... Whether the project went well or didn’t, any potential positive feedback was so far in the future that it was easy to abandon one project to go work on another that either was using the latest technology or was the beginning of the “next great product.” On the other hand, agile development, with its short iterations and sprint reviews, gave the developers that worked for me (and, truth be told, me as well) something to look forward to at the end of the sprint. Of the three possible answers we could get for any completed backlog item (“fantastic,” “great but would be better with changes,” and “not what I wanted”), two of them were at least positive and the third (“not what I wanted”) was fairly easy to protect against by simply improving the product owner’s contact with the team. Constructive feedback on a frequent basis keeps the development teams charged and engaged with the project..."
"... Similarly, customers are considered to be the subject matter experts in how a feature will be used in the finished product. Therefore, while customers don’t drive what a Scrum team works on (what a team builds is defined by the prioritization of the product backlog and how much the team is able to commit to), they can have a significant impact on how the feature actually works. In addition, those same customers can make suggestions for improvement that can be passed to the product owner and be added and prioritized on the product backlog immediately. In this way, a customer can actually suggest new possibilities and potentially see those possibilities become reality in a short space of time. Customers that feel more connected to your prioritization decisions and feel more a part of how your product is built become satisfied and committed customers..."
James Schiel sequences chapters to match typical developmental progression, and in addition to practical guidance, he provides a tool kit from which you can take ideas and select what works for you.
Chapters of the Book:
Preface
Acknowledgments
Biography
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Web Site
About This Book
A Balancing Act
Audience
Success Factors
Suggested Readings
Endnotes
Chapter 2 - Why Agile?
Myths about Agile Development
Reasons to Stay Away from Agile
How Your Organization Will Benefit from Agile
Summary
Chapter 3 - Transitional Concepts
What Is Agile Development?
Workflow
Product Backlog
Sprinting
Beta Test
Defects
Workflow Summary
The Product Backlog
Endnotes
Chapter 4 - Transition Barriers
People Barriers
Organizational Barriers
Endnote
Chapter 5 - Management in an Agile Environment
Getting Management Ready for the Transition
An Effective Organizational Arrangement for Scrum Teams
Hiring New Scrum Team Members
The Care and Feeding of Scrum Teams
Care and Feeding
Chapter 6 - Create the Transition Team
The Transition Team Lead
The Executive Sponsor
Chapter 7 - Define the Organizational Agreements
Document the Agreements
Endnotes
Chapter 8 - Determine Transition Goals
Measuring and Monitoring the Transition
Improved Productivity through Reduced Defects
Improved Performance through Increased Feature Value
Setting Control Limits to Manage Corrective Actions
Avoiding Organizational Dysfunction Caused by Measurements
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 9 - Create the Transition Backlog
Bringing the Transition Team Together
Endnote
Chapter 10 - Beginning Transition Sprint 1
The Sprint Schedule
The Transition Backlog
The Structure of the Transition Backlog
Refining: Reducing Backlog Items to Sprint Size
Sprint Planning
What’s the Big Difference between Hours and Points?
Building the Sprint Backlog
Committing to Work in the First Transition Sprint
Sprint Reviews for Transition Sprints
Sprint Retrospectives for Transition Sprints
Continuing beyond Transition Sprint 1
Endnotes
Chapter 11 - Create the Transition Budget
Training and Coaching
Software and Hardware
Facilities
Travel
People
Summary
Endnote
Chapter 12 - Develop the Transition Communication Plan
Project Information Storage
Endnote
Chapter 13 - Create the Training Plan
Basic Concepts
Agile Project Structure
Roles in an Agile Project
Matching Skills to Roles
Skills Become Training Modules
The Training Modules
Defining the Tracks
Executing the Tracks
The Role of Coaches in the Agile Transition
Overload the Scrum Teams
Scrum Masters and Scrum Product Owners
Prove Your Skill First
Summary
Endnote
Chapter 14 - Facilities Planning
Team Rooms
Setting Up a Team Room
Employee Directories
Employee Telephones
Private Spaces
Server Rooms
The Facilities Plan
Endnotes
Chapter 15 - Selecting the Pilot Projects for the Agile Transition
Define Your Goals
Set Organizational Expectations
Selecting Your Pilot Project
Obstacles to a Successful Pilot Project
Setting Your Project Up for Success
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 16 - Tools in the Agile Enterprise
Continuous Integration/Build
Automated Testing
Sprint and Backlog Management
Team Communication
Summary
Endnote
Chapter 17 - Managing Customer Involvement
Selecting the Right Customer
Managing the Involved Customer
Managing Customer Involvement in a Large Organization
Summary
Chapter 18 - Agile Project Management, Getting Started
Scheduling in an Agile Project
Scheduling Challenges
Determining the Project’s Estimated Costs
Planning and Staffing
Specialization and the Unbalanced Backlog
Architecture Definition
Unprepared Backlog Items
Getting Your Project Started
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 19 - Agile Project Management: Monitoring, Reporting, and Controlling
Monitoring Project Progress
Burning Down the Product Backlog
The Release Plan
Feature Completion
Summary
Controlling the Project
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 20 - Agile Analysis
User Stories and Related Terminology
The Life of a User Story
Refining the Product Backlog
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 21 - Launching Scrum Teams
Starting a New Scrum Team
Preparing the Product Backlog: The Team’s First Sprint
Getting Ready for Sprint Planning
Running a Successful Daily Scrum
Getting Ready for Sprint Review
Going to the First Sprint Retrospective
Removing Obstacles
Continuous Learning
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 22 - Managing Scrum Teams
The Edge of Chaos
Management in a Chaotic System
Management in an Agile Environment
Helping to Improve Team Performance
Endnotes
Chapter 23 - Agile Product Management
Large-Scale Product Ownership
The Extended Product Backlog
Adding Items to the Product Backlog
Adding Defects to the Product Backlog
Setting Up Your Product Backlog Items for Success
Prioritizing items in the Product Backlog
Managing System Constraints
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 24 - Incorporating ISO 9001 into the Agile Transition
Setup
Creating Your Policy and Process Documentation
Summary
Endnotes
Index
Any organization should be able to achieve a nearly seamless transition to agile by using the methods and information presented in this book.
James Schiel, CEO, and owner of Artisan Software Consulting is a Certified Scrum Trainer with a strong background in enterprise-level Scrum installations. Prior to founding Artisan, Schiel worked at a large, multi-national software development company for 23 years, where he worked initially as a developer, then as a manager for 16 years. He eventually played an instrumental role in creating one of the largest Scrum installations in the world. As a business process engineer, he helped identify, document, and implement best practices for enterprise Agile Development.
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