Successful Agile Project Management

Transcription

1 Poit of View Successful Agile Project Maagemet Practical Demad Maagemet for Optimizig Cost, Time, ad Quality Abstract Agile, oe of the most popular software methodologies i the IT idustry today, offers sigificat ad prove beefits to may CXOs. A core aspect of Agile project maagemet is Demad Maagemet (DM), which covers plaig, maagig, hadlig chages i, ad forecastig testig requiremets ad resources. DM is a make-or-break compoet of Agile project success. I fact, poor requiremets gatherig ad maagemet is oe of the primary reasos for the failure of a umber of developmet projects. However, despite its strategic importace, IT maagers are yet to effectively embrace DM. DM metrics, treds, ad predictios are curretly hard to come by. Perhaps because Agile adoptio is still a ascet iitiative i may busiesses, fidigs released by software project maagemet research orgaizatios reveal idirect statistics at best. Three commo miscoceptios about Demad Maagemet DM is t eeded i the Agile process. The resposiveess built ito the Agile methodology is ofte mistake as cootig a ad hoc approach. Nothig could be farther from the truth! Successful Agile frameworks use fiely cotrolled, meticulously plaed, ad highly structured processes. This begs the eed for DM so that deliveries take place o time, with trackig of the test deliveries carried out ed-toed, alog with close moitorig of chages i demad withi the test life cycle. DM does t work for fixed-deadlie projects. O the cotrary, it works best i fixed-deadlie projects it facilitates the release of the fial product as per cliet eeds ad withi the prescribed time-frame, as compared to the traditioal approach. Agile teams do t pla their work, far less DM. The Agile route is ot a excuse for beig slack. Agile is a o-demad, just-i-time approach. It ecourages cotiuous plaig. This is precisely what allows customers ad testig teams to determie the value that plaig adds to the process or product. Four teets of Demad Maagemet It is importat to remember the followig teets whe plaig a effective approach to DM: DM focuses o testig ad assurace. DM i a Agile testig project cootes plaig ad maagig the demad, i.e. ascertaiig testig requiremets, hadlig related chages, ad forecastig demad. DM icludes addig or removig from scope ( de-scopig ) the requiremets or fuctioalities cocered. It is user story-based. DM ivolves scopig ad collatig user stories for releases ad sprits. It requires preparig a high-level roadmap for all the demads i a release that are logically grouped based o busiess impact, criticality, fuctioality, ad delivery commitmet. This exteds the core priciple of agility, which is based o the premise that, sice all is ot kow at the start of a project, eve the kow will be subject to revisio durig the project jourey. DM is resposive. DM is a iterative ad icremetal method that eables workig efficietly ad beig highly resposive to chagig test requiremets. Hece, the DM team makes soft commits of user stories (demads) based o impact aalysis, movig them ito the fialized scope of a release or sprit based o project priorities ad risks. Collaboratio is itrisic to DM. By ature, DM is collaborative. To carry out DM, multiple teams developers, testers, customers, et al coverge withi ad across projects to pla for ad itercept the demad (test requiremets) i a systematic maer.

2 Four key aspects for successful Demad Maagemet This paper idetifies four key aspects that Quality Assurace (QA) heads ad maagers should drill dow to whe plaig DM to esure Agile project success: DM team roles ad resposibilities The steps eeded for effective operatioalizatio of DM Recommeded tools ad processes that ca help QA maagers set up efficiet DM ifrastructure Checks ad measures to sidestep commo pitfalls Assurace ad Testig Team Roles ad Resposibilities The key resposibilities of Agile DM teams should exted from scopig, de-scopig, ad fializig scope, to trackig ad moitorig the existig scope ad makig ecessary chages to it. Thus, DM ecessitates the active participatio of busiess ad product owers, developers, desigers, aalysts, Scrum test leads, ad Agile testers. I carryig out the above activities, the team should also factor i the followig, where required: Impacted domais, fuctios, or lies of busiess Effort required (vis-à-vis test estimates) Ifrastructure ad other depedecies ivoked (test eviromet- ad test data-related) Team loadig (which impacts bur-dow) Risk assessmet ad mitigatio plaig Successfully Operatioalizig Demad Maagemet Let s assume a seve week release cycle where the sprit cycle is two weeks, with the last week earmarked for UAT ad pre-productio testig (see Figure 1). Give this, the followig four key steps would mark the DM plaig exercise. - Release N-1 Release N Completed Release Ogoig Curret Release Demad Plaig for Release N+1 Forecastig for N+1 ad N+,, Iitial Scopig N+1 Release N Future Release Demad Plaig for N+ Forecastig for N+ ad N+,, Forecastig for N+ ad N+,5, Iitial Scopig N+ N+ Chage Requests for N+1 Test Aalysis Desigs availability Risks ad Depedecies Test Data ad Test Eviromet Maagemet Test Resource Maagemet 5 Demad Plaig for N+ Iitial Scopig N+ N+1 N+ Chage Requests for N+ Test Aalysis Desigs availability Risks ad Depedecies Test Data ad Test Eviromet Maagemet Test Resource Maagemet Test Aalysis Desigs availability Risks ad Depedecies Test Data ad Test Eviromet Maagemet Test Resource Maagemet Figure 1: DM for a Typical 7 Week Release (with Week Sprit ad 1 Week UAT ad/or Pre-Productio Testig) Step 1: Arrage a meetig betwee diverse stakeholders Week - marks the start of the plaig for QA requests (demads) for Release N+1. Demad plaig for Release N has happeed i Release N- (i.e. releases previously). (Demad plaig should start at least releases i advace.) Oce the release ad sprit timelies are fixed ad agreed o, the DM exercise starts with a olie or face-to-face meetig or a coferece call betwee the diverse stakeholders customers, busiess or product owers, aalysts, desigers, programmers, developers, DM team members, ad Scrum test lead ad testers. The ageda for this meetig should address discussig ad braistormig o the scope of each release ad the each sprit.

3 Step : Itroduce the demad maager I week - (of Release N-1), discuss ad aalyze all user stories scoped i Release N+1. I the iitial scopig call, the team idetifies all depedecies, risks, ad issues, based o which all cocered stakeholders agree o oe of the followig: Markig the demad as beig i scope De-scopig the demad Checkig if the de-scoped stories ca be scoped i future releases (i.e. icludig the stories i demad forecast discussios) Holdig forecast discussios for future releases (N+, N+ or later stories) The primary role ad resposibility of the demad maager is to maage demad ed-to-ed, icludig the chages itroduced i the ogoig release. A release maager, who is accoutable for the ed-to-ed test deliveries plaed i a release, may also take up this role. After the meetig metioed i Step 1 is complete, the demad maager should carry out complete aalysis to check the feasibility ad testability of the stories plaed for the release. The maager the eeds to develop a test pla for each story, which icludes the schedule for each story ad the risks ad depedecies, if ay. (This phase must be doe early o to avoid delays.) The demad maager bases the schedule o criticality to the busiess. Oce the maager fializes the pla, he/she ca oce agai discuss it with the cocered stakeholders, icludig the testers, well before the release start date. For istace, if the release is assumed to be 7 weeks log, the plaig should take place weeks before the iitial release start date (Figure 1). Step : Forecast the demad From Week - to Week -, aalyze the stories for Release N+1 ad, by Week -1, fialize the demad for Release N+. While aalyzig the stories or demad, items that the stakeholders forecast demad, should go ito Release 1, while keepig aside the remaiig for future releases. Durig this period, eve as the release progresses, some stories get de-scoped ad become part of a future release. Thus, demad forecastig icludes: Stories de-scoped from a ogoig release Stories plaed for a future release durig iitial plaig Chages itroduced i the curret release that must be tested i a future release Step : Maage the Test Chage Requests I parallel, for Release N (the upcomig release), the team must perform the followig activities: Trackig ad aalysis of all QA requests ad demads Checkig the availability of all required iputs ad desigs Resolutio of all risks ad depedecies Verificatio of test eviromet ad test data readiess Esurig of resource availability ad readiess As every Agile assurace ad testig team kows, a critical ad highly complex aspect of DM is maagig test chage requests (TCRs). Key recommedatios for this iclude: Teams approvig a give TCR i a ogoig release should base their decisio o a assessmet of its criticality to the busiess All stakeholders should aalyze the TCR for the impact of its additio o the curret scope of the release or sprit Oce a team approves ad commits the TCR, they should iclude it i the scope of the ogoig release or service request Go/No-Go ad sig-offs for such TCRs should take place i the same way as the fializatio of scope or stories For trackig, each TCR must be captured at a cetralized locatio such as a iteral website, tool, or repository

4 The Toolig Strategy Various tools ca help pla ad maage Agile projects- trackig team ad idividual productivity, allowig faster ad cosistet software creatio, eablig resposiveess to chage, leveragig remote or virtual resources, ad drivig customer collaboratio. Usig Agile tools gives the customer a clear lie of sight o priorities ad what ca be expected at the ed of a sprit or iteratio. Tools that ca be used for Agile project maagemet as well as for DM are VersioOe, TeamPulse, Plabox, Rally, JIRA, Migle, AgileZe, ad so o. However, orgaizatios ofte have their ow preferred set of tools for project trackig, the choice of tool beig based o factors such as size of team, resource locatio, ad so o. Choosig the right tool is a critical decisio sice it affects proper project trackig ad risk aalysis. Key Checkpoits Oce the above steps are completed, the team eeds to coduct the followig checks: Gai maximum clarity o customer requiremets Aalyze test requiremets or user stories before committig to them Review the risks ad depedecies ad drawig up a list of factors that impact demad to uderstad their fiacial implicatios Revise, adjust, or amed forecast ad demad plas based o DM discussios ad developig rollig yearly or quarterly forecast ad demad plas Stabilize productio schedulig ad sequecig to eable more efficiet collaboratio with all iteral stakeholders ad exteral parters Coclusio A key challege QA maagers face i Agile implemetatios is maagig the QA demad hadlig work requests or user stories that pour i seemigly ucotrollably. What ofte complicates matters is the fact that requiremets ofte spa geographies or lies of busiess. Sometimes, two differet but similar work requests reach the testig team ad eed to be coverged i a timely maer. The key aspects of DM ca help defie ad decide o a appropriate delivery approach ad drive, assist, ad support effective QA executio. Effective DM will empower IT maagers to respod to issues as they arise, throughout the course of the project or releases. It will also esure ecessary chages are made to meet demads at the right time, cosequetly savig o resources. What s more, DM will esure successful delivery of projects o time ad withi budget, thus leadig to proper aual ad quarterly plaig, forecastig, budgetig, ad resourcig. About the Author Rupal Sharma Rupal Sharma is a Test Process Solutio Cosultat at Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS). She has over 10 years of experiece workig i various testig roles i the IT idustry, icludig o agile testig. Her mai areas of expertise are Agile, test processes, DevOps ad automatio. Rupal has experiece i Scrum ad cotributed to settig up Test Ceters of Excellece as well as coductig Test Process Assessmets for various sectors. Refereces Everware-CBDI, Ic, CBDI Service Orieted Architecture Practice Portal ( ), accessed Jauary, 015, James Peterso, GoArticles.com, Demad Maagemet: Agile Methodology (December 10, 01), accessed Jauary, 015,

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