APPLYING AGILE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY ON E-GOVERNMENT PROJECTS. Atef Tayh Nour El-Din Raslan. Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Riad Dr. Fatma A.

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1 CAIRO UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS STUDIES AND RESEARCH, DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCES APPLYING AGILE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY ON E-GOVERNMENT PROJECTS By Atef Tayh Nour El-Din Raslan Supervision By Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Riad Dr. Fatma A. El-Licy Dr. Abdel-Hamid Godah A Thesis submitted to Department of Computer and Information Sciences In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In Computer and Information Sciences 2012

2 Abstract E-government projects have become extremely dynamic, which, necessitates rapid responses for adaptation and modification. E-government projects provide services and information for citizen and communities, via the internet, which itself, evolving in both the technologies and capabilities. The delivery of E-Governmental project solutions is necessary for building governmental services, while, improving their mission effectiveness and business productivity. Promoting Software products and applications is, only, one facet of the infrastructure required to establish this goal. Therefore, a framework is proposed for E-government projects development that is amenable for rapid changes in both requirements and resources. Agile methodologies have the merits that support the characteristics of dynamic environment for developing projects. It provides solutions to accelerate responses in a dynamic environment. The goal of this thesis is to present an agile based framework for e- government projects. The framework is formulated to idealize the characteristics and properties of government projects. It is based on extreme programming (XP) and SCRUM methodologies that governed by software product management (SPM) mechanism. SPM provides an iterative approach to handle the unstable requirement. An analytical tool (4-DAT) will be adopted to categorize the requirement, to enrich the capability of the framework to handle the scalability problem. The thesis offers a guided experience for developing e-projects mentored by the proposed framework. The framework was exercised through a practical field experiment at a government organization. 1 1 Business Sector Information Center in Cairo (BSIC)

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4 I certify that this work has not been accepted in substance for any academic degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any other degree. Any portion of this thesis for which I am indebted to other sources are mentioned and explicit reference are given. Atef Tayh Nor El-din Raslan ii

5 Acknowledgements First and foremost, thanks to God for all His blessings and for providing me this opportunity and granting me the capability to proceed successfully. I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Fatma A. El-Licy, Department of computer and information Sciences, Institute of Statistical Studies and Research, University of Cairo. Her wide knowledge and her logical way of thinking have been of great value for me. Her understanding, encouraging and personal guidance have provided a good basis for the present thesis. I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Mahmoud Riad, Department of Mathematical Statistics, Institute of Statistical Studies and Research, University of Cairo, for his detailed and constructive comments, and for his important support throughout this work. I am deeply grateful for the support and encouragement of the Head of Business Sector Information Center BSIC and all the supervisors for sharing their efforts and resources to achieve this experiment. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Tamer Mohamed Head of training center. iii

6 Abstract E-government projects have become extremely dynamic, which, necessitates rapid responses for adaptation and modification. E-government projects provide services and information for citizen and communities, via the internet, which itself, evolving in both the technologies and capabilities. The delivery of E-Governmental project solutions is necessary for building governmental services, while, improving their mission effectiveness and business productivity. Promoting Software products and applications is, only, one facet of the infrastructure required to establish this goal. Therefore, a framework is proposed for E-government projects development that is amenable for rapid changes in both requirements and resources. Agile methodologies have the merits that support the characteristics of dynamic environment for developing projects. It provides solutions to accelerate responses in a dynamic environment. The goal of this thesis is to present an agile based framework for e-government projects. The framework is formulated to idealize the characteristics and properties of government projects. It is based on extreme programming (XP) and SCRUM methodologies that governed by software product management (SPM) mechanism. SPM provides an iterative approach to handle the unstable requirement. An analytical tool (4-DAT) will be adopted to categorize the requirement, to enrich the capability of the framework to handle the scalability problem. The thesis offers a guided experience for developing e-projects mentored by the proposed framework. The framework was exercised through a practical field experiment at a government organization. 1 1 Business Sector Information Center in Cairo (BSIC) iv

7 Thesis Outline XP using SPM SCRUM using SPM Roles & Responsibilities Customers Framework Features Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: E-government Chapter 3: E-government Framework Chapter 4: Experimental Study Chapter 5: Results and Evaluation Chapter 6: Discussions & Conclusion Agile and Traditional methodology Characteristics Type of projects Government Activities v

8 Table of Contents Chapter 1:Introduction E-government Agile Software Development Software Product Management (SPM) Requirements Refinery SPM Process Dimensional Analytical Tools (4-DAT) SPSS Likert Scale Chapter 2:E-government Project Characteristics The Government Activities Projects in the E-government Characteristics of E-government Projects Application Characteristics System characteristics Project Management Characteristics Personnel characteristics Risk Management Characteristics E-government portal characteristics Front-End characteristics Back-End characteristics Comparison Between Agile And Traditional Methodologies Differences in Software Development Methods Chapter 3:E-government Framework vi

9 3.1 The Proposed Framework The XP Process Under SPM SCRUM Process Under SPM Roles and Responsibilities Working Method Members of E-government Project Proposed Framework Features Chapter 4:Framework Implementation and Evaluation The Experiment in BSIC The Suitability Phase one : Requirement Refinery Vision Step Themes Step Concept Step Requirement Definition Step Phase two: Methodology Selection Phase three: Development Step Chapter 5:Results and Evaluation Experiment Analysis and Results BISC Evaluations of the Framework Chapter 6:Discussions and Conclusion Chapter 7:Recommendations and Future work References Appendix A: Works Log Appendix B: Survey Items vii

10 List of Figures Figure 1.1: Full model of e-government systems; [Heeks, 2006] Figure 1.2: Life cycle of the XP process; [Hunt, 2006]... 6 Figure 1.3: SCRUM process; [Mike, 2009]... 9 Figure 1.4: Agile SPM knowledge flow; [Kevin et al., 2011] Figure 1.5: Requirement Definition Phases Figure 1.6: SPM Process; [Kevin et al., 2011] Figure 1.7: 4-DAT Dimensions Figure 2.1: Government Activities Figure 2.2: E-government environment Figure 2.3: Software project grounds Figure 2.4: E-government characteristics Figure 2.5: E-government System characteristics Figure 2.6: Architecture of e-government Figure 2.7: Agile and traditional Approach Figure 2.8: Agile methodologies developing stages Figure 2.9: Traditional methodologies developing stages Figure 3.1: A proposed Framework Figure 3.2: Framework process Figure 3.3: XP process based on SPM Figure 3.4: SCRUM process based on SPM Figure 3.5: Alternating Sprint Figure 3.6: Members in E-government project Figure 4.1: Boehm and Turner Radar Chart (modified); [Barry, 2009] Figure 4.2: Project phases based on the proposed frame work Figure 4.3: BSIC Vision Figure 4.4: DFD for search process Figure 4.5: Search use case Figure 4.6: Search process sequence diagram viii

11 Figure 5.1: Developers satisfaction degree- Agile framework vs. Traditional methods ix

12 List of Tables Table 2.1: E-government projects challenges Table 2.2: E-government portal characteristics Table 2.3: Applicability of Agile and traditional methodologies; [Khan, 2005] Table 3.1: Scope evaluation of XP and SCRUM Table 3.2: Proposed framework features Table 4.1: Search module concept card Table 4.2: Event List for search Table 4.3: Function requirements shell for search process Table 4.4: Training center portal backlogs PB(s) Table 4.5(a): Methodology selection using 4-DAT for search GUI module Table 4.5(b): Methodology selection using 4-DAT for search coding and testing Table 4.6: Methodology selections for the BSIC Portal PB Table 4.7: Sample Sprint Timeline Table 5.1: Sprints Efficiency Table 5.2: Sprints Workload Table 5.3: Stakeholders satisfaction degree Table 5.4: User s satisfaction degree about the developed Portal Table 5.5: Intervals and corresponding qualitative meaning Table 5.6: Teamwork satisfaction degree applying both Traditional and Agile framework Table 5.7: Statistics summary x

13 List of Abbreviations 4-DAT Data Analytical tool DSB DT LOV PB PMSB QAT SCP SPM UCP XP Development Sprint Backlog Development Team List Of Value Product Backlog Product Management Sprint Backlog Quality Assurance Tester Supervisors Control Panel Software Product Management User Control Panel Extreme programming xi

14 Chapter 1 Introduction Projects leaders of the E-government are, constantly, seeking faster and better methods to get critical information, knowledge management application, and decision support tools into the hands of decision makers. These issues are exigent, especially, for E-government projects. The difficulties are, mainly, due to the rapidly changing operational requirements, the ever advancing technological capabilities, and the continued emphasis on more streamlined E-government projects, [Fruhling, 2008]. Agile system development methodologies offer many advantages that include: Revenue, quality, visibility, risk management, agility, customer satisfaction and help to generate the right product, [Hunt, 2006]. The iterative nature of agile development means features are delivered incrementally, enabling some benefits to be realized early as the project continues to develop. The agile methods lifecycle based on testing process that enforces better quality. Agile methodologies aim to simplify the systems development process and to bring significant improvements such as more reliable delivery of required functionality within a shorter elapsed time. In recent work; Kevin (2011) introduced applying SCRUM Principles to Software Product Management, [Kevin, et al., 2011]. Fruhling (2008) introduced a guide to how Department of Defense (DoD) organizations can use XP and SCRUM methods to meet DoD s mission more quickly and effectively at a lower cost, [Fruhling, 2008]. Qumer (2008) introduced an evaluation of the degree of agility in six agile methods and its applicability for method engineering, [Qumer, 2008]. Wils (2007) presented in their study applying agile software development in embedded systems. This study proposes an agile software process for the development of avionics software, it aims to speed up 1

15 development and cope with changing requirements using agile techniques in the avionics domain. This analysis confirms that XP can be applied to many domains, [Wils, 2007]. David (2007) proposed effects of agile methods on website quality for electronic commerce. This study examines the factors affecting flexibility in the agile methodology such as using iterative development, customer feedback, well-structured teams and flexibility. It discusses the relationships between the use of agile methods to manage the development of internet websites and website quality, [David, 2007]. Kesh(2006) introduced applying agile methodologies to Information Technology (IT) security. This study discusses the fundamentals of agile methodologies and how they can be applied to IT security; by security team formation and project decomposition, [Kesh, 2006]. Valentina (2004) presents the primary issues, and challenges for E- government projects. This study based on an empirical, web-based research of 15 case studies in E-government projects, [Ndou, 2004]. This thesis aims to increase the quality of e-government project by applying agile software development methodologies. Therefore, a development guide will be proposed based on agile software development methodologies. This thesis presents collective framework, with comprehensive guide for e-government projects. The framework aims to challenge the troubles of rapidly changing operational requirements, and propose a method to manage the project according to its size and scope. The framework is based on the collection of agile methodologies, Software Product Management (SPM), and 4- Dimensions Analytical Tools (4-DAT). The framework will be exercised through an implementation of a governmental project, its effectivity will be measured and the opinion of all personals involved in the project will be calculated. The statistical tool SPSS will be adapted to analyze the collected opinions and generates the statistical measures. Qualitative values of the statistical results will be obtained according to Likert scales. 2

16 1.1 E-government E-government refers to the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), particularly the internet, as a tool to achieve better government [Heeks, 2006]. E-government projects focus on automating the government activities and provide efficient and effective services to the citizens, [Chen, 2006]. There are two areas of E-government implementation: front-office and back office, [Janowski, 2006]. The front-office refers to the government as its constituents see it, meaning the information and service providers, moreover, the interaction between government and both citizens and businesses. The front-office involves two issues online services and citizen engagement. The back-office refers to the internal operations of an organization that support core processes and are not accessible or visible to the general public. Back-office involves the issues such as organizational change, leadership, coordination, interagency collaboration, e-government skills, public-private partnership, managing risks and costs, monitoring and evaluation. The main features of e-government are, [Janowski, 2006]: Provides better business environment. Facilitates services for customers. Builds trust between citizens and government. Contributes to achieve economic objectives. Strengthens good government and broaden public participation. Helps in achieving policy outcomes. Improves the productivity and efficiency of government agencies. Improves the services quality. Heeks(2006) has described the elements of an e-government system that include Information, Technology, Processes, Objectives and values, Staffing and skills, Management systems and structures, and Other resources (ITPOSMO), [ Heeks, 2006]. He has organized these elements in an ITPOSMO-checklist that can be applied to describe and understand an e- 3

17 government system and stakeholder s organizational context, as shown in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1: Full model of e-government systems; [Heeks, 2006]. Implementation of e-government projects can face a number of challenges including: legislative barriers, financial barriers, technology change and digital divide, [Janowski, 2006]. Legislative barriers mean that e- government processes must have the same standing as paper-based processes. Financial barriers include arrangements that should be accounted for the agencies working together on e-government projects. Technology change includes adoption of whole of e-government standards, software integration, 4

18 and middleware technologies. Digital divide means that large differences in the level of access to the internet and therefore ability to benefit from e- government. 1.2 Agile Software Development Agile is a group of software development processes that are iterative, incremental, self-organizing and emergent, [Pekka et al., 2010]. Also, agile can be defined as a connotation of flexibility, nimbleness, readiness for motion, activity, dexterity in motion, and adjustability. Agile methodologies are a lightweight, efficient, low-risk, flexible, predictable, and scientific, [Awad, 2005]. The agile software development methods focus on four key concepts, [Hunt, 2006]: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Working software over comprehensive documentation. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. Responding to change over following a plan. Pekka (2010) introduced the most important characteristics of agile methodologies include, [Pekka, 2010]: They are People oriented, and adaptive. They are conformance to actual requirements. They enforce simplicity, collaboration, small self-organized teams and balancing between flexibility and planning. They have empirical processes and decentralized approach. They consider customers, developers, stakeholders, and end-users as the most important factor of software development. The Agile Manifesto was created in February 2001 that included the 12 principles on agile software development, [Beck et al., 2001]. There are several agile methods based on the idea of agile Manifesto. Examples of such 5

19 methods are Dynamic Systems Development Method DSDM, Extreme Programming (XP), Feature Driven Development (FDD) and SCRUM, [Cohen et al., 2004]. For the purpose of this research, XP and SCRUM methodologies are presented in the following subsections Extreme Programming (XP) Extreme Programming (XP) has developed to solve the problems caused by the long development cycles of traditional development models. Figure 1.2, shows the life cycle of XP which consists of five phases, [Hunt, 2006]: Exploration, planning, iterations to release, productionizing, maintenance and death. Figure 1.2: Life cycle of the XP process; [Hunt, 2006] The exploration phase includes writing the story cards. Each story card describes features to be added into to the program.the planning phase sets the priority order of the stories. In iteration phase, the work is divided into a number of iterations. Each one takes one to four weeks to be implemented. In productionizing phase, small release is produced; this phase requires extra testing and checking of the performance of the system before the system can 6

20 be released to customer. The maintenance phase keeps the system in the production running while also producing new iterations. The death phase occurs if the system satisfies customer requirements. XP based on the core values of simplicity, communication, feedback, courage, and respect, [Wake, 2001]. Simplicity means to start with the simplest solution and refactor the code to meet the customers needs. Communication means to develop and implement practices that support communicating early and often between the customers, developers, and the users. Feedback means to encourage constant and continuous feedback from customer (new requirements, reviews, testing), system (testing), and project team members (issues, code reviews, bugs, changes). Courage means to support and encourage code refactoring, code removal, and persistence. Respect means to encourage the team members to respect each other s work and to strive for a high quality product. Extreme programming methodology is best suited for use on new or incomplete projects where the requirements are incomplete and expected to change frequently during the project, [Fojtik, 2011]. XP was designed for small project teams between two to twelve team members, [Hunt, 2006]. Communication and coordination between project members should be enabled at all times. XP Team members must be collocated that requires the customer or a customer representative be present and part of the team for input on requirements, planning, and tracking purposes, [Fruhling, 2008] XP Strengths and Limitations XP Strengths - Reduces the impact of constantly changing software requirements on the software - Product Focuses on delivering the simplest solutions in short iterative cycles - Frequent refactoring of the code in order to simplify the design - Customer is involved as part of the team - Emphasizes teamwork, communication, and quality 7