Offshore, Fixed-Price and Agile
(How) does that work?
Marco Jansen (marco@thoughtworks.com)
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 1
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The power of a QuickStart
From x to 5x in 8 weeks
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 2
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Ramping up the team
From 5 to 30 in two months
UK India
Client Principal Client Project Manager Project Manager 20 DEVs
2 BAs 4 Domain Subject Experts 6 BAs 6 QAs
Daily Standup
Weekly Showcase
Weekly Status Call
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 3
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Velocity = 0.5
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116 Developers
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Difficult Times
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The burn-down chart is not burning down
Planned
1 Jan 2010
Current Velocity
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From tracking to forecasting
So when do we deliver?
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 5
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From tracking to forecasting
So when do we deliver?
Decrease
Scope
Increase
Velocity
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 6
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Reshaping the team
Improving velocity by bringing back focus
UK India Project Manager
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
Client Principal
2 BAs 2 BAs 2 BAs
2 BAs
8 DEVs 8 DEVs 8 DEVs
Client Project Manager
2 QAs 2 QAs 2 QAs
4 Domain Subject Experts
DEV Huddle
QA Huddle
BA Huddle
Weekly TechLead Meeting
Weekly Showcase
Weekly Status Call
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 7
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Reshaping the team
Improving velocity by bringing back focus
UK India Project Manager
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
Client Principal
2 BAs 2 BAs 2 BAs
2 BAs
8 DEVs 8 DEVs 8 DEVs
Client Project Manager
2 QAs 2 QAs 2 QAs
4 Domain Subject Experts
DEV Huddle
QA Huddle
BA Huddle
Weekly TechLead Meeting
Weekly Showcase
Weekly Status Call
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 8
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Intermezzo
An alternative mode: The Distributed Model
US India
Client Principal PM/IM
TechLead
Project Manager + Iteration Manager
3 BAs 13 DEVs 3 QAs
Architect + Tech Lead
4 BAs 4 DEVs 2 QAs
3 SMEs (part-time) Notice:
2 Client DEVs (not doing DEV)
=> Biggest bottleneck:
Communication between teams
Possible Consequence:
Lack of trust between teams
=> Role of BA in US vs role of BA is India
=> Separate teams by functionality !
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 9
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Team setup in our Bangalore office
A dining table for every team
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 10
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Building the right communication model
• Stand-ups
• Stand-up of
stand-ups
• Showcases
• DEV
Huddles
• Weekly
Status
Meeting
• Steering
Group
meetings
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 11
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Client Visits
110 Stories Signed-off in 4 weeks
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 12
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Using metrics and feedback loops
Full team involved in scope management
FP © ThoughtWorks, 2007 13
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Joe’s Bucket
Making fixed-price and Agile work!
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 14
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Build trust by having Total Transparency
At any time the status of the project is visible for everybody
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 15
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Build trust by having Total Transparency
At any time the status of the project is visible for everybody
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 16
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Build trust by having Total Transparency
At any time the status of the project is visible for everybody
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 17
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Offshore, Fixed Price and Agile
Of course that works !
• Offshore:
Showcases driven by offshore location, role of the BA
on onsite location, client visits
• Fixed Price:
Full team involvement for scope management,
Joe’s Bucket
• Both:
Trust!
© ThoughtWorks, 2007 18
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