The probability of building the right product increases with the application of the right construction.

1. simtlix.com
We were born
to simplify technology
Software Engineering in
the Agile Manifesto
AOE
Agile and Organizational Excellence

2. If you are not producing working, running, tested usable software in every single
Sprint or iteration, you are not [yet] ‘doing’ Agile, you are not [yet] ‘doing’ Scrum.
Ron Jeffries
Introduction
In his recent book, Clean Agile, Robert Martin states that the Agile Manifesto signees gathered with
the aim of “creating a manifesto to introduce a more effective, lighter-weight approach for
software development’ due to the ‘deplorable state of software development’.
Sometimes, because of the extensive deployment and usage of the Agile philosophy and of
frameworks such as Scrum, the original focus on software is forgotten or is not being considered as
it used to be in that remote 2001 when the Manifesto was written. Not surprisingly, the Manifesto
explicitly mentioned the software.
We would like to highlight the software engineering implications of delivering working software.

3. Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and by helping
others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left
more.

4. Agile Manifesto
Some of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto also emphasized the focus on
software: :
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous
delivery of valuable software.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of
months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.

5. What is working software?
Working software is validated software that delivers value to the business, to the customers and
the users. It is software that works well, does what it has to do without errors, that uses computer
resources efficiently, and works in situations of security risks. It is software easily used and
understood in all functionalities and situations; software that works in different situations without
failure and that can be maintained.
In other words: working software makes your customers happy, has no bugs, it’s not slow, it doesn’t
stop unexpectedly and it’s easy to use and understand. If you have a working software, the things
you do with it are easily found, it keeps hackers away, your information is secured and the use of
your computer efficient. Last but not least, software builders can modify, test, adapt, change and
deploy it.

6. What is valuable software?
Gerald Weinberg, reviewing different definitions of ‘quality’ concluded that ‘quality is value for
someone’.
As the stakeholders’ value is expressed in requirements, valuable software implements the
customers’ needs into a software product that fulfills those needs and that is characterized by
quality attributes.

7. What do we need to do to build working and valuable
software?
We need to perform all the activities and best practices of the software development value chain.
We have to establish an architecture of the solution and design it; develop the code, verify it with
testing, apply peer review, and static analysis. Also, we have to integrate software parts, build and
test the software product components and validate them with the users, and to deploy the
software product in all the environments needed by the customers.
Software components must be managed and product integrity should be kept through
configuration management.
The project team and their activities should be managed, measured, reviewed and improved
continuously.

8. Copyright 2019 |
Building the right
product
Project Management
Needs
V&V
Plan
Continuous improvement
Audits, reviews, assessments
Traceability
Metrics
Mgmt
review Risks
Action
tracking
SCM
Building the
product right
Prep Sprint Release
The probability of building the right
product increases with the
application of the right
construction.
The value chain is the transformation
of our customer's needs into a
software product that fulfills those
needs and it is characterized by the
quality attributes
It is a model transformation and not a time sequence
If you think that doing the right
construction is expensive, try doing it
with a bad construction.

9. References
1. Agile Manifesto.
2. Martin Robert. Clean Agile (Robert C. Martin Series) (p. 25). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.
3. Article No Software: No Agile, No Scrum, by Ron Jeffries
4. Weinberg, Gerald. Quality Software Management (Vol 1 Systems Thinking). Dorset House.
5. Article. Boehm, Barry. Improving Software Productivity. IEEE Software. 1987