Agile and DevOps Transformations in Large Organizations

DW3
Concurrent Session
11/11/15 2:45pm

“Agile and DevOps Transformations in Large
Organizations”

Presented by:
Siraj Berhan
Royal Bank of Canada

Brought to you by:

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Siraj Berhan
Royal Bank of Canada
Across all lines of business at the Royal Bank of Canada, Siraj Berhan leads the consulting,
training, and coaching of various agile teams. Since 2002 when he became addicted to applying
agile development methodologies, Siraj has championed being agile with a goal of making
teams, products, and businesses flourish. He has trained hundreds of practitioners and
managers on agile development through various multi-day courses covering agile at an
enterprise level. With his passion for driving agility through technical excellence, Siraj has
trained dozens of developers on XP engineering practices. Follow him on Twitter @SirajBerhan,
contact him at Siraj@Berhan.ca, and read his blog.

Agile and DevOps Transformations
in Large Organizations
Siraj Berhan
Nov. 11, 2015
Agile & DevOps Conference East, 2015
Agile & DevOps Conference East – Nov. 11, 2015 1
Agile & DevOps Transformations Competencies
People
Technology
&
Operations
Processes
•  Maintaining a
cross-functional
self-managing team
around a set of
deliverables
instead of a project
based culture.
•  Evolving to a
generalist-
specialists attitude.
•  Promoting a co-
located
development model
•  Emergent
architecture
supported from
within the team
•  Incorporating a
time-and-material
funding model
•  Leveraging
Organizational
Change
Management
•  Providing a
suitability
assessment tool
•  Optimizing
control processes
•  Nurturing product
owner role
•  Performance
evaluations &
total
compensations
revisited to
nurture an Agile
culture
•  Move form a test-last mentality to a test-driven
culture
•  Heavy emphasis on test automation
•  Continuous delivery

Misconceptions of Agile
•  Agile projects require little or no documentation.
•  There is no need for requirements in Agile - they are “made up” as you
go.
•  There is no traceability in Agile.
•  Assumptions and Risks aren't documented in Agile.
•  No-one is responsible in Agile.
•  Agile requires co-location and no offshore engagement.
•  A consistent and continuous business engagement is not essential for
Agile.
•  Costs for an Agile project will be substantially higher than a traditional
one.
•  Agile projects do not provide any status updates or status reports.
•  At the end, there will be no documentation for support purposes.
Tip: Nurture an Agile and DevOps culture through training,
coaching, process management, tools support, etc.
Fact or Myth?

Agile & DevOps Transformations “Fact or Myth?” Activity
•  Organize into groups
•  Your task is to decide if each card is a fact or myth
•  Remember to share your thinking with your group
•  You have 6 minutes
•  Any questions?
Agile and DevOps Maturity
5
Supporting
agility and
DevOps as a
spectrum
Scrum
Kanban XP
Lean
Software
DevelopmentAgile
Modeling
DAD DSDM
Crystal
Feature Driven
Development
SAFe
Agile Environment
(Adaptive)
Tip: Extend agile practices to include operations with an
emphasis on tools and skillset around supporting
continuous delivery
Traditional Waterfall Environment
(Predictive)

The “Beast”
Business
Complexity
Technology
Complexity
Market
Conditions
Drivers For an Agile and DevOps Culture
Potential benefits:
•  ROI Driven granular requirement prioritization which minimizes building on
requirements that are never used by the end customer
•  Adaptability to changing business need and market condition
•  Potential cost savings by avoiding complete up front requirements
decomposition that may never materialize
•  The notion of Minimum Marketable Product concept while keeping an eye on
the bigger picture, which is important to reduce Time-to-Market
•  Deliver features to the production environment incrementally & frequently
•  More transparency into projects, enabling better decision making
•  Increase quality by reducing post implementation defects
•  Business sees prototypes in reviews during each iteration
•  Better collaboration, with earlier and ongoing engagement of key team
members like business partners and QA
•  More accurate project / deliverable forecast

Agile Suitability
Assessment
Dimensions of Agile Suitability
Low urgency
Stable markets
Stable requirements
Traditional process oriented core team
Low level of direct business participation
Extended team members available by appointment
Documentation used for geographically dispersed teams
Business & IT Management comfortable with traditional methods
Limited rotation of business contributors with offshore locations
Fixed price (+/- 10%). Fixed scope and variable timelines contracts
High urgency
Emerging markets
Variable requirements
Core team suitable for Agile development
High level of direct business participation
Extended team members available upon short notice
Collaborative tools used for geographically dispersed teams
Business & IT Management comfortable with Agile principles
Rotation of business contributors with offshore location
Time & Material or fixed price (Flexible constraints)
Tip: Provide an Agile Suitability Assessment
Traditional Waterfall (Predictive) Agile (Adaptive)
Urgency
Product
Compatibility
IT Capability
Business
Engagement
Organizational
Support

Agile Suitability Assessment Demo
Start

Make It Official
Sprint Zero Release 1 ClosureRelease n
Drafted Planning Artefacts
Product Backlog
Regression
Implement
Requirement EffortValue
1
2
3
4
Sprint #
1
2
Release #
1
x y
Gated Delivery Model
Gate 1 Gate 3Gate 2 Gate 5Gate 4+
Tip: Agile as an official path
Optimize Control Points
Release 1
Sprint 0 Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Wrap upSprint y
Potentially
Shippable
Product or Service
Tip: Control
processes
should be
optimized to
provide safety
and soundness
without incurring
unnecessary
delay
Artefacts
Product Backlog
Regression
Implement
Requirement EffortValue
1
2
3
4
Sprint #
1
2
Release #
1
x y
Gated Delivery Model
Gate 1 Gate 3Gate 2 Gate 5Gate 4+

Agile Team
Agile Team Roles
Bus.
Stakeholder
Bus.
Stakeholder
Agile
Team
Scrum Master
Solution
Team
Bus.
Stakeholder
Tech.
Stakeholder
Tech.
Stakeholder Tech.
Stakeholder
Product
Owner
Tip: Maintain
a cross-
functional
self-
managing
team around
a set of
deliverables
instead of a
project
based
culture

Allocation
High Allocation (One Project)
Task A
Task B
Task C
Multi-tasking (On different projects)
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4
Cost of
switching
tasks
(overhead)
Team members are
more productive when
they are focused
Accelerated Team Development
•  Forming: Team members get acquainted with
each other. They learn the behaviours that are
acceptable to the project and the group.
•  Storming: After accepting that they are part of a
group in the forming stage, team members start
resisting the constraints of the project until the
process for making decisions has been resolved.
•  Norming: At this stage, the group demonstrate
cohesiveness. The group structure solidifies.
There is a sense of camaraderie.
•  Performing: The team structure is fully functional
and accepted. Group energy is now focused on
delivering value.
•  Adjourning: At the end of the project, the team
prepares for dissolution.
Because of its
iterative nature,
Agile teams mature
faster than
traditional teams
Tip: Leverage organizational change management to support
being agile as a shift in mindset

Solution Team Skills
Bus.
Stakeholder
Bus.
Stakeholder
Agile
Team
Scrum Master
Planning skills
Coordination skills
Communication skills
Status Reporting skills
Requirements Analysis skills
Estimation skills
Architecture skills
App. Design skills
Coding skills
Testing skills
GUI Design skills
Process Design / Development skills
Database Management skills
Documentation skills
Implementation skills
Deployment skills
Etc.
Solution
Team
Bus.
Stakeholder
Tech.
Stakeholder
Tech.
Stakeholder Tech.
Stakeholder
Product
Owner
Tip:
Evolve to
a more
well-
rounded
individuals
with a
generalist
attitude
Benefits for Agile Team Members
Team members:
•  …are more empowered, engaged, and in control of their destiny.
•  …feel they can contribute to a tangible product.
•  …see their quality work delivered into the hands of waiting users.
With Agile, comes job satisfaction!
Engaged,(31.5%(
Not(Engaged,(
51.0%(
Ac4vely(
Disengaged,(
17.5%(
9th Annual State of Agile™ Report
by VersionOne has 79% of
respondents report Increased
team morale / motivation through
Agile.
Source: http://goo.gl/6zKbdgSource: http://goo.gl/lMo9NP
Majority of U.S. Employees Not Engaged.

Sustainable Pace
•  Teams get more done when they work at a sustainable pace.
•  Effectiveness starts to drop after the first week of overtime.
•  Within a few weeks, the team will be facing a velocity deficit.
•  Persistent overtime is evidence of a serious problem. It is not a solution; instead
it only treats the symptoms.
.
Don’t plan on
overtime to
salvage an
initiative
Normal Velocity
Velocity Deficit
First week with overtime
Product Owner and The Team
Bus.
Stakeholder
Bus.
Stakeholder
Agile
Team
Scrum Master
Solution
Team
Bus.
Stakeholder
Tech.
Stakeholder
Tech.
Stakeholder
PO
Delegate
(Proxy)
PO – Product Owner
Tech.
Stakeholder
PO
Team
Tip: Ensure
Product
Owner is
available,
knowledge
able,
decisive,
and
committed
to work with
the team on
a daily
basis.

Agile & DevOps Conference East – Nov. 11, 2015
Experimentation and Emergent Architecture
Build a Village!
22
Tip: Emergent architecture supported from within the team
Environment

Co-location
It might take a
few weeks for
team members
to adjust to a
new co-located
environment.
Table
Whiteboards
Sprint
Backlog
Desk
Filing cabinet
Table
Whiteboards
Sprint
Backlog
Desk
Filing cabinet
Tip: Promote a co-located development model to maximize
team’s agility and velocity.
Distributed Teams
25

Degrees of Dispersion
Low
High
Dispersion
Team Members Dispersion
The higher the
team
dispersion, the
more
techniques we
need to
overcome the
communication
challenges
Same room facing each other
Adjacent cubicles
Same floor
Same building
Adjacent buildings
Same city
Adjacent cities
Different cities in same time zone
Different time zones
Collaborating in Different Time Zones
•  Allow flexible work hours
and shifting schedules.
•  Schedule meetings in a
way that shares the pain.
•  Adjust meeting times to
account for daylight
savings changes.
•  Rotate meeting chair
responsibilities amongst
geographies.
•  Encourage full-team
participation and
communicate results to
other team members if
they can not attend.
It is not the distance that is difficult, it is the time
zone difference. Finding a common time between
two locations is considerably easier to manage
than between multiple time zones.
Toronto Jersey Toronto Bangalore Toronto Vancouver
6:00 AM 11:00 AM 6:00 AM 3:30 PM 6:00 AM 3:00 AM
7:00 AM 12:00 PM 7:00 AM 4:30 PM 7:00 AM 4:00 AM
8:00 AM 1:00 PM 8:00 AM 5:30 PM 8:00 AM 5:00 AM
9:00 AM 2:00 PM 9:00 AM 6:30 PM 9:00 AM 6:00 AM
10:00 AM 3:00 PM 10:00 AM 7:30 PM 10:00 AM 7:00 AM
11:00 AM 4:00 PM 11:00 AM 8:30 PM 11:00 AM 8:00 AM
12:00 PM 5:00 PM 12:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:00 PM 9:00 AM
1:00 PM 6:00 PM 1:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 PM 10:00 AM
2:00 PM 7:00 PM 2:00 PM 11:30 PM 2:00 PM 11:00 AM
3:00 PM 8:00 PM 3:00 PM 12:30 AM 3:00 PM 12:00 PM
4:00 PM 9:00 PM 4:00 PM 1:30 AM 4:00 PM 1:00 PM
5:00 PM 10:00 PM 5:00 PM 2:30 AM 5:00 PM 2:00 PM
6:00 PM 11:00 PM 6:00 PM 3:30 AM 6:00 PM 3:00 PM
7:00 PM 12:00 AM 7:00 PM 4:30 AM 7:00 PM 4:00 PM

Setting Up a Distributed Team For Success
•  Identify and build a team for working on
an Agile project.
•  Arrange for full team training on Agile
values and practices.
•  Define and implement the tools,
processes and practices necessary for
conducting an Agile project.
•  Commit to and budget for conducting
staff rotations. Make arrangements for
team members to travel to other team
sites.
1. Assemble Team
2. Team Training
3. Tools & Practices
4. Rotate Staff
Go!
Tip: Leverage the usage of the collaboration tools to its fullest
across the enterprise
Quality

Automation
As Sprints unfold, the QA content if
it’s not automated will take a larger
proportion of the team’s total effort.
Testing accumulates from Sprint
to Sprint. The more you build,
the more you have to test.
Project Timeline
QA
Content
Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6 Sprint xSprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 7 Sprint 8 Sprint 9
Tip: Move form a test-last mentality to a test-driven culture
including heavy emphasis on test automation
Testing Philosophy & Engineering Tools
Test First Test After
Test as Verification Test as Examples
Test One-at-a-Time Test All-at-Once
State Verification Behavior Verification
Tip: Provide
consistency
across the
enterprise
around
engineering
tools and
practices
that support
agility and
DevOps.

Review
Budget
Fixed Price
Caution: Fixed Price Contracts
Budget
A fixed price contract does NOT equal a fixed budget.
You will usually be billed at least the fixed price of the contract,
plus the cost of any changes.
Fixed Price Changes

Funding Model
Iterative and incremental delivery of value
Release 1
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Wrap upSprint y
Software or
Process Product
Potentially Shippable
Product
Sprint Zero ClosureRelease n
Tip: Incorporate a time-and-material funding model for a team-
based product or service delivery.
True Partnership Includes The Vendor
Without a
partnership
between all
parties including
the vendor(s)
there cannot be
an Agile project.
Organization
Business IT
Vendor(s)
Team
Team
Whenever possible, co-locating the vendor directly with the
Solution Team will be extremely beneficial.
! ! !

Appetite For Experimentation
Tip: Performance
evaluations and total
compensations
should be revisited to
nurture an Agile
culture
Journey

Questions?
Contact Information
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sirajberhan
Thank You!
@SirajBerhan
http://siraj.berhan.ca/
Siraj@Berhan.ca

Agile and DevOps Transformations in Large Organizations

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