Case study on how Valtech made an Agile Transformation at Xtrakter

1. AGILE TRANSFORMATION AT XTRAKTER

2. INTRODUCTION
SPEAKERS
Gary Jones, Valtech
Alastair Brown, Valtech
Graeme Austin, Xtrakter
Gary Maplestone, Xtrakter
EXPERIENCE REPORT ON THE AGILE TRANSFORMATION AT XTRAKTER

3. INTRODUCTION
BUSINESS CASE FOR CHANGE – Graeme Austin
PROCESS FOR CHANGE – Gary Jones
SHAPING THE PROCESS - Gary Maplestone
THE POWER OF METRICS – Alastair Brown
QUESTIONS

4. XTRAKTER BUSINESS CASE

5. XTRAKTER OVERVIEW
Market infrastructure for bond trading
Transaction reporting conduit to the FSA
Primary data repository for European bond market
ORGANISATIONAL CHALLENGES
 Silo mentality
 Legacy culture from previous management
 Preparing company for sale
Xtrakter is part of the Euroclear group of companies. Xtrakter is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of
the UK as an approved Service Company FRN: 491843

6. XTRAKTER TIMELINE 2007-2008
September 2007
 Product management department formed
 First analysis of product life cycle, soup to nuts
 Issues around Velocity company-wide
October 2007
 Time to market
 Predictable quality
 Predictable delivery
November 2007 onwards
 Prepare company for sale
September October January 2009
November Nov 2008
2007 Product 2007 First Oct 2008 Selection of
2007 Prepare Sale
life cycle review of Health Check Consultancy
for Sale Agreement
begins Waterfall begins

7. XTRAKTER TIMELINE 2008-2009
October 2008
 Revisit product development life cycle
 Health check on Waterfall methodology
 „There has to be a better way‟
November 2008
 Sale and Purchase Agreement signed
January 2009
 Agile consultancy beauty parade
September October January 2009
November Nov 2008
2007 Product 2007 First Oct 2008 Selection of
2007 Prepare Sale
life cycle review of Health Check Consultancy
for Sale Agreement
begins Waterfall begins

8. BUSINESS CASE
DRIVERS
 Product life cycle management
 Predictable quality
 Predictable delivery
CHALLENGES
 Business case definition
 Leadership team as aligned unit
 Awareness change required

9. PROCESS FOR CHANGE

10. PROCCESS FOR CHANGE
Oct 2008 September October February
April 2009 April 2009
Xtrakter 2009 2009 2010
Xtrakter Valtech
Think Valtech Valtech Xtrakter
Attend Assessment
About Agile Agile Running
Agile Edge of Xtrakter
Change Training Coaching Solo

11. PROCCESS FOR CHANGE

12. SHAPING THE PROCESS

13. PRODUCT OWNER ENGAGEMENT
THE CHALLENGE
 New responsibilities for our Product Managers:
• Approval of minor product enhancements
• Single point of prioritisation
ACTIONS TAKEN
 Initially lots of business coaching from Valtech
 Excellent support for the Agile transformation from the
Director of Product Management

14. AGILE REQUIREMENTS
THE CHALLENGE
 Requirements too detailed too soon
 Stale requirements
 Bloated requirements
ACTIONS TAKEN
 Promote conversation with introduction of stories
 Focus BA team on the immediate requirement (Just enough!)
 Heavy demand for coaching in this area

15. AGILE REQUIREMENTS
THE CHALLENGE
 Requirements too detailed too soon
 Stale requirements
 Bloated requirements
ACTIONS TAKEN
 Promote conversation with introduction of stories
 Focus BA team on the immediate requirement (Just enough!)
 Heavy demand for coaching in this area

16. DELIVERY STAFF HIDING BEHIND THE
PROCESS
THE CHALLENGE
 We were initially at risk of losing „organic‟ communication
e.g.
• Refusal to respond to simple queries
• Reluctance to give initial „Rough Order of Magnitude‟
estimates
ACTIONS TAKEN
 Guidance had to be given; Agile is a framework, not a manual
for all activity.
 There is still a need for a non-deterministic system that can
„self-heal‟

17. FRUSTRATED REQUIREMENTS OWNERS
THE CHALLENGE
“I don‟t want to have to justify why my request deserves
attention”
“You were more responsive to our requirements BEFORE
Agile!”
ACTIONS TAKEN
Explanation as to why the new approach benefits the
organisation as a whole
Coaching/advice from a 3rd party i.e. Valtech, to take the
heat out of the situation

18. INFLUENCE OF METRICS

19. INFLUENCE OF METRICS
POWERFUL COMMUNICATOR OF PROGRESS
– Coupled with stand up meeting and Retrospectives
Highlight Potential Risks Early
Cultural Influence of high visibility
– Early Risk Identification
– Impediment Removal
– Completion of working software
– Clarity of priority
What we did
– Ultra low cost of entry
– Leading Indicators

20. BACKLOG AND CATEGORISATION
5: ANALYSIS IN
1: IDENTIFIED 2: APPROVED 3: PRIORITISED
PROGRESS
6: READY 10: IN
7: IN DEV 8: IN QA
FOR DEV DEPLOYMENT

21. THE METRICS

22. RELEASE CUMULATIVE FLOW

23. WHAT WE DID
ITERATION CUMULATIVE FLOW
(AS A BURN UP)
POSITIVE PATTERNS
– Velocity Increasing
– Team understanding achievable level of commitment
PATTERNS REQUIRING ANALYSIS
– Large amount of work in progress
– Scope increasing mid iteration – prioritisation unstable
– Over commitment in early iterations

24. WHAT WE DID
VALUE CRITERIA
POSITIVE PATTERNS
– Operational Improvement (Value) and Business Value greatest
LEADING INDICATORS
– Large amount of work in progress
– Large number of points in prioritised
– QA constraint

25. XTRAKTER SUMMARY

26. CULTURE CHANGE
“There is nothing more difficult to take in
hand, more perilous to conduct, or more
uncertain in its success, than to take the
lead in the introduction of a new order of
things. For the reformer has enemies in all
those who profit by the old order, and only
lukewarm defenders in all those who would
profit by the new order…”
Nicolo Machiavelli

27. PRE-REQUISITES ARE CRUCIAL
PREPARE THE WAY IN ADVANCE
– Staff Briefings
– Send key staff to Agile Seminars
– Refer to the Agile idea in discussions with Senior
Managers….repeatedly
– Use crises when they arise to illustrate how Agile could avoid
them
– Pick your launch date with care…one shot!
YOU MUST HAVE BUY-IN AT THE TOP…CULTURE CHANGE HURTS!

28. INCREDIBLE IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE
OUTSET
TEAM CO-OPERATION
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
TEAM MORALE
REDUCED DEFECT RATE
PREDICTABILITY
VELOCITY

29. ?
ANY QUESTIONS …

30. http://www.valtech.co.uk
http://blog.valtech.co.uk
http://twitter.com/valtech