Hans Eckman: 7 Agile and DevOps Insights I Wish I Knew Earlier

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7 Agile and DevOps Insights
I Wish I Knew Earlier
Presented by Hans Eckman
Principal Research Director | Info-Tech Research Group | infotech.com

• Learn more about Info-Tech Research Group:
• https://www.infotech.com
• Connect with Hans Eckman:
• hackman@infotech.com
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/hanseckman
9/17/21 ©2021 Hans Eckman 2
Stay Connected

We Have a Big Problem
Source: Implement Agile Practices That Work
of IT professionals believe
the business is “usually”
or “always” out of sync
with project requirements.
Source: “10 Ways Requirements Can Sabotage Your
Projects Right From the Start”
78%
of software is rated as both
important and effective by users.
34%
Source: Info-Tech’s CIO Business Vision
Only

Agile is the Best! Or is it?
Every survey conducted by
Agile consulting shops and
tool vendors shows Agile feels
more successful than
traditional approaches.
Qualitatively
Based on the results of our recent agile
quality study, expect agile software quality to
exceed traditional method performance by a
factor of from 6 to 12 percent in about three
years.
– “Quantitative Analysis of Agile Methods Study (2017): Twelve
Major Findings”
The average Agile practice is no more
productive than Waterfall.
Quantitatively
…some researchers argue that there is nothing
new about agile methods…
– “Empirical Studies of Agile Software
Development: A Systematic Review”
Agile isn’t necessarily better. Being involved
in the process of throughput just feels
better.
– “The 12 Stages Of The Agile Transformation Journey”

Agile Continues to Fall Short
Adapted from: “12th Annual State of Agile Report"
Ability to manage changing priorities
71%
Project visibility 66%
65%
Business/IT alignment
Delivery spend/time to market 62%
Increased team productivity 61%
61%
Team morale
Project predictability 49%
Software quality 47%
47%
Project risk reduction
Engineering discipline 43%
Managing distributed teams 40%
Software maintainability 33%
Project cost reduction 22%

7 Lessons I Wish I Learned Earlier
1. Depth of the Organizational Divide
2. It’s All About Culture
3. Why MVPs Work
4. Teams Must Embrace Change
5. Transition from Project to Product Delivery
6. A Hybrid Approach is Often Best
7. DevOps Isn’t Just Automation

1. Depth of the Organizational
Divide

How far off are initial project estimates? (%)
Source: “Art and Science of Software Estimation”

Development vs Maintenance is Misunderstood
Source: *IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering”
100%
Develop and
Implement
The development
team’s work
distribution is
independent of the
work distribution
model for the
maintenance team.
Development Team
20% 40% – 80%
*21%
Common
Perception
Research
Shows
Enhancements
Bug Fixes &
Maintenance
Bug Fixes & Maintenance
Implement Deferred
Features
Enhancements
Maintenance Team
Every maintenance team develops new code, enhances existing applications, and maintains
and fixes production systems. Governance, management, and the ability to measure delivery
is required to make the informed decisions about what activities to invest in to drive value

Our Biggest Challenge
Lines of
Business
I.T.

2. It’s All About Culture

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development
1.Individuals and
Interactions
2.Working
Software
3.Customer
Collaboration
4.Responding to
Change
1.Processes and
Tools
2.Comprehensive
Documentation
3.Contract
Negotiation
4.Following a plan
Being Agile
Doing Agile

Cultural Advantages of Agile
Iterations
Continual
Improvement
Prioritization
Collaboration
Cycles provide opportunities
for more product feedback.
Self-managing teams
continually improve their
approach for next iteration.
The most important needs
are addressed in the current
iteration.
Team members leverage all
their experience working
towards a common goal.

Beware of Common Agile Myths
Solves my
development and
communication
issues
Does not
require
documentation
Will finish
requirements
faster

3. Why MVPs Work

How to Build a Minimum Viable Product
Source: Info-Tech LIVE “Embracing Business Agility”
Not Like This
Like This

Iterations Maximize Value Delivery
PERCENT
VALUE
EARNED
PERCENT EFFORT EXPENDED

Iterations Reduce Accumulated Risk
RISK
TIME

4. Teams Must Embrace Change

Create a culture that embraces change
Deliver value quickly Respond rapidly to change.

Change is inevitable
Adapted from: “12th Annual State of Agile Report"
of IT professionals
adopt Agile to enhance
their ability to manage
changing priorities.
64%
of IT professionals found
their ability to manage
changing priorities improved
after implementing Agile.
71%
However, traditional delivery processes work on the assumption that product
requirements will remain constant throughout the SDLC. This results in delayed delivery
of product enhancements which are critical to maintaining a positive customer
experience.

Stability Inhibits Change
Source: Info-Tech LIVE “Reboot Your Innovation Team – Fixing the Startup Mentality”
Processes
Policies
Funding
Security
Hierarchies
Compliance
Controls
Systems
Culture
Legal
Regulations
Approvals
And many more…

5. Transition from Project to
Product Delivery

Shift from Project to Product Centric
Source: Build a Better Product Owner
Info-Tech Insight
Product delivery requires
significant shifts in the
way you complete
development work and
deliver value to your
users. Make the changes
that support improving
end user value and
enterprise alignment.
Project Product
Funding
Fund Projects Fund Products or Teams
Prioritization
Line of Business Sponsor Product Owner
Product Management
Makes Specific Changes
to a Product
Improve Product Maturity
and Support
Work Allocation
Assign People to Work
Assign Work
to Product Teams
Capacity Management
Project Manager Manages Team Manages Capacity

Products are About Maturity
Source: Build a Better Product Owner:
• Features
• Services
Project
Project Lifecycle
• Features
• Services
Project
Product
Release
Product
Release
• Features
• Services
Project
Hybrid Lifecycle
• Features
• Services
Project
Product
Release
Product
Release
CI/CD Delivery
Product
Releases
Product Lifecycle
Product
Releases
• Features
• Services
Project
• Features
• Services
Project
Product Backlog
Product Roadmap
Projects within products
Regardless of whether you recognize
yourself as a “product-based” or
“project-based” shop, the same basic
principles should apply.
The purpose of projects is to deliver
the scope of a product release. The
shift to product delivery leverages a
product roadmap and backlog as the
mechanism for defining and
managing the scope of the release.
Eventually, teams progress to
Continuous Delivery/Continuous
Integrations where teams can release
on demand or as scheduled releasing
requiring org change management.

Backlogs are NOT Roadmaps
Source: Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision

6. A Hybrid Approach is Often
Best

Agile may not be Right for all Situations
We don’t recommend
implementing Agile under
the following scenarios:
If you already have a project in flight in a Waterfall procurement or contractual environment.
If all stakeholders need to agree to a standard before proceeding with development.
If the project is a one-off.
If the project touches on highly sensitive, risky, or critical systems.
If stakeholders lack of accountability and/or authority.

WaterAgileFall is Often the Best Place to Start
Analysis and
Design
Agile
Development
Implementation
and Support
Sprint
Sprint
Sprint

7. DevOps Isn’t Just Automation

DevOps Closes the Operational Gap
Source: Implement DevOps Practices That Work
DevOps is an operational philosophy that seeks to promote an improved relationship
between development and operations to break down existing silos and better align the
groups in providing customer value.

3 Keys to Successful DevOps
Dev Ops
Dev Ops
Dev +
Ops
System
Awareness and
Empathy
Development incorporates the deployment and operational requirements into their delivery practices to ease handoffs.
Operations triages and escalates tickets as per development’s ready definition while considering development capacity.
Shared SDLC vision and empathy across development and operations.
Entire delivery pipeline is understood by all delivery roles.
Collaborative
Delivery
Development is involved in specific operations activities to ensure successful deployment and support of change (e.g.,
warranty period).
Operations is involved in specific development activities to minimize deployment and supportability issues (e.g., change
advisory board, architecture design, and release planning).
Development and operations processes are integrated, and artifacts are shared.
Shared
Accountability
Development and operations actively work together throughout the delivery pipeline to ensure products are successfully
deployed to production.
All delivery roles have the same success criteria: valuable and usable products.

Understand the Delivery Maturity Continuum
Product Delivery Maturity
•
•
•
Waterfall/
Ad Hoc
Iterative
Agile
DevOps
Continuous Integration
and Delivery
Stability
Stakeholder Value
ROI
Efficiency
Throughput
Organizations start with Waterfall to improve
the predictable delivery of product features.
Iterative development shifts the focus from
delivery of features to delivery of user value.
Agile further shifts delivery to consider ROI.
Often, the highest value backlog items aren’t
the ones with the highest ROI.
LEAN and DevOps improve your delivery
pipeline by providing full integration between
product owners, development teams, and
operations.
CI/CD reduces time in process by allowing
release on demand and simplifying release and
support activities.
Although teams will adopt parts of all these
stages during their journey, it isn’t until we’ve
adopted a fully integrated delivery chain that
we’ve become product-centric.
Based on: Ambysoft, “2018 Project Success Survey Results”

• Learn more about Info-Tech Research Group:
• https://www.infotech.com
• Connect with Hans Eckman:
• hackman@infotech.com
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/hanseckman
9/17/21 ©2021 Hans Eckman 36
Stay Connected

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Appendix

Culture is the biggest challenge to Agile implementation
Agile thinking and behaviors may be well accepted within the development team but can conflict with the organization
culture, such as tolerance to failure and empowerment. Fears of runaway development teams and loss of scope control
are commonly announced stakeholder concerns that can derail future buy-in. Regular communication and a common
understanding of Agile principles can level-set expectations and reassure stakeholders that development teams are
completing projects with stakeholder interests and concerns top of mind.
Hybrid development methodologies can be a better fit than pure Agile
Certain organizational and technical constraints and complexities can limit the implementation of Agile to development
teams only. Some organizations eventually realized that their steady state process is a hybrid of Agile and Waterfall
methodologies. Adopting some Waterfall principles can in fact improve the success of development projects over pure
Agile in certain situations, such as hardware implementation and modifications to large, complex systems.
Don’t let your organization get carried away with success
Agile is not a methodology that will apply to every project, team, or business unit the same way: teams will interpret and
value principles and tasks differently. Be prepared for failure as successes in one project may be issues in another.
Teams must now be disciplined to address high risk issues collectively and collaboratively without falling back on old
habits.
Key observations made by Info-Tech’s research

How you fund changes matters
“Most IT funding depends on one-
time expenditures or capital-
funding mechanisms that are
based on building construction-
funding models predicated on a
life expectancy of 20 years or more.
Such models don’t provide the
stability or flexibility needed for
modern IT investments.”
– Educause
So where do the problems start?

Traditional roles translate to those in Scrum
Traditional Roles Scrum Roles
Scrum Master
Product Owner
The Team
Business Analyst
Project Manager
Quality Assurance
Tester
Designer
Architect
Developer
Operations
Legend
Most likely transition
Possible options
Info-Tech Insight
• Be aware of conflicting
interests
• Rotate Scrum Masters
• Keep the team size to 5-9
members
Development roles may shift, but the value of each role will remain the same.

Product Roadmaps are Key to Product Delivery
Product
Roadmap
Vision and Leadership
Strategy and Market
Research
Product Lifecycle
Management
Business Alignment and Financials
Guides
Validates
Justifies
Manages
Delivery Capacity and
Throughput
Is constrained by
Product Delivery Pipeline
Adapted from: Pichler, “What Is Product Management?”
Business Value
Realization
Tiered Backlog
Info-Tech Insight
Product delivery requires a
comprehensive set of business and
technical competencies to effectively
roadmap, plan, deliver, support, and
validate your product portfolio. To
realize business value from your
delivery pipeline, the quality of your
product backlog is directly related to
the input, content, and prioritization
in your product roadmap.

Consider volatility when structuring product roadmaps
Your product family roadmap represents a broad statement of
intent and high-level tactics getting closer to the organization’s
goals.
Short-term Near-term Future
Your strategic intentions are subject to volatility, especially
those planned within a further timeline. The more costs you
incur in planning, the more you leave yourself exposed to
inefficiency and waste if those plans change.
There is no such thing as a roadmap that never changes:
All good product family roadmaps embrace change!
Info-Tech Insight
A good product family roadmap is intended to manage and communicate the
inevitable changes as a result of market volatility and changes in strategy.
Short-term Near-Term Future
Market
Volatility
Strategy
Change

Hans Eckman: 7 Agile and DevOps Insights I Wish I Knew Earlier

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