This document provides an overview of Agile project management principles and practices compared to traditional Waterfall project management. It discusses key aspects of the Agile Manifesto such as valuing individuals, collaboration, and responding to change over comprehensive documentation and following a plan. Specific Agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban are outlined, along with industry metrics showing higher success rates and productivity with Agile. Challenges with the Waterfall model and benefits of Agile approaches are also summarized.

2. Richard Cheng
◊ Agile trainer & coach
◊ Excella Agile Center of Excellence Lead
◊ Member of PMI, Scrum Alliance, Agile
Alliance, Agile Leadership Network
◊ PMP, CSM, CSPO, CSP, PMI-ACP
◊ Founder & executive committee
member of Agile Defense Adoption
Proponents Team (ADAPT), an Agile
DoD Task Force
◊ Deep expertise in Federal and
commercial Agile transformations
2

3. “Traditional” IT Project Management
◊ Process and tools
◊ Comprehensive documentation
◊ Contract negotiations
◊ Following a plan
This is how we control projects….
3

4. Waterfall Development
Requirements
Design
Develop
Test
Deploy
4

5. Industry Success Rate
IT Industry average success rate?
Success rate ~ __%
33%
From 2010 report from The Standish Group
5

6. Problems with Waterfall
Requirements What happens if something goes wrong?
Design
Develop
“I believe in this concept,
Test
but the implementation described
above is risky and invites failure”
– Dr. Winston Royce Deploy
Managing the Development of Large Software Systems, Winston Royce (1970)
6

7. “Traditional” IT Project Management
◊ Process and tools
◊ Comprehensive documentation
◊ Contract negotiations
◊ Following a plan
Designed to minimize risk and control change
7

8. Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing
it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to
value:
Individuals and interactions over Process 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.
http://agilemanifesto.org/
8

9. 1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of
valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness
change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with
a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress. Agile processes promote
sustainable development.
8. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and
adjusts its behavior accordingly.
9

10. Agile Principles (paraphrased)
1. Satisfy the customer 7. Working software is the
through early and primary measure of
continuous delivery progress
2. Welcome changing 8. Sustainable constant
requirements pace
3. Deliver frequently, 9. Technical excellence and
preferring a shorter good design enhances
timescale agility
4. Business & technical team 10. Simplicity; maximizing the
working together daily amount of work not done
5. Pick the right team, 11. Best results emerge from
support them & trust them self organizing teams
6. Face-to-Face 12. Regularly reflect & adjust
communication to become more effective 10

11. Agile Methodologies
Agile
Scrum – Iterative method used by most teams
XP – The software engineering practices
Kanban – Often used in operations
Lean – Concepts used for organizational Agile
11

12. Scrum Overview
Project development is performed in 2 to 4 week iterations
Product Owner creates a prioritized backlog of features
Highest priority features delivered first
At the end of the iteration, the deliverables are reviewed by the business customers
The team reflects on the process
This is repeated until the project is completed
* Diagram from Mountain Goat Software
12

13. Advantages of Scrum
◊ Adaptability (Scrum) over Predictability (Waterfall)
– Waterfall makes it expensive to make changes to the project
– Scrum development minimizes the cost of change
◊ Showing tangible results throughout the project
◊ Continuous Improvement
◊ Shorter feedback loop
◊ Identify and resolve problems faster
◊ Lessons learned and applied during each iteration instead of at the
end of the project
◊ High assurance of product vision due to continual inspection by
business representatives
13

14. Scrum Framework
14

15. Scrum Framework
* Diagram from Scrum Primer
From the Scrum Primer
15

16. from 2011 VersionOne survey 16
16

17. Metrics based on Industry Studies
Waterfall Agile
Agile Productivity
Person Months 540 54
– Productivity increase
Lines of Code 58,000 51,000
34% to 200%
– 3x to 6x greater Function Points (FP) 900 959
productivity gain on
FP per Developer Month 1.7 17.8
coached teams over non-
coached

18. Metrics based on Industry Studies
Feature Usage in Software
– 20% of features always
or often used
Often
– 60% of features never or 13%
rarely used
Some-
Never times
45% 16%
Always
7%
Rarely
19%

19. Metrics based on Industry Studies
◊ Faster return on
investment
◊ Project Success
– Industry Average: 33% success rate
– Agile project: 75% success rate
Sources:
Business Value of Agile Metrics, Dr. David Rico (2009) Standish Group Study, Jim Johnson (2002)
Rolling out Agile in a Large Enterprise, Gabrielle Software By Numbers, Mark Denne and Jane Cleland-Huang
Benefield (2008) (2003)
Agile Development in the Enterprise, Dr. Jeff Sutherland Why Incremental Development Is Better, John Scumniotales
(2009) (2009)
User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn (2004) The State of Agile Development, VersionOne (2008)

20. Agile & PMI
• PMI Agile Community of Practice
http://agile.vc.pmi.org/Public/Home.aspx
• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
http://www.pmi.org/en/Certification/New-PMI-Agile-Certification.aspx
"Good practice means there is general agreement that the application of
project management processes has been shown to enhance the chances of
success over a wide range of projects ..."
"...Good practice does not mean that the knowledge, skills and processes
described should always be applied uniformly on all projects. For any given
project, the project manager, in collaboration with the project team, is
always responsible for determining which processes are appropriate, and
the appropriate degree of rigor for each process.“
- PMBOK 4th Edition Chapter 1 – 1.1
20

21. Agile & PMBOK
from Sliger, PMI Global Congress 2008 North America
21

22. Agile & CMMI
“…Scrum has a significant, palpable positive effect on
project governance and product quality…..”
“…The inherent benefit of using Scrum is its ability to
incorporate new practices and show results quickly….”
- Excella Client, SEI CMMI current state analysis report
22

23. Agile & CMMI
CMMI Level 2 CMMI Level 3
Requirements Development
Requirements Management
Technical Solution
Project Planning Product Integration
Verification
Project Monitoring and Control
Validation
Supplier Agreement Management Organizational Process Focus
Organizational Process Definition
Measurement and Analysis
Organizational Training
Process and Product Quality Integrated Project Management
Assurance
Risk Management
Configuration Management Decision Analysis and Resolution
Agile Project Management with Scrum, Ken Schwaber (2004) 23

24. Federal CIO 25 Point Plan
“Modular development delivers functionality in
shorter timeframes and has long been considered
best practice in the private sector and in some areas
of government; in fact, both Raines Rules and the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) advise
agencies to plan programs in this way ……
Evidence shows that modular development leads
to increased success and reduced risk . However,
because this is a new way of thinking about IT
programs for some groups within government, it
requires additional training, templates, and tools.”
http://www.cio.gov/documents/25-Point-Implementation-Plan-to-Reform-Federal%20IT.pdf 24

25. DoD CIO’s 10-Pt Plan for IT Modernization
25

26. Agile & Government
Federal CIO 25 Point Plan
http://www.cio.gov/documents/25-Point-Implementation-Plan-to-
Reform-Federal%20IT.pdf
DoD CIO’s 10-Point Plan for IT Modernization
http://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/ITMod/CIO_10_P
oint_Plan_for_IT_Modernization.pdf
Agile Defense Adoption Proponents Team (ADAPT)
http://www.afei.org/WORKINGGROUPS/ADAPT/
DoD CIO Agile Handbook
TBD
26

27. DoD Resources
Lockheed F-35 Lightning F-22 Raptor
(Zwicker 2007)
MITRE National Senior Leadership Decision Support DCGS – Marine Corps (DCGS-MC)
(Northern 2010) Svc DCGS – Intelligence Backbone (DIB)
Joint Space Operations Center Mission System DCGS – Intelligence Community (DCGS-IC)
Joint Communications Support Element Joint Operational Planning & Execution
Air and Space Operations Center (ASOC) System (JOPES)
Global Command and Control System (GCCS)
SEI Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) Virtual Mission Operations Center (VMOC)
(Lapham 2010) Single Integrated Air Picture (SIAP) FIST Applications
Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Warfighter’s Edge (WEdge)
NRC Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below Command Post of the Future (CPOF)
(Campbell 2010) Blue Force Tracker (BFT) Tactical Ground Reporting System (TIGR)
Joint Network Node (JNN)
DISA Forge.Mil Storefront Widget Framework (SWF)
(Risacher 2010)
USTRANSCOM Corporate Services Vision (CSV) Agile Transportation XXI (AT21)
(Kinney 2010)
Zwicker, M. (2007). War stories: Fighter jets and agile development at lockheed martin. Orange Park, FL: Agile Journal.
Northern, C. et al. (2010). Handbook for implementing agile in DoD information technology acquisition. McLean, VA: MITRE.
Lapham, M. A. et al. (2010). Considerations for using agile in DoD acquisition (CMU/SEI-2010-TN-002). Pittsburgh, PA: SEI.
Campbell, W. H. (2010). Achieving effective acquisition of information technology in the department of defense . Washington, DC: NRC.
Risacher, D. (2010). ASD(NII)/DoD CIO storefront agile open source. DoD Agile Development Conference, Alexandria, VA, USA.
Kinney, R. (2010). Corporate services vision and agile transport 21. DoD Agile Development Conference, Alexandria, VA, USA. 27

28. Book Resources
Agile Project Management with Agile Project Management:
Scrum Creating Innovative Products
Ken Schwaber Jim Highsmith
ISBN #073561993X ISBN #0321658396
Agile Estimating and Planning The Art of Agile Development
Mike Cohn James Shore
ISBN #0131479415 ISBN #0596527675
The Software Project Manager’s
Bridge to Agility
Michele Sliger, Stacia Broderick
ISBN #0321502752
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29. Upcoming Events in the DC area
◊ 10/23 – AgileDC Conference – http://agiledc.org/
◊ 11/5 – Inter-Agency Agile Event (Baltimore) - TBD
◊ 11/19 – 11/20 – Certified Scrum Product Owner Training
featuring Innovation Games - http://dc-cspo-training-
eorg.eventbrite.com/
◊ 11/28 – ADAPT Agile Government Conference -
http://afei.org/WorkingGroups/ADAPT/Pages/default.aspx
◊ 12/7 - DC Agile Engineering Conference and Global Day of
Code Retreat - http://dc-agile-engineering-conference-
eorg.eventbrite.com/
◊ 12/17 – 12/18 – Certified ScrumMaster training - http://dc-
certified-scrummaster-training.eventbrite.com/
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30. Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development
4. Performing
3. Norming
2. Storming
1. Forming

31. Dedicated Scrum Teams
Work flows into the teams Dedicated Scrum Teams
• Managing work instead of managing
people
• Dedicated teams provide known rate
of work (capacity)
• Team ramp-up costs only absorbed
once
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 • Builds cross functionality
• All work is prioritized at the team
level, meaning team members only
being directed by one person

32. Functional and Project Team
Project Verticals
• Project team verticals are where
System Analyst team members live day to day
• Work is driven by the project
teams
Developers
• This is where the company
accomplishes its goals
Testers Functional Horizontals
• Functional horizontals are
designed to help employees grow
their skillsets
PMO
• Share best practices and ideas
• Functional horizontals support
employees and the project
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 verticals

33. Agile and EVM
EVM is not inherently anti-Agile, issues are with implementations of EVM
– Phase based on a waterfall SDLC
– Not being able to change line items
– Measurement of value
Req
Design From this to Requirements Development
Dev this…
QA Development
Release
EVM Timeline EVM Timeline
Sprint 1
To this….
Sprint 2
Sprint 3
…
Sprint N
EVM Timeline

35. Metrics for Business Initiatives
First Quarter Initiatives
Effort Area Story Points Percentage
Foundational 78 22%
Maintenance 9 3%
Optimization 168 48%
New Product 98 28%

36. Metrics for Business Value
Features Story Points Business Points Comment
Feature 1 40 8 High effort, mid
value
Feature 2 20 13 High effort, good
value
Feature 3 4 8 Low effort, mid
value
Feature 4 13 40 Mid effort, high
value
Feature 5 5 20 Low effort, high
value

37. Metrics for the Project
Project Burn Down / Burn Up Chart

38. Metrics for the Sprint

39. Metrics for Team Performance

40. Metrics for Team Performance

41. Metrics for Team Performance
For a Scrum team, key goals include:
1. Achieving a high completion percentage
(actual velocity / projected velocity)
2. Stabilizing velocity
3. Increasing velocity (after 1 and 2)

42. Cumulative Flow Diagram

44. Upcoming Classes
◊ 3/14 – 3/15 - Agile Engineering Practices Training
– http://dc-agile-engineering.eventbrite.com
◊ 4/16 – 4/17 - Train the Trainers - Sharon Bowman's Training
from the Back of the Room!
– http://training-back-of-room-sharon-bowman.eventbrite.com
◊ 4/18 – 4/19 - Agile Testing Training
– http://dc-agile-testing.eventbrite.com
◊ 4/22 – 4/23: Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
Training
– http://certified-scrum-product-owner-cspo-washington-dc.eventbrite.com/
◊ 4/25 – 4/26: Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
Training
– http://certified-scrum-product-owner-cspo-washington-dc.eventbrite.com/

45. Contact Information
Richard K Cheng
richard.cheng@excella.com
703-967-8620
http://www.excella.com
Twitter: @RichardKCheng
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