1) The document summarizes the introduction of Agile/Scrum practices at eXo Platform, a software company with over 100 developers spread across multiple countries. 2) In 2008, the company lacked focus, knowledge sharing, and process consistency across its 15+ teams. In 2009, an Agile Coach was hired to implement Scrum practices to improve these issues. 3) Over the course of 3 months, the Agile Coach trained Scrum Masters and gradually introduced Scrum practices like sprints, standups, and retrospectives to the development teams. While challenges remained around remote product management and language barriers, the transition improved focus, rhythm, and release processes.

1. An Agile Coach to start Scrum
widely in a company
Dimitri BAELI, VP Quality / eXo Agile Coach
Agileee 2009, Kiev
Twitter @dbaeli

2. Agenda

eXo Platform

2008 Retrospective

Agile Coach

2009 Sprint

2009 Retrospective

3. Agenda

eXo Platform

2008 Retrospective

Agile Coach

2009 Sprint

2009 Retrospective

4. eXo Platform

Company Facts
− Started as university project in 2002
− Department of Defense was the first customer
− HQ in Paris in 2003, Ukraine and Vietnam in 2005, Tunisia in 2008
− 110 Employees, 15+ Teams
− Portal Technology merge with Red Hat / Jboss in 2009 :
GateIn
• Distinctive Competence
− Fully integrated offering - a true OSS alternative to Sharepoint
− Broad support of technology platforms
− Compliant with leading standards (JCR, Portlets, CMIS)
− Focus on usability, ergonomic, design

5. eXo Platform

Portal platform with rich user-oriented interface

Modular applications on top

Baked in Java and standards-based technologies, OSS

6. eXo Platform

The context in 2008
− 90+ Developers in 15+ teams in 4 Countries
− 4 Products beeing developed, 2 new (KS, WCM)
− Flat Hierachy : Office Manager, TeamLead, Developer
− Product Managers are in France and drive the Dev Teams from Home
− No transversal IT

The Tooling
− Teams = Jira, Svn, Hudson, Maven, JUnit, Eclipse, …
− Agility = Daily Meetings, ...

7. eXo Platform

8. Agenda

eXo Platform

2008 Retrospective

Agile Coach

2009 Sprint

2009 Retrospective

9. 2008 Retrospective

What was good ?
− Motivated Teams and Office Management
− Strong Innovation and Product Management

Needed improvements ?
− Team Focus and Knowledge sharing
− Product delivery to the clients
− Better Support

Decisions for 2009
− Employ a Cross Team Engineer
− Go for Scrum next year
− Improve Development Processes and Tooling

10. Agenda

eXo Platform

2008 Retrospective

Agile Coach

2009 Sprint

2009 Retrospective

11. Agile Coach

Dimitri BAELI
– 10 years of Java UI, Frameworks development
– Passion for Usability, Agility, Software Factory, OpenSource
– Scrum Master Certified in 2006

Usability Manager at eXo Platform in 2008
– Improve Software Factory & Practices (Agile?)
– Improve Deliverables Usability
– Improve Products Usability

Will be the Agile Coach !!!

12. Agile Coach

Coach Concerns
− Lean in mind
− Minimal Rule Set + Facilitator
− Don't Decide but Convince

Give the teams a freedom, let them take over
− Review team practices and expectations

Productivity
− Can be Exhausting
− Threat for innovation
− Fight Complexity, Waste

Communicate
− New Comer's Guide
− Absolute Minimal Rules to know

13. Agenda

eXo Platform

2008 Retrospective

Agile Coach

2009 Sprint

2009 Retrospective

14. 2009 Sprint : The Basics

Scrum Basic Implementation (3 months)

Start by the Product Development Teams
− A Scrum Lead is trained in each country
− Common training material (Visual, Oral, Hands-on)
− Start on team after the other in each country
− Scrum Lead is the Scrum Master in each team at start

Start by the classical Scrum only
− Explained as an planning strategy
− Focus, rhythm and improvments
− Not too much personalized, No complementary tooling

15. 2009 Sprint : The Basics

16. 2009 Sprint : Improve

Scrum Improvments by the time (3 months)
– A Dashboard and Retrospective Document at start
– Burndown after 2-4 Sprints
– Velocity presented after 4-6 Sprints (no success)

Improved communication
– Office & Product Lead Meetings
– Per team wiki, Mailing lists, Skype chats

Key Points for the Coach
− No hurry !!!
− Coach does not decide
− Implement Scrum with Lean principles in mind
− Let the team take over

17. 2009 Sprint

18. Agenda

eXo Platform

2008 Retrospective

Agile Coach

2009 Sprint

2009 Retrospective

19. 2009 Retrospective

Main Impediments

Remote Product Managers
– Thinking about Local Product Owner
– PM are a Team in France which is good

Testers in or out the DevTeams
– We prefer out, but Devs prefer in !
– Dev should do their best then test begins

Language and culture
– No english native speakers !
– Cultural habits to care

20. 2009 Retrospective

What's good ?
− Overall Release Process is defined and verified !
− All teams are powered by Scrum
− Confidence on core rules and practices
− Focused teams

To be improved ?
− Information overflow
− Sustainable rhythm
− Client Support

Next Actions ?
− Product Dev Team dashboard : Better Overview
− Improve Coding Practices (TDD, Code Reviews, Code Analysis & Metrics)
− Focus on Done-Done

21. eXo Platform in 2009

100+ Developers in 15+ teams in 4 Countries

7 Products beeing developed, 2 with Red Hat / Jboss

Release Team takes care of the productization

Support Team takes care of the clients

UI Team takes care of the graphical designs

The Tooling
− Teams = Jira, Svn, Hudson, Maven, JUnit, Eclipse, Nexus, Sonar
− Agility = Scrum for all teams
− Quality = Test Campaigns, Test Day, Usability Review

22. Questions ?
"You need roughly 10,000 hours to become an
expert in a given field", Malcolm Gladwell
"La perfection est atteinte, non pas lorsqu'il n'y a
plus rien à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à
retirer." Saint Exupéry