R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management System Lauri Halkola April 29, 2008 Supervisor: Professor Raimo Kantola Instructor: MSc Miko-Janne Uskali

Agenda Background Research methods Software process models Core findings Recommendation Conclusions R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Background A1 system is used for serving millions of company A’s customers and it is a master for managing customer and order data Goal 1 (agility&pace): Find a solution for shortening the time-to-market of company A’s A1 system development project from 12 months to 4 months Goal 2 (quality): Improve the quality of requirements engineering to ensure that, in the beginning of the project execution phase, all the business requirements are at the required level, so that the IT project team will be able to complete the project without unexpected surprises in the later phases of the project R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Research Methods Phase 1 –Interviews at company A –Field study and interviews at companies B and C Phase 2 –Literature review Phase 3 –Adapting theory and findings to the current practices of the A1 project R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Software Process Models 1(4) Comparison R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008 Comparison based on the literature: Scrum is the most suitable process model for A1 development Sources: [Abr02] [Agi08] [Pre05] [Sch02] [Sch02b] [Som06] [Tha05] [Vli04]

Software Process Models 2(4) Agile Value Proposition R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Software Process Models 3(4) Scrum R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008 Source: [Abr02]

Software Process Models 4(4) Scrum An agile process model Pre-game phase –Continuous requirements engineering Can be gathered using different techniques Maintained in a product backlog list –Other planning activities Development phase –Several 30-day development sprints –The first day of each sprint: sprint planning meeting (requirements from the product backlog list to a sprint backlog list) –The last day of each sprint: sprint review meeting Post-game phase –System & integration testing, other needed testing, documentation, and all the deployment activities Roles: product owner, Scrum master, system analysts, designers, testers, coding engineers Scalable for big software projects since even up to ten Scrum teams may work simultaneously during a sprint R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Core Findings Current A1 process –Based on ABC IT process model (modified waterfall model) –Too rigid and lacking sufficient support for business needs Current B1 process –Very similar to the current A1 process model –They had noticed mostly the same kind of bottlenecks as company A’s employees Current C1 process –Based on Scrum –The company’s business processes support an agile way of working –However, C1 process model cannot be copied directly to the A1 process because of certain fundamental differences between project types and business organization R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Recommendation 1(3) New A1 Process Model Based on Scrum methodology The best results will be achieved by applying the Scrum practices in combination with the best current practices Other useful practices that should be taken into use –Longer-term contracts –Close cooperation –Pilot selling –Generic solutions –Daily Scrum of Scrums –Check lists 10-month action plan for the A1 development manager R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Recommendation 2(3) New A1 Process Model A1 release process A1 small development process R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Recommendation 3(3) Requirements Engineering R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Conclusions In the optimal case, the time-to-market can be only two months Applying the suggested requirements engineering practices and controlling that they are truly followed guarantees that the quality of the requirements will improve significantly – this would have a huge impact on reducing the development costs of the A1 system Topics for further studies include –Specifying a more detailed plan for implementing the recommendation –Figuring out how the current technical limitations could be overcome –Planning and setting up the metrics for measuring the new A1 process –Creating a holistic decision-making and prioritization solution for all the IT projects within company A R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008

Thank You! Any Questions? R&D Process Optimization for a Customer and Order Management SystemApril 29, 2008