1. Business Lessons Learned from Agile Software Development with xProcess
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05 October 2005
Business Lessons Learned from Agile Software Development with xProcess
What is xProcess and why did we develop it?
What lessons did we learn from the development of xProcess?
What lessons from agile development are applicable to other business processes?
Andy Carmichael
Ivis Technologies
What: Agile Processes and Project Management
In this presentation we consider process concerns for fast moving, business-led software development, i.e. Agile processes. How can we implement processes that help us to deliver better results faster?
Furthermore what kind of process support should we expect to improve the life (and effectiveness) of hard-pressed developers?
For the practical part of the presentation we will look at Ivis’s xProcess product. This is a process improvement environment that provides facilities for process capture and guidance, project planning and monitoring, task estimating and prioritisation, quality checkpoints
(gateways) and automatic scheduling and resource planning. Its architecture also makes it ideal for integrating with existing systems in development and business processes.

2. About the speaker
Andy Carmichael is VP International Operations at Ivis Technologies, and the visionary and a principal architect for Ivis’s process improvement and planning environment xProcess
Previously founded Object UK a leading software engineering consultancy and distributors of Together® (acquired by TogetherSoft and later Borland).
He speaks and writes on software development processes and methods and his books include Better Software Faster (2002) and Object Development Methods (1994)
Pearson’s are offering a BCS-SPA discount! Available from Ivis and SPA web sites!

3. Summary Introduction The xProcess development project
20th to 21st century thinking on business process
Agility and transparency
The xProcess development project
Supporting process improvement with tools
What is xProcess?
The big ideas
Demonstration and discussion
Lessons for business from agile software processes
Agile manifesto –the right message?
Practices that provide agility and transparency
Applicability to other business processes

4. The influence of Taylorism
Frederick Taylor wrote The Principles of Scientific Management in 1911 which began to change how organizations functioned
a "science" for every job
time and motion studies
standardized tools and conditions
From homes or open workspaces to factories/offices
From casual/uncontrolled communication to hierarchical management
Split locations for manufacturing and office work
Work became specialized with division of labour
Product/outcome focused rather than customer focused
In spite of the different needs and nature of business processes in the information age (and many later and more applicable approaches) Taylorism remains a “formidable buttress of the management psyche”
Agile Organizations
Horizontal/flat
Flexible
Customer driven  
Fast/Speedy
Global
Uncertainty
Fast reacting
Infinitely adaptable
Team Based
Networking

5. Aspirations of the 21st Century Organisation
Agile
Horizontal/flat
Flexible
Customer driven  
Fast/Speedy
Global
Fast reacting
Adaptable
Team Based
Networking
(diagrams by John Thompson, Cornell University)

6. Agility The ability to change direction Shorter planning horizons
Some sacrifice of raw speed may be necessary to achieve it!
Shorter planning horizons
When the target is moving, move with it
Short feedback loops
Smaller batch size (reducing WIP)
Processes are not fully optimised before the work starts
e.g. a process round a single requirement rather than all of them. Prevents over-constraining plans

7. “Transparency” and auditability
Regulation
Sarbanes-Oxley
HIPAA
BASELII
Lloyds Register
Money laundering legislation
Terrorism legislation HR …
Opportunity
“Transparency is a new form of power, which pays off when harnessed. Rather than to be feared, transparency is becoming central to business success, Rather than to be unwillingly stripped, smart firms are choosing to be open… firms that operate with candour, integrity and engagement are most likely to survive and thrive.”
Tapscott and Ticoll, The Naked Corporation

8. xProcess – the vision
The shared experience of an organization’s professionals is its most valuable asset
it contains the core information that can enable all its staff to work faster, smarter and to a higher quality
unfortunately it’s generally inaccessible!
how could we share that experience in a simple, auditable, repeatable and flexible manner?
xProcess will provide the environment to share this experience. It enables organizations to migrate to a higher level of maturity in all their processes and manage running projects proactively and dynamically

9. The xProcess™ development project
Key motivations:
Agility
Transparency and auditability
Process improvement
Key ideas:
Priority-based planning (priority-driven processes)
Quantifying uncertainty with best and worst case estimates (3pe)
Separation of targets from forecasts
Improving plans by generating from processes
Improving processes by capturing changes from projects
Key design elements:
Service Oriented Architecture
Eclipse (and other) clients
Open standards (EJB session beans, Web Services, XML, CSV, etc.)

10. xProcess in Action
A view of our internal project on the xProcess server
Stand-alone or integrated with the IDE

11. Building a process with xProcess
Planning Boundaries
Timeboxes (90 days, 30 days, 7 days)
Milestones (releases)
Phases (Feasibility, Hot house, Construction, Deployment)
Episodes (repeating patterns of tasks)
Features, Start-up, Staff joining/leaving, Release
Artifacts, Roles, Gateways, Categories
Elements of process
Dependencies and constraints

12. Planning lessons on xProcess development
Too little process to start with is better than too much – learn from doing and be specific
Dynamic planning allows late decisions, e.g. on inclusion or exclusion of features
Visibility of the impact of changes due to unexpected events or estimate changes improves early warning and coordination
Team communication (split site) is crucial and can be improved by technology but not solved!

13. Lessons in Architecture
Service Oriented
Java
Web Services
Data warehouse
Workflow
...led to simpler implementation of external clients, product integrations and workflow

14. ColdFusion example

15. Microsoft Outlook example

16. Microsoft Project import/export
Web Services
Import and Export

17. Workflow … triggered by Task State changes and Events
Create
Modify
Add / Remove Child
Assign / Unassign
Make Active / Inactive
Close
Approve
Reject
Supersede
Delete

18. Executing Workflow
Tasks, Episodes, Projects and Planning Boundaries can be associated with workflow
Property values are associated with their runtime objects
Default property values can be stored in episodes

19. How much do agile software processes follow or provide a model for business processes?
Can business learn from software engineering? Methods such as
Scrum, eXtreme Programming (XP), FDD, DSDM,
Emphasis on values and practices
Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, Learning, Courage
De-emphasis of procedure (ordered steps), phasing (separation of activities), roles (to some extent), ceremony and documentation
Planning by priority, estimating via “today’s weather”, requirements from “show-and-tell”
What problems of scale and culture do these methods face?

20. Lessons from agile practice applied to other processes…
Priority-driven planning
Requirements controlled individually
User involvement across cycle
Timeboxing
Work burndown
Continuous integration?
Test first?

21. Conclusions Introduction The xProcess development project
21st not 20th century thinking on process can lead to agility and transparency
The xProcess development project
Lessons in process
Lessons in planning
Lessons in architecture
Applicability to other business processes
Priority driven
User involvement across cycle
Timeboxing
Dynamic process management

22. Q & A

23. Simplifying management controls
What are the most important things to do?
Put in order
When something comes up, something goes down
What resources can we dedicate to this activity?
Impact of resources diverted between projects
When should we release / What should be in it?
trade-off scope and time
Monitor Budget, Schedule and Scope

24. Work Burndown Chart … historical view of a timebox