understanding agile

Understanding AgileDr. Timothy CockleBusiness Manager – Digital Services, Eduserv

www.eduserv.org.uk

Welcome…

A little about me &A little about you!

About you…• Your current knowledge of Agile• Do you currently have live Agile projects• Interested in Agile for development• Interested in IT operations• Current knowledge of DevOps

Topics covered todayWhat is “Agile”?Why is it important now (more than ever)?What are the principles of AgileWhat is the impact on “your” dev teamWhat is the impact of work with an external dev teamGoing beyond development with DevOps

Any questions…

Ask at anytime!

Many terms & a lot of noise

What do we mean by quality?To spec or the right product

What do we mean by discipline?Compliance to process or self-control

When are terms just being abused?Agile doesn’t mean no documentation

How to start making sense of it all…

Understand it has a long history

Consider the values & principles

Understand your context

Make a start!

But before that…

Why?

Digital Transformation… a paradoxFrequent Change

The way people work – BYOD, socialExpectation for great services

Greater engagement - personalisationGreater integration

Threats and external pressuresIncreased competition

Dependable ServiceExpectations set by the big brands

Key services are digitalImpact of outage greater

Easy to go elsewherePeaks and bursts

Complexity increased

Values & Principles

Agile manifesto

… 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

…while there is value in the items on the right

we value the items on the left more

…some useful principles

Shared ResponsibilitySingle team mentality – with freedom to work togetherVisibility is required – to see where you can help

Focus on deliveryFocus on the customer - shared responsibility to deliverDone means live…

High degree of visibility and transparencyShared tools and shared languageFrequent interactions

Short iterationsA better means of knowledge discoveryFast feedback - reduce risk

Welcome changeDesign & build to support changeEnsure this is understood by all (i.e. DevOps)

Keep it simpleThe art of maximising what is not done

Continual inspectionHigh visibility of processes and peopleMonitoring & metrics not just for management

AdaptionMaking sure how you work fits the need

ProfessionalismBroadening of perspectiveCommitted to self improvement

… adopting Agile is about culture

Understand your context

For internal teams…

Continuous ImprovementAt the heart of adopting Agile

Gaining commitmentCore to Scrum & an important mind set

Learning & LeadershipTaking a broader perspective

MotivationAutonomy

MasteryPurpose

TED TalksDan Pink: The puzzle of motivation

Working with others

Understanding level of involvementWho is the product owner & how much effort is involved

Documentation & Acceptance CriteriaWhat format, versioning and collaboration

Planning & sign-offRoadmaps, releases and iterations (Sprints)

Budgets and paymentMany options but what will work internally

What is DevOps?

www.eduserv.org.uk

Change is good

Different mind-setDifferent toolsDifferent objectives

Stability is goodvs

www.eduserv.org.uk

DevOps isA professional movementNot a new team or positionBut is removing silos

NB: Proceed with respect

Getting started!

Change Management: Kotter’s 8 Steps

1. Create a sense of urgency2. Form a guiding coalition3. Create a vision4. Communicate the vision5. Empower others to act on the vision6. Create quick wins7. Build on the change8. Institutionalise change

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not

an act but a habit.”Aristotle

Questions

Comments&

For reading list & notes feel free to e-mailtim.cockle@eduserv.org.uk