Selling (and Managing) Agile Contracts

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

Selling (and Managing) Agile Contracts

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Hello MyName is…

Paul Eisenberg, CSM Director of Professional Services Engagements

at RSI Content Solutions Member of Agile Philly since ~2007 peisenberg@rsicms.com

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Non-Agenda

Legalese

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+Agenda

Let’s changethe world!

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+A word from my sponsor…RSI Content Solutions

www.rsicms.com

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+My Agile Journey

2005: Consulting Initiation, Inspiration & Longing!

2007: Light Experimentation, Joined Agile Philly

2009: Left RSI, Self-Study, SunGard Struggles

2010: Consulting, Pilot, More Study

2012: Rejoined RSI, Ramped Up the Intensity! Simultaneous Adoption by

Core Product & Client Project Teams ~25 Agile Projects Sold & Executed

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Agile @ RSI

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+The Problem

When everything is fixed,nothing is fixed.

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Remember this?

Source: www.leanagilepmo.com

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+and then there’s this too…

Clients want estimates based on a review of their detailed requirements…

Opportunity/time and hard dollar costs

Results are no better at best and more often worse

Sets false expectations

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+… and my favorites:

Fixed price contracts force the vendor to assume (all) the risk

Fixed price contracts are risky for clients too

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+But wait there’s more…

Oh the humanity!

Change Management

Code Freezes

Some risks are better addressed via methods and practices rather than contracts!

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Its about “Good Deals”

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+The Solution

Focus on MVP & Simplicity

Fixed Schedule, Fixed Budget, & Fixed Business Objectives

“The joint team will collaborate to identifyand select implementation options that will enable completion of the project within the target schedule and budget while also meeting target business objectives”

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Example Objectives

Content Modeling, simple/medium complexity: Add support for authoring, management, and publishing of additional simple to medium complexity content

Product Information Metadata: Continued development of the current metadata feed to support the current metadata sources and GPM data. <client name> will create the feed, which will be delivered to RSuite for ingestion. This will be a one-way feed/update from <client name> systems to RSuite during this phase. Deeper XYZ integration to follow in additional phases.

Interiors Workflow: Enhance existing interior workflows based on user feedback to improve system usability along with user productivity and efficiency and better accommodate the needs of various workgroups within <client name>

Covers Workflow: Implement a baseline cover workflow that replaces a priority set of features that currently exist in <client name>’s XYZ system while supporting <client name>’s cover workflow requirements.

Reprints Workflow: Create a baseline reprints workflow for eBook and print products. The expectation is that an initial version of this workflow would be defined in this phase, with implementation, feedback and revisions to come in the following phase of the project.

Image Processing: Create a foundation and plan for custom image processing in RSuite, including minimal, baseline support in this phase.

Publishing Outputs: Enhance PDF and ePUB2 outputs to include <client name>’s highest priority publication features and <client name> specific branding and formatting

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+More contract language

Some additional key phrases… “The following is list of

proposed business objectives based on inputs collected from <insert client name>. RSI will focus on these and/or other objectives at the direction of the <insert client name> project team. “

“<insert vendor name here> will focus on meeting client business objectives through incremental deliveries of production quality software on time and within budget “

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Assumptions/Scope Limitations

You will want to include some of these…

The team will implement support for a single publication type and publishing of that content into multiple formats

The client will provide representative content samples of medium complexity

API level integration with other systems will not be in scope

Legacy content conversion, loading, and tagging will not be in scope

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Benefits

It actually works!

Enables earliest start to return on investment

Aligns interests

Builds confidence and trust

Internal manageability

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+How Do We Know It Is Working?

It just is…

Client Feedback

Repeat Business

Business Cycle Improvements

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Some Interesting Stats

% of Business from Existing vs. New Clients 2013 Actuals: 62% Existing; 38% New 2014 Projected (as of 10/1/14): 60% Existing; 40% New

Projects: 18% increase in number of active projects per month.  2013: 11 & 2014:13  

Revenue: 12.5% increase in revenue 2014 compared to 2013

Staffing: 2013 vs. 2014 – Flat.  No increase in staffing

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+What Others Say…

Contracts are not addressed by Agile Manifesto!

Time and materials only / Retainers

Fixed price OK provided they have a shorter duration, and allow early termination

http://www.slideshare.net/juhailola/agile-contracts-21204569 (Reaktor)

Steve Handy: It is about performance… In either Fixed Price or Time and Materials the levers of control are already there, regular review points based on Releases – just use them.

Focus on Outcomes http://www.energizedwork.com/weblog/2014/09/commercial-contracts-guarantees-commitments-risks

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+What about Government Work?

The TechFAR Handbook for Procuring Digital Services Using Agile Processes – Published 08/14 https://github.com/WhiteHouse/playb

ook/blob/gh-pages/_includes/techfar-online.md

IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) Contracts Variable quantity of services over a fixed

time period Limits on minimum and maximum

quantity

Other Options Permitted/Encouraged including Modular Contracting where acquisition is divided into smaller increments

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Execution & Key Lessons Learned

Onboarding for New Clients

Agile Reporting Only

Switch to Kanban prior to go live target date and work to beat it

Be more aggressive about WIP Limits

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Challenges

Tradition, Brainwashing, Fear

Business models

Play by the client’s rules, walk away, or change the game?

Preventing breaks between iterations

“Non-standard” projects

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Looking Ahead

Continuous Improvement

Prepackaged Solutions

Services Subscriptions Discounted Monthly Fee Three Tiers

1. Maintenance & Support Only2. Small Initiative3. Large Initiative

©2014 RSI Content Solutions

+Thank You!

peisenberg@rsicms.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/peisenberg/@pdeisenberg