Fire and Ice—Blending Agile and Waterfall from a BA Perspective

Joanne Carswell November 2013

About  Joanne  • CBAP • Six Sigma Green Belt • With AutoTrader.com over 4 years • Business Analysis Manager • Over 15 years experience as a BA • Presented at IIBA BBC 2012 Conference, Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts 2013, & BA World 2013

About  Joanne    

• Loves to travel • Favorite food is steak • Hates yard work • Participates in 5Ks • Plays tennis • Favorite hobby is

238 finds!

Joanne Contact Information • Name: Joanne Carswell • Email: joanne.carswell@autotrader.com

• Connect to me on LinkedIn

I look forward to hearing from you!

Agenda  

• Case Study Overview • Methodology Basics • Project Challenges • Initial Model of Operation • Evolution of BA Role • Lessons Learned

Case  Study  Overview  

Overview • 2 companies • Large scale project (multi-year) • Moving behind the scenes processes to a different platform

• One agile; one waterfall • Complex systems • No tolerance for risk

Methodology  Basics  

Change Driven & Plan Driven • Analyst work • Formality & level of detail of business analyst deliverables

• Prioritization • Change management • Communication with stakeholders • Complexity & risk

Wording  from  BABOK        Sec2on  2.1.4  Plan  Business  Analysis  Approach

Waterfall

Waterfall Basics • Sequential design—one phase ends before the next begins

• Requirements gathering is at the beginning

• More formal documentation • Analysts give support to QA and Dev • Change management approach

Agile

Agile Basics • Flexible, holistic approach • Continual cycles of discovery, development, and testing

• Multiple releases • Prioritization of requirements

Agile Terms • Scrum • Scrum master • Backlog (grooming) • Acceptance criteria • Stand up • Sprint (planning, review, retrospective)

• Product owner

Project  Challenges  

Challenges • Methodology differences • Geographic differences • Size differences • Culture differences • Maturity of companies • Terminology differences

Challenges • Multiple stakeholders • Roles of stakeholders • Managing expectations • Size of project • Criticality of project

Ini>al  Model  of  Opera>on  

Approach Details • Strong scope matrix • Waterfall and Agile • Black box approach to Agile • Use of rolling wave estimation

Approach Details • Acceptance criteria • Discovery • Testing • Development • Deployment

Challenges • Roles • Scope changes • Delays • Resource allocations • Satisfying so many stakeholders

Model  Changes  

Approach Changes • Phased approach allowed breaking big project down into smaller ones

Approach Changes • Business Requirements for both

– Acceptance criteria for functional requirements on Agile side

– Functional Requirements for Waterfall

• Technical specifications and architecture diagrams

• Testing • Sprint reviews & UATs

Approach Changes • Modified “User Stories” were created to be more like design documents. –  Created by developers or BAs before development

–  Updated by BAs –  Signed off on by stakeholders –  Archived for reference –  Used by QA to develop test scripts

Approach Changes • BA added to Agile side

– Use of BAs allowed for more in depth discovery and a resource for working between multiple business owners and the developers

• BAs answering questions in stand ups, reviews, and during development

• BA functioning as Product Owner on Waterfall side

Approach Changes • BAs handled the backlog

–  Writing backlog –  Inserting acceptance criteria –  Setting relationships between items

– Maintaining priority

• BAs worked with developers to drive out functional requirements

Methodology Compromises • Total Scope • Requirements • Design work (User Stories adapted)

• Testing • Change management process

Evolu>on  of  BA  Role  

Business Analyst Role--Waterfall • Traditional BA Role for Waterfall – Discovery – Elicitation – Requirements (BRDs and

FRDs) – Support for QA and

Development

Business Analyst Role--Waterfall

Revised Business Analyst Role • Handed Off Business Requirements • Weekly Meetings with Agile BA • Product Owner for Agile • Backlog Creation (Acceptance Criteria)

• Backlog Grooming and Prioritization • Updating User Stories • Sprint Planning and Review • Support for QA and Development

Business Analyst Role--Agile

Evolution of Role of BAs • Process developments • Managing backlog • Creating and updating User Stories • Product Owner • Discovery • Working ahead of dev and QA • Facilitators • Managing CR process

Result of Business Analysis

Requirements: 794

User Stories: 12

Backlog items: over 1000

Lessons  Learned  

Lessons Learned • Smaller projects or smaller pieces of the project worked best

• Compromises were essential • Approving design before development saved time and helped manage expectations

• Set dependencies on backlog items for efficiency and organization

Lessons Learned • Rolling wave analysis • Team building essential

References • Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia En.wikipedia.org

• IIBA Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK)

• Microsoft Office Clipart and Photos Online

Joanne Contact Information • Name: Joanne Carswell • Email: joanne.carswell@autotrader.com

• Connect to me on LinkedIn I look forward to hearing from you!

Fire and Ice—Blending Agile and Waterfall from a BA Perspective

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