1. Postcards from the Agile Frontier
IIBA Meeting
March 3, 2010
Elena Yatzeck
2. Agenda
3. Agenda
4. Agile Basics
For purposes of this presentation, agile means an iterative
software development process based on the Agile Manifesto, drafted
in 2001 and signed by a set of people who have gone on to define
significant additional details since then.
Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it
and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to
value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working
software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration
over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a
plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value
the items on the left more.
Kent Beck, Mike Beedle, Arie van Bennekum, Alistair Cockburn, Ward
Cunningham, Martin Fowler, James Grenning,JimHighsmith, Andrew
Hunt, Ron Jeffries, Jon Kern, Brian Marick, Robert C. Martin, Steve
Mellor, Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland, Dave Thomas
Visit: http://agilemanifesto.org/ for more!
5. Obligitory Blurry Photo of Manifesto Signers
5
6. Sample Agile Process (Scrum)
6
7. Full Project: the Agile Difference
7
8. Why is Agile Popular?
9. Agile Artifacts
10. Agenda
11. Classic Agile Roles
12. Where does the BA fit in?
13. Two Helpful Facts To Know
Classic Agile simplifies by removing the BA role from the
roster.
Actual Agile Projects of Any Scale Always Use Business
Analysts
Standard role at ThoughtWorks (their roles are: PM, BA, Dev, and
Test)
Standard in WBS illustration used by Rally SCM trainers
Standard in most classic texts on Agile at Scale
14. Agile BA Roles Attempted at NAVTEQ
Role 1: Business Analyst
Role 2: Part of 4-Headed Product Owner Team
Role 3: Representative for Product Owner (Product Proxy)
Role 4: Scrum Master
Role 5: Tester/QA (not tried, but were intending to)
15. Role 1: Business Analyst
16. Agile Artifacts at Scale
17. Role 2: Part of Product Owner Team
18. Role 3: Representative for Product Owner (Product
Proxy)
At NAVTEQ, Product Management is not available for daily
scrum
For our 2010 Pilots, we have created a Product Proxy role
PO is available at product inception, and for start and end of
sprints
PP is 100% dedicated, and stays in frequent contact with
PO
19. Role 4: Scrum Master
Ferry versus Bridge
Fowler describes the relationship between business and technology
as the Yawning Crevasse of Doom
The traditional BA might be described as building a ferry (over the
crevasse) between business and technology through written
requirements
Fundamentally, the SCM is a person presiding over a process which
builds a permanent bridge over that chasmsame function, different
technique
20. Role 5: Tester/QA Role
Post-Agile Techniques Include:
Test Driven Development
User Acceptance Test Driven Development
At simplest:
BAs write unit, system, and user acceptance criteria for each
story, and QA approves
BA/QA role melds: the user acceptance criteria IS the requirement
set
BA/QA/Dev role melds: automated testing tools allow the
requirements to be actually encoded as part of the code base.
BA/QA/Dev are all able to do this tool-based encoding.
21. What You Found
what has worked at your company?
22. Agenda
23. The Bottom Line
First principle of the Agile Manifesto: We ValueIndividuals and
interactions over processes and tools
In our experience, the BA is often the individual who makes a
project make sense.
That is not going away!
24. Three Classics for More Reading
Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products (2nd
Edition) by James A. Highsmith (Paperback - July 20, 2009).
Agile Project Management with Scrum (Microsoft Professional) by Ken
Schwaber (Paperback - Feb. 11, 2004)
Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game (2nd Edition) by
Alistair Cockburn (Paperback - Oct. 29, 2006)
25. About Elena
Elena Yatzeck is Director of Software Specifications within the
Architecture and Software Engineering group at NAVTEQ. She has 25+
years of experience in IT software engineering, mostly in the
education and digital data industries.
Elena is PMP and Scrum Master certified. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate
of Dartmouth College, she earned her MA and PhD at the University
of Chicago, as well as completing 8 of 20 courses towards her MBA
at the Chicago Booth School of Management.
Reach her at [email protected]
