Agile Software Delivery for the Ugandan Context - 2019 Edition
Download as PPT, PDF0 likes1,223 views
The document outlines the agile software delivery process in Uganda, highlighting challenges such as changing customer expectations, limited technology skills, and cultural factors impacting project execution. It emphasizes the importance of agile methodologies to adapt to evolving requirements and improve collaboration with stakeholders. The author provides insights from personal experience, strategies for effective agile implementation, and a list of recommended readings for further knowledge.
Agile Software Delivery for the Ugandan Context - 2019 Edition
- 1. AGILE SOFTWARE DELIVERY IN THE UGANDAN CONTEXT Stephen Senkomago Musoke Software Engineer @ssmusoke
- 2. WHY ME? Self taughtsoftware tinkerer Love the craft & growing techies (to replaceme) ~2 decades offailed,successful,mind blowingand soulhauntingprojectsacross finance, education,agriculture, health, genealogy, HR, ERP (time management) Served clients inUG,UK, US, Australia,Europe,SA 12 years experience starting,setting up, growing & running a Ugandancustom software development shop Experiencebothsides – funder, productowner, consultant,clientconsultant, customer, sales, technology service provider, architect,tech lead, developer, tester 2
- 3. CONTEXT SETTING What issoftware delivery The process of getting a softwareproductto market Ideation Requirements Design Implementation Deployment Support& Maintenance Evolution Includingend user training,productionmonitoring, SecurityManagement, end-user Security Management, end-user devices, performance management, change management, change management Don’tforget the importantstuff– contracts,pricing/funding, sales/marketing, pricing/funding,sales/marketing, stakeholder needs, competition,regulatory competition,regulatory compliance 3
- 4. SAMPLE PROJECTS Employee Management solution Started 2004 as timesheet Added recruitment & employee onboarding, invoicing & billing, data exports to external systems, calculators 2011 – no more changes could be made PHP 3 4 5, MySQL 3 4 5 eHealth Solution – UgandaEMR 2015 – inherited 350 sites at 1.6.x, 2 forms 2016 – first upgrades to 1.9.x with 4 forms 2017/8 – Migrations to 2.0, 8 forms, 20 reports ~850 sites 2019/20 – 3.0, 10 forms, 30 reports, ~1000 4 If your dreams do not scare you, they are too small ~Richard Branson Aim for the stars, and you will probably reach the sky
- 5. WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE AGILE? Increased executive expectations for impact of technology projects Shorter delivery timelines Project scope/features are getting more complex due to integration & need to respond to more knowledgeable customers Cross cutting stakeholders – no longer confined to a single department/sector Relevant technology skillsets are in short supply Customer behavior is changing at a very fast rate 5 ag·ile “abletomovequickly andeasily”.. ”abletothink and understandquickly”
- 6. UGANDA SPECIFIC CHALLENGES? Not special but some areas are compounded Convincing stakeholders of your project relevance Power & Internet Low appreciation of impact of technology Internal staff challenges Culture – we always have to be right Difficult to make pragmatic technology choices that meet client project needs 6
- 7. PROJECT WON! CONTRACT SIGNED 7
- 8. YOUR TYPICAL PROJECT After a long protracted negotiation Fixed cost Fixed timeline Defined scope What happens along the way Requirements keep changing along the way Stakeholder influencing on scope – we did not think about that Timelines are too short No single product owner Changing Technology platforms & choices Changing business environment and problem 8
- 9. HOW DID WE GET HERE Waterfall– rigidprocess Requirements Design Development QA Production RationalUnified Process – Waterfallin the large & small 9
- 11. 11
- 12. AGILE VALUES Individualsand interactionsoverprocessesandtools Working software overcomprehensivedocumentation Customercollaborationovercontractnegotiation Respondingto changeoverfollowingaplan 12 “Whilethereisvaluein theitems on theright,theitems on theleftarevalued more…” So how do I apply these values?
- 13. LET US APPLY SOME AGILE SAUCE 13
- 14. INDIVIDUALS AND INTERACTIONS OVER PROCESS AND TOOLS • Define what successlooks like • Find your enduser & determinehow your solution helpsthem • Find outwhy management needsthis solution o Use processand tools for recordingyour results o Engage the stakeholderswhile keepingout oftheirway o How doesyour team work togetherinternally? 14
- 15. 15
- 16. WORKING SOFTWARE OVER COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTATION • Giveme something to play with NOW! • Show stakeholdershow you aretackling theirchallenges • Demonstratefuture state • SHOW PROGRESS!!! o Documentrequirements o Documentfeedback o Documentyour progress, status updateand future plans 16 Documentation isaloveletterthatyouwritetoyourfutureself -DamianConway
- 17. CUSTOMER COLLABORATION OVER CONTRACT NEGOTIATION • Identify what valueis tothe customer • Be creativewithin your constraints (time/scope/budget) • Define& work with SMART deliverables • Be Realistic o Makesure your contractis airtight o Keepyour contract deliverablesin sight – documentany changes o Pareto80/20 rule o Searchfor win-win-win outcome 17
- 18. RESPONDING TO CHANGE OVER FOLLOWING A PLAN • Adaptand validateyour plan as you learnmoreand move forward • The morethings changethe more they remainthe same o Havea plan o A planis a guide,framework o Keepthe lighthouse (goal)in sight as youchange o If you failto plan, plan tofail 18 Theonlyconstantthingischange
- 19. IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT MOUSE 19
- 20. CEREMONIES AND TOOLS Standup– dailycheckin keep collaboratingeven after standup Retrospective – if you do not know where you have come from, you willnot understandwhere you are and where you have to go Show case – release early, release often, statuscheck Sprintplanning Green build– code buildsand runs QA – does it do what the customer expects? 20
- 21. AIDS TO SUCCESSFUL AGILE – NON TECH Use Prototypingtoolsto give your users a sense of what thefinalsolutionwillfeel like and work Spendtime collaboratingwithyour clients ina manner and languagethat they understand– remember they have other full-time jobsnotjust your project Discipline– keep time, promises, manage expectations,pay attention Document, document,document –in a way thatmakes meaning toyour end-users 21 Ontimeislate!!!
- 22. Good developers write excellent code Great developers write no code Zen developers delete code 22
- 23. AIDS TO SUCCESSFUL AGILE – TECH Automate & simplify deployment – to dev, staging and demo sites Fanatical, Meticulous version control – use GitFlow/Trunk based development Testing – unit, integration, stress, load, Travis CI Security – the price is too high at the end Document, document, document for your development team? Use/Leverage prebuilt frameworks, and libraries Use an IDE – Jetbrains, VS Code, Sublime 23 Every problem is a special case of a more general problem and you are not the first one to solve it
- 24. AIDS TO SUCCESSFUL AGILE - TECH Grit, persistence, perseverance, focus The best tool for the job is the one you know how touse Stick to the fundamental principles,experiment with implementation– where necessary & possible Frugalinnovation– stay hungry, keep lean Kaizen~ SolomonKing – search for improvements, never stay stillwith the status quo Contribute back to #OpenSource – give back to the community you work in Look after your health– what you eat, exercise Connect withothers outsidetech – perspective 24
- 25. AIDS TO SUCCESSFUL AGILE – TECH - PRINCIPLES Architecture: Use the simplestarchitecturepossible 12 FactorApp OWASP Security Considerations API First Development – everything is a client PhoenixServers Schema.org for datadesigns Open Source - give back Don’t hesitate tospendmoney on a tool that willsave you time 25
- 26. CHALLENGES Draft fatigue– toomany back and forthcycles As requirements change, then goalsand deliverablesare forgotten Team dynamics– changing requirements are stressful Technology tools & choices – do not try to re-invent the wheel as much as you can, solve the problem at hand+ know how to use your tools 26 IfIamgiven4hourstocutdownatree,Iwillspend3hourssharpening myaxe ~AbrahamLincoln
- 27. 27
- 28. READING LIST – BUSINESS & TECH MartinFowler – Refactoring, Patterns ofEnterpriseArchitecture & http://martinfowler.com Andy Hunt/Dave Thomas – The Pragmatic Programmer Basecamp ShapeUp - https://basecamp.com/shapeup Blue Ocean Strategy Clean Code Imposters Handbookby Rob Conery (I am somewhere) It does not have to be crazy at work Blogs/Articles inwhatever languageor problem domainyou are working in 28
- 29. PARTING QUESTIONS Is HighQualitySoftwareWorth the Cost by MartinFowler? https://martinfowler.com/articles/is-quality-worth-cost.html Yes it is, but ensure thatthis cost can be linkedto businessgoals& value such higher revenue, market share growth/maintenance, new market entry etc What aboutScrum, Kanban, SAFe, etc etc The best tool for the job is the one you know how touse andwhichhas quick support Remember the prinicples 29
- 31. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING For questions or suggestions @ssmusoke http://ssmusoke.com