Shape Shift - XP 2009

Makes Jira Agile

XP 2009 Conference

© 2008 Pro-netics S.p.A.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

Makes Jira Agile


Who we are …

Fabio Armani
CTO @ Sequenza SpA - DEDAGROUP
Agile Consultant & Traineer, Scrum Pratictioner

Massimiliano Dessi
Software Architect @ Pronetics SpA
Author of: Spring 2.5 Aspect Oriented Programming


Agenda

Do We Need Another Tool?
Background
Challenge
Why Jira?
Make Jira Agile
Integration In An Open Agile Suite
Questions


Do We Need Another Tool?


Why Do We Need aTool?
•  Let's assume that we have a large and shiny nail. What is the best tool for the nail?
Hopefully, the answer is obvious to most of us. Now, let's assume that we have a
development team and a "shining“, promising, cool new agile development process.
Most likely the hammer will not help.
•  To tackle this problem, it is essential to have at your disposal a tool that enables
requirements gathering, iteration planning, progress tracking and reporting. You can't
rely on memory for requirements gathering. You can't rely on the universal perception
for iteration planning and you definitely can't rely on telepathy for progress tracking and
reporting. You need a tool that will do the job with minimum effort and minimum side
effects.
•  “I think that people and how they interact on a project are the most important thing, and I
think that they need to create a way of working -- a process -- that works best for them.
Because their interactions are critical to project success, I suggest that teams begin the
work with an approach that will bring them together as people, not one that will let them
remain apart, communicating electronically”.
Ron Jeffries


Agenda

Do We Need Another Agile Tool?
Background
Challenge
Why Jira?
Make Jira Agile
Integration In An Open Agile Suite
Questions


Agile Fractal Process


Lifecycle - Scrum


Background

In the beginning Agile was …


Background


Background

Now we have a lot of Agile Tools …


Background
•  Currently there are different kind tools:
•  Simple tools (whiteboards, cards on walls …)
•  Tools which are specific to a methodology (ie: ScrumWorks,
XPlanner)
•  Methodology Agnostics Tools
•  Application Lifecycle Mangement (ALM) that are complete but
expensive tools (VersionOne, ResultSpace)


Tool Categories
•  The table below contains results of project management tools usage
taken from TargetProcess leads (from May to July 2008).

Most likely, many people in the "None" category use paper and whiteboards.
However, it is just an assumption. [source; TargetProcess]


Background

•  24% companies use traditional project management tools (vast majority use
MS Project)
•  16% use Spread Sheets (vast majority use MS Excel)
•  12% use various Bug Tracking tools (JIRA is the winner in this category)
•  11% use Agile Project Management Tools (open source XPlanner is a leader)
[source: TargetProcess]


Challenge
•  An Enterprise Agile Tool should support and satisfy a set of key
features.
•  An Agile Tools should aims at be a transparent and lightweight wallet
to your process and day by day job of team members.
•  Seamless integration of different tools (i.e.: IDE environment, Issue
Tracker, Project Management Tool…).
•  Agile Teams should be collocated but Open Source development
demands for distributed “virtual” teams spread across the Globe. How
can we manage it?


Challenge
•  1. Iterative, Feature-driven Development
Although it may seem to be an obvious mismatch, many teams attempt to use a series of traditional tools that
complicate their work because they don't support basic Agile practices.

•  2. Integrated Lifecycle Management
Tracking project information in multiple tools can inhibit accurate, real-time visibility.

•  3. Cross-Functional Teams
True support for cross-functional teams means consolidating and facilitating the project planning and tracking needs
of customers, product management, project management, programmers, testers, etc. in a single environment
for improved collaboration and consistency.

•  4. Flexible Configuration
A scalable management tool should allow organizations to define, organize, and plan according to their unique
organizational requirements.

•  5. Simplicity
Like agile development, the more simple the tool the better. Most importantly, tools should never replace the
benefits achieved by using the Agile practices - an Agile lifecycle management tool is only as good as the
process it facilitates and the people that use it.

•  6. Enterprise Scale
An agile tool for deployment within an enterprise must be able to handle a sophisticated project structure and
thousands of features and defects.


Challenge
•  Modern agile project management software combines common
activities and provides open API for advanced integration.
•  It powers:
•  User Stories and Epics management.
•  Backlogs prioritization.
•  High level release planning and low level iteration planning.
•  Progress tracking via virtual Burndown Charts, Task Board and Daily Progress.
•  Tests management via Test Cases support and integration with automated testing
tools.
•  Bugs management via Bug Tracking support and integration with external bug
tracking tools.
•  Customers’ requests management via Help Desk functionality or integration with
third-party tools like Salesforce.


Why Jira?

JIRA Solutions – Jira could be used to support different solutions
And it’s a standard de facto.


Bug Tracking

Customisable, powerful defect tracking designed for teams
large and small.
JIRA is a system developed to track, manage and close
bugs. More than 8,700 organisations depend on JIRA
because it offers:
straightforward tracking that follows the entire life of a bug
integration within your IDE and other development systems
flexible security
strong reporting and project tracking capabilities


Bug Tracking


Project Management

Track, allocate and report on project tasks with real-time
statistics.
It can be a nightmare trying to keep track of all the tasks in a
project. JIRA helps you manage and complete each task
according to your workflow to ensure nothing slips through
the cracks.


Agile Software Development

Estimate, allocate and track your iterations.
•  Extreme Programming.
•  Scrum.
•  Lean Development.
•  Feature-Driven Development.
Agile development methodologies have revolutionised the way we
develop software. It helps teams to deliver higher quality code
more quickly, more frequently and in better alignment with what
customers really want.


Technical Support / HD

Escalate cases, monitor response statistics and manage
team workload.


Opensource projects using Jira


Highly Customizable

The success of Jira is based on:

•  Wide range of aviable plugins for al the needs
•  sdk-plugin that allows to write custom plugins
•  Fully customizable interface, dashbord and so on
•  Fully customizable "skin"


Jira and Tasks

A key point of Jira is the Creation of task and sub-task.

<screenshoot here>


Jira Dashboard


Points iterations chart


Gantt


Stories


Stories over
iterations


Jira with IntelliJ IDEA


Jira with Eclipse


Jira talks with IPhone


Jira and Green Hopper


Make Jira Agile

•  Don’t reinvent the wheel!
•  Build the new tool as a plugin on the Jira platform allows
us to take advantage of:
•  Other Plugins Integration
•  Open Solution


ShapeShift

•  Vision


ShapeShift

•  Main features:
•  Planning management of release and iteration
•  Independent definition of values and story points
•  Automatism to aid in release planning and estimations
•  Agile prioritization using MoSCoW (taken from DSDM)
•  Must have (or Minimum Usable Subset)
•  Should have
•  Could have
•  Won't have (but Would like in future)


ShapeShift

•  'Must Haves' are features that must be included before the product
can be launched. It is good to have clarity on this before a project
begins, as this is the minimum scope for the product to be useful.
•  'Should Haves' are features that are not critical to launch, but are
considered to be important and of a high value to the user.
•  'Could Haves' are features that are nice to have and could potentially
be included without incurring too much effort or cost. These will be the
first features to be removed from scope if the project's timescales are
later at risk.
•  'Won't Haves' are features that have been requested but are explicitly
excluded from scope for the planned duration, and may be included in
a future phase of development.


ShapeShift

•  The integration of the entire planning and development process is the
major argument for a dedicated tool. Almost any development process
includes activities like:
•  Requirements management (product/release backlogs).
•  Planning (release/iteration planning).
•  Tracking (project/release/iteration progress tracking).
•  Quality Assurance (testing, bugs management).
•  Feedback Gathering (feedback from customers, ideas, issues).


Integration in an Agile Suite

•  ShapeShift in the first module of a suite of inter-
cooperating plugins devoted to bring a complete set of
tools for:
•  Agile Teams
•  Agile Executives
•  Agile PMOs
•  The suite will Process Tracking
•  Manage portfolio as well as economics


Integration in an Agile Suite
“A trend that will continue to influence software tools is ever-tightening release cycles.
Where releases once took years, an increasing number of software products will release
new functionality to production monthly, week, daily, or even more frequently. […] The
trend towards support more frequent transitions between activities will continue. More
activities will be supported without large changes of context.”
—Kent Beck
Agile project management tools have a short history. It is obvious that current tools are just
a first tryand they will evolve in the future. Currently three main trends may be
mentioned.
Tangible – intangible linkage
Obviously, teams like tangible tools and agile software tools will use something tangible to
provide
better user experience. Large sensor displays like Microsoft surface
(http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html) will be used for iteration planning, daily
meetings, and
other interactive meetings.
Complete integrated development life-cycle solutions
Agile project management software is evolving into complete life-cycle solutions.

Questions & Answers


Thanks

f.armani@armaniconsulting.com
massimiliano.dessi@pro-netics.com


Shape Shift - XP 2009

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