Planning should take into consideration the overhead of reviews, independent testing etc. Also detailed progressive documentation of work to be done is necessary to provide the right guidance to the team.
Domain generalists vs. deep domain experts
Typically the offshore development teams are domain generalists who learn just enough domain information required for the project. This would prevent them from working based on anticipation. The client will have to do the due diligence and provide enough information upfront on the overall requirement. Also the requirements will have to be very specific and detailed with assumptions stated explicitly.
Probable solution is same as overcoming the earlier stated challenges like detailed requirements elaboration ahead of the sprint and progressive documentation for the work being done.
The above list is an indicative list of areas. Based on specific organization there may be other context concerns and differences that need to be addressed for successful adoption of Agile practices.
Define an Agile suitability assessment approach
The best of breed Agile approach defined after identifying and analyzing the context differences and arriving at a solution for each of the challenges posed will be a more suitable approach for a given environment than applying a methodology available as-is.
Once a base Agile approach for the organization is developed, it is important to define a way to assess suitability of project context for Agile adoption. The suitability assessment approach is primarily required for assessing if a project satisfies the prerequisite assumptions made for the base Agile approach. The suitability assessment can be done for each of the business context dimensions identified. For example, level of business stakeholder availability, level of distribution of the team etc. A risk/benefit based ranking of each of the dimensions will help decide whether Agile practices would results in benefits or additional risks.
Develop an Agile implementation strategy
Defining a structured Agile implementation approach plays a significant role in Agile success as much as identifying and defining the right Agile practices. We believe that Agile adoption success depends 60% having the right mindset and 40% on actual technicalities of Agile practices. For successful adoption, the organization must embrace an Agile mindset. For example, think of the vendor as a partner not a downstream contractor. It takes both parties to have a mature approach for Agile benefits to be realized.
Since Agile success depends on certain ground conditions and also requires the right mindset in people, a structured approach to Agile adoption along with suitability assessment is required to ensure success!
We follow a structured approach to Agile development in projects using our "Conceive - Transform - Optimize" model. The following chart depicts our six-step methodology for Agile development, including how Agile Suitability Assessment fits into the approach:
We help our clients Conceive the best use of Agile concepts by:
1. Leadership Alignment - Our approach embodies fundamentally different software development methods and also requires the right mindset. Agile means may things to many people, and requires standardization across all stakeholders. Executive understating of Agile concepts is the key for successful organization-wide adoption of Agile practices. This workshop helps in building a common understanding of Agile development among the management team
2. Suitability Assessment - The Agile Suitability Assessment framework is a systematic approach to understanding the "ground" conditions of a project, and to decide whether Agile development is the right approach to use. The tool assesses the risk associated with specific problems on the ground, and identifies ways to tailor Agile processes to address them. But, if the ground conditions are unfavorable, the use of Agile practices can harm both the
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