Better Software - March 2009 - (Page 31) Figure 5: To ensure that features are being completed in incremental order, the burn-up chart should have an accompanying feature completion chart. ments called out as business solutions in project charters or statements of work, as shown in figure 2. We call these capabilities “business features.” The lean portfolio gives the entire business and IT organization a focal point, where line of sight should be established for all work being undertaken, with the goal of minimizing work in progress and getting each capability completed as quickly as possible. The lean portfolio can be tracked for reporting, but the real value to the business organization is to create a visible display where business features can be listed to establish priority as well as technical effort required, as shown in figure 3. By creating a lean portfolio of business features, several simplifying patterns emerge. Businesses can focus on prioritization and are given a clear picture of business value vs. cost. This is accomplished because agile teams learn how to provide estimates with just enough accuracy to determine the best value returned from effort. An effective practice for institutionalizing this estimation skill is through the use of story points [4]. The portfolio view also simplifies budget decisions, as funding centers can be realized by what percentage of features (along with cost) are staged in the portfolio. Once agile teams establish their velocity, which is effort or story points per iteration, accurate release plans can be created that give clear time to market for business goals, as shown in figures 4 and 5. If increased speed is required, then agile teams are scaled and integrated so that each team works toward visible release plans. This visibility is vital so that integration teams can look horizontally and leverage opportunities for refactoring and prevent duplicate work. Dwight Eisenhower once said, “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” So should an IT enterprise approach delivery of business solutions. A lean portfolio of features should be established to allow business and technology to explore ROI vs. technical risk. Correct selections of budgeted work can be allocated, as well as the creation of right-sized work that can be correctly estimated and pulled into a scaled agile www.StickyMinds.com organization. A predictable release plan can be made visible allowing the enterprise to deliver technology solutions that are guided by business value. With a focus on correct engineering practices, enterprise agility will emerge, allowing the organization to be change enabled, which provides the competitive advantage afforded by quick time to market. {end} reFerences [1] Shalloway, Alan. “Lean Anti-patterns and What to Do About Them.” Agile Journal, August 8, 2007. www.agilejournal.com/content/ view/553/76/ [2] Poppendieck, Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash. Addison-Wesley, 2006. [3] Beaver, Guy. “Knocking Down Silos: Transitioning the Enterprise to Agile.” Agile Journal, February 11, 2008. www.agilejournal.com/content/ view/753/76/ [4] Cohn, Mike. Agile Estimating and Planning. Prentice Hall, 2005. MARCH 2009 BETTER SOFTWARE 31 http://www.agilejournal.com/content/view/553/76 http://www.agilejournal.com/content/view/553/76 http://www.agilejournal.com/content/view/753/76 http://www.agilejournal.com/content/view/753/76 http://www.StickyMinds.com
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