Trilogix Cloud

Agile Scrum Maturity Model

Issues with ‘Agile’

Most firms engaging with DevSecOps processes have issues with Agile-Scrum engineering.  Common complaints include:

  1. -GDAD or Geographically Distributed Agile Development in which 65% of projects fail in some way
  2. -Requirements Engineering mismatch, especially when Indian offshore teams are present and most of the work is shipped to India
  3. -Lack of standard processes, ceremonies, management or governance, tooling
  4. -Lack of integrated security, code  and system testing
  5. -Unrealistic expectations of improvements over Waterfall (time, investment needed, maturity of people within a new process)
  6. -Organisational pushback, reluctance to embrace a true Agile culture, inertia and lack of training and resource management
  7. -Not having the right skills on the teams
  8. -Team size too large, too distributed, Scrum master not technical
  9. -Lack of clear documentation
  10. -Inability to integrate with corporate milestones and deadlines
  11. -No centralised centre of Agile excellence which helps teams with standards, training, tooling, and coaching
AgileWaterfall
Architecture informal and incremental, current and end states are usually not documented or well known; requirements vagueCurrent and end states are well known, understood and documented, requirements clear, obvious
Developers share ownership of codeSilos of development, testing, business knowledge
Continuous integration and deliveryIntegration and delivery are viewed as phases and milestones
Iterative to complete tasks and functionalityMilestones and stage-gate based
Relies on best engineering practices (design patterns, test cases)Relies on micro-management driven by project managers, not technical SMEs
Light process and documentation; focus on pilot projects and deliveryHeavy documentation, processes with a focus on control, not delivery, meetings a priority, not pilot projects
Requires cross training across technologies and testing, technically drivenMain roles are project management related not technical
Business embedded inside Agile teams with the team composed of engineers, testers, business owners, QA and the sponsorSilos of stakeholders, limited information exchange, formal procedures for communication

Measuring Agile Maturity

Given these issues we built the Agile-Scrum Maturity Model (ASMM) which helps firms understand the Agile engineering process and map the use of Agile to KPIs and improvements.

ASMM allows firms to understand the key metrics and KPIs of the agile process by team, rolled up across the entire company.  We can therefore track and improve our Agile engineering performance and prove to management that KPIs are improving and that the engineering processes are resulting in reduced error rates, improved code, higher velocity and satisfaction of business requirements.

This maturity model is used by individual teams and projects, and a view of a division or entire firm can be rolled up and presented as well.  This allows companies to troubleshoot areas that may be impeding the proper usage of Agile and negatively impacting their DevOps processes.

Key Variables

Agile OrganizationTeam Environment
Key VariablesAgile Usage (process, artifacts)Team Size (<9)
Culture (Agile culture)Dedicated Team (one project)
Centre of Excellence (COE)Agile Roles (understanding)
Training (roles, skills)Trust (on the team)
Change Management (HR issues)Business Owner (BO) actively, daily on the team
C Suite SupportSenior Management/Stakeholder support
Budgeting (Agile budgeting)Skills of the team (fitting the project)
Project Management (not waterfall, but Agile-Scrum based)Colocation
Self-Organized
Impediments (ability to remove)

 

Categories the model assesses

We assess the 5 key categories of success in Agile.

  1. Agile Organisation
  2. Team Environment (culture etc)
  3. Product or Project Management and Ownership
  4. Agile Mechanics or Ceremonies
  5. Agile Engineering Practices (tooling, processes etc).

Example:

Agile OrganizationTeam Environment
Key VariableManagerial ImplicationsKey VariableManagerial Implications
Agile UsageDocumentation, clear understanding of Agile-Scrum, RolesTeam SizeSmall, Cross-functional skills, SMART projects
CultureActive change managementDedicated TeamResources are not shared
Centre of ExcellenceEstablish, empower, ensure SMART projects; long term investment in Agile-ScrumAgile RolesTraining, Understanding, Buy-in
TrainingOn-going, multi-facetedTrustCultural values of Agile
Change ManagementTraining, change request processes re-engineeredBusiness Owner (BO)Business trained in Agile processes
C Suite SupportCommunications, Reporting, Long-term investmentStakeholder supportSenior Management, Business embedded
BudgetingWaterfall to Agile cycles, long-term investmentSkills of the teamSME knowledge
Project ManagementNo Waterfall used, proper understanding of Agile-ScrumColocationSMEs together
Self-OrganizedEmpowerment
Impediments (ability to remove)Access, power to remove obstacles

 

 

Try it

Demo https://trilogix.cloud/agile-scrum-maturity-model/agile-scrum-maturity-model-free-demo/