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The Many Levels of Planning on an Agile Project

One of the fundamental Agile values is “we value responding to change over following a plan” which has sometimes been misintrepreted to mean we don’t need to plan on an Agile project. Nothing could be further from the truth - in reality agile organisations and projects plan at many different levels. Shane Hastie discusses the different types and approaches to planning and how the work together.

Shane Hastie
on Feb 22, 2011
Agile Contracts

The traditional Waterfall model fits nicely with the way companies buy things: requirements are drawn up, a supplier quotes a price, and everyone signs a legally binding agreement. Contracts written this way seldom offer the freedom to work using an Agile approach. This article examines four separate models available to suppliers and customers for establishing contracts for Agile work.

Allan Kelly
on Feb 08, 2011
Working with the Product Backlog

Roman Pichler discusses the product backlog along with techniques for effectively grooming it. Complicated applications of the product backlog are covered as well as how to handle nonfunctional requirements and how to scale a product backlog for large projects. This is a chapter excerpt from Roman's book: Agile Product Management with Scrum.

Roman Pichler
on Aug 04, 2010
Agile Team Meets a Fixed Price Contract

Fixed price contracts are evil - this is what can often be heard from agilists. On the other hand those contracts are reality which many agile teams have to face. But what if we try to tame it instead of fighting against it? How can a company execute this kind of contract using agile practices to achieve better results with lower risk? This article will try to answer those questions.

Marcin Niebudek
on Jun 30, 2010
5 Configuration Management Best Practices

There has been a lot of conversation going on around the configuration of applications, and how to manage it. This article explores things people can do from within their code to make their lives, and the lives of anyone else who has to administer or maintain their application, easier. These patterns have been used a number of times on ThoughtWorks projects, and they have proven their worth.

Chris Read
on Jun 03, 2010
Architecture & Design

Are You a Software Architect?

The line between development and architecture is tricky. Some say it's fake, that architecture is an extension of the design process undertaken by developers; others say it's a chasm that can only be crossed by lofty developers who believe you must abstract your abstractions and not worry about implementation details. There's a balance in the middle, but how do you move from one to the other?

Simon Brown
on Feb 09, 2010
Why Agile Adoption Fails in Some Organizations

How often do you hear that a company attempting to adopt agile practices fails? This article examines and explains the often overlooked organizational reasons that agile fails, why it isn’t obvious, and some potential strategies for coping with organizational impediments. The article’s target audience is managers with budgetary responsibility although technical groups might also find interest.

Christopher Goldsbury
on Nov 04, 2009
Using SketchFlow to Create Better Prototypes

All good developers use some kind of prototyping as a communication channel to customers. Simon Guest of Microsoft introduces a new technology from Microsoft, SketchFlow, and shows how it could be useful to developers as well as the primary audience of designers. The discussion covers coverage (WPF and Silverlight), functionality, workflow, prototyping, and documentation.

Simon Guest
on Apr 29, 2009
The Role of the Analyst in Agile Projects

Addressing another Agile Myth (we don't need no analysts!), Shane Hastie, Chief Knowledge Engineer at Software Education, outlines how the Business Analyst can help Agile teamwork - when properly aligned with the business, rather than the development team.

Shane Hastie
on Dec 05, 2008
A Case For Short Iterations

Dave Nicolette, Agile Coach with Valtech, addresses the question are short iterations better than long. Dave demonstrates that short iterations: allow for more rapid response to change, the opportunity to discover and fix problems more often. He also deals with the concerns that short iterations might lead to burnout and other issues.

Dave Nicolette
on Oct 31, 2008
User Story Estimation Techniques

One of the great things about working as a consultant is the ability to try out many different ideas and adapting your personal favorite process to include things that work. This article gives the details about user story estimation techniques that Jay Fields has found effective.

Jay Fields
on Jun 30, 2008
Creating Product Owner Success

The role of the Scrum Product Owner is powerful, but challenging to implement. Success can bring a new and healthy relationship between customers/product management and development, even competitive advantage, but it comes at a price: organizational change is often required. In this article Roman Pichler looks at what it takes to succeed as a Product Owner.

Roman Pichler
on May 14, 2008