from cobbled to agile: re-engineering library it
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From Cobbled To Agile: Re-Engineering Library IT. Joan A. Smith, PhD Emory University. Why we did it. Library IT Division “Cobbled” Together Created piecemeal over 15+ years Technology dumping ground - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
From Cobbled To Agile:Re-Engineering Library IT
Joan A. Smith, PhDEmory University
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Why we did it• Library IT Division “Cobbled” Together– Created piecemeal over 15+ years– Technology dumping ground– ILS + Desktop Support + Grant Projects + Webs + System
Administration + Anything Involving a Computer• Mixed Staffing Situation– Regular Staff + Faculty + Contract Staff + Undergrad Students +
Grad Students• Capacity questions– Project costs, capacity, impact unknown & unmeasured– Few staff + lots of projects = prioritization crisis
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Back Then...
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A M
ultit
ude
of P
roje
ctsHodgePodge Group
A Variety of Staff & Skills
If it’s computing, it belongs in IT! .......No Capacity Planning.......
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What was needed
• Comprehensive Operational Vision• Professional Staffing Plan• Capacity and Cost Measurements• Performance Metrics
In other words: A Business Model
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Comprehensive Operational Vision• Clear mission statement– why we’re in business– who we serve
• Defined “tech stack”– primary tools for doing our job– skill levels expected
• University-IT role vs. Library-IT role– Service redundancy = wasted money– Focus on appropriate market share– Utilize economies of scale
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Professional Staffing Plan• Classic, industry-based model– Technical Project Managers– Software Developers– System Administrators
• Sustainable project staffing– Post-grant maintenance & updates– Common “tech stack”
• Professional development & mentoring– Junior, intermediate, senior levels of expertise– Code/Project/System Reviews for coaching– Training materials, conferences, “info-forums”
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Capacity and Cost Measurements
• How long to get “X” done?– Will it be on time (% probability)?
• How many people to get X delivered?• What is complexity level of project X?• How soon can we start on new project Z?
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Performance Metrics• Measure Planned Effort– Time: Planning/Development/Deployment– Cost: Planning/Development/Deployment– Support Costs (software, security patches, e.g.)
• Measure Actual Times/Costs & Compare– Refine the Estimating Process– Play It Again, Sam
• Keep Track of Grant & Matching Funding– Don’t exceed matching unnecessarily– Track accuracy of plan against real expenses incurred
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How we do it
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*Continuous improvement!
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Plan
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1
2
3
4
5
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Execute
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Begin: Iteration #1
End: Iteration #1
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Measure
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Rinse & Repeat
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Timeline: 2 Years & Counting
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8 months 12 months 20 months
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Light-Weight ToolsFor Agile Teams
• Project Planning Tools– Web-Based Proposal Form– Dashboard
• Process Tools– Scrums (Cork Board + Index Cards)– Iteration Planning Meetings– Web-Enabled Process Management
• Task Tracking Tools– TRAC (http://trac.edgewall.org/ )
• Time-Tracking Tools– ActiTime (http://www.actitime.com/ )
• Measurement Tools– dWrangler– Velocity Estimating
• Evaluation Tools– RAP Sheets– Iteration Reports
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Home-Grown&
Open-Source
Note: Screenshots on next slides for reference during live tools demo
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Project Planning Tools (1)
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• All projects require a proposal• Simple• Fast (mostly)
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Project Planning Tools (2)
• Web-Based• Consistent• Quick Status
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Project Planning Tools (3)
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Dashboard tracks all projects and status phase
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Process Tools (1)
• Several tools involved• Coordination via Dashboard:
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Process Tools (2)
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• Scrums: Bulletin Board + Index Cards
Yes, it is analog on purpose…
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Process Tools (3)
• Web-Enabled Process Management
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Everyone contributes…
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Task-Tracking Tools (1)
• Staff use TRAC to manage tasks– Note wiki comment option– SVN data noted, too
• This is a single task ticket– Change history clarifies– Attachments optional
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Task-Tracking Tools (2)
• Project-oriented view of tasks
• Note break-down of User Stories into individual tasks
• Also note Milestone headline
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Task-Tracking Tools (3)
• Timeline for a project – one of many views
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Task-Tracking Tools (4)
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• And there is the usual SVN repository…
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Time-Tracking Tools (1)
• Staff enter project time daily (well, they try…)
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Time-Tracking Tools (2)
• Example Report: Total time for each of our projects
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Time-Tracking Tools (3)
• Custom reports available
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Measurement Tools (1)
• TRAC & ActiTime hooked into our metric tools
• dWrangler is a home-grown product built with Django
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Measurement Tools (2)
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• Velocity estimates enable capacity planning– “Points Open” tracked for each
project– “Points Completed” tracked for
each project
Velocity =Points Completed Per Iteration
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Evaluation Tools (1)
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• Monthly RAP Sheets (Report on Resources, Activities, Plans)• BRIEF summary of project• Discussion points for managers
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Evaluation Tools (2)
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• Iteration Meetings & In-Meeting Report• Written while in
the meeting• Focus on continuous
improvement
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Lessons Learned• One step at a time– Organize the teams– Conduct trial-runs for ~ 3 months– Set a “go live” date
• Training, training, training– All members need to understand the Process– No blame, just gain: incremental improvements– Requires (mostly) disciplined behavior by all team members
• Measure, predict, measure again– Refine the estimates with actual performance data– Teams improve; measure again
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Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/ )
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentationCustomer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right,we value the items on the left more.
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From Cobbled To Agile• Agile is a journey, not a destination• Still refining our tools, teams, processes• Some projects need more planning than usual for Agile projects• Too frequent changes can affect hard deadlines• User stories don’t work for System Administration tasks• Some projects are more about configuration and deployment
than software development• Agile doesn’t work for all projects, all roles, across all teams• Underlying concepts are sound for estimating team capacity• Keep what works, refine/replace/remove what does not
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-ish
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Questions?
Feedback and Comments are welcome
Thanks for attending
Contact me:[email protected]
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Links for Screenshots• https://digital.library.emory.edu/• https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/tracback/digital-masters/• https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/• https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/announcements/iteration-report-13-sept-24-sept-2010 • https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/announcements/planning-meeting-iteration-11-oct-22-oct-2010 • https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/tracback/projects/worksummary/• https://larson.library.emory.edu/trac/digitalmasters/timeline • https://larson.library.emory.edu/trac/digitalmasters/roadmap • https://larson.library.emory.edu/trac/digitalmasters/ticket/133 • https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/tracback/digital-masters/collection-editing/• https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/ • http://bohr.library.emory.edu:7080/actitime/login.do
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