Adopting agile methods in the public sector: a systematic literature review.

Abstract - Agile software development (ASD) has become an important research topic. However, despite the increase in the number of studies in this area in the last few years, there is a lack of structured information about its adoption in the ublic sector. Since the public sector is the part of the economy concerned with providing various government services, the goal of this study is to report from a systematic literature review and provide information that may enhance the understanding of the implications of adopting ASD within public companies. As the main results, we found that ASD could indeed be adopted in the public sector. The analysis suggests that a good alternative is to start the adoption of ASD with people willing to change - strongly supported by senior management -working on important pilot-projects. Second, we found that job satisfaction is greater when adopting agile methods within public companies. Finally, we also found some barriers that are difficult to overcome, including the ingrained use of plan-drive methods, as well as big bang deliveries and lack of experience in ASD.SEKE 2015

Metodologias ágeis na administração pública: uma revisão sistemática da literatura.

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar os resultados de uma revisão sistemática sobre o uso de metodologias ágeis na AP, apresentando evidências sobre seus benefícios, motivação e ameaças, além de recomendações para seu uso

Investigating the Support for Agility in Developing Government Software Systems: A Case of Three East African Countries

Agile Software Development Methods support an iterative and incremental way of developing software systems while responding to change by prioritising various aspects at different times. This differs from traditional sequential methods like Waterfall, in which one software development stage has to be completed before starting the next stage. To produce software systems that meet the requirements of their institutions, several governments in Africa have issued standards and guidelines to be followed during the development of government software systems. Such standards and guidelines specify the specific activities and deliverables for each stage of software development. While well-intentioned, such guidelines and standards can also hinder creativity and innovation which could be key to producing good quality and sustainable software systems. Given the degree of leniency that they offer, Agile methods could give room for such creativity and innovation among team members. However, despite such good potential in Agile methods, the literature lacks evidence regarding if and how the software development guidelines and standards issued by several African governments support agility. Various documents from three East African countries were reviewed, to determine if and how they support for agility during the development of government software systems. Guidelines and standards were reviewed using the lens of four Agile Values stated in the Agile manifesto. Results show the following: there is a marked lack of support for agility during the development of government software systems; the standards and guidelines are generally characterised by excessive micromanagement of the development process, leaving little or no room for innovation and creativity amongst members of the development teams; and the guidelines seem to assume uniformity across development projects, irrespective of the fact that software development projects can vary depending specific contextual dictates. Furthermore, recommendations on how governments can adopt and support agility during software development are provided

New Effort and Schedule Estimation Models for Agile Processes in the U.S. DoD

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe DoD’s new software acquisition pathway prioritizes speed of delivery, advocating agile software processes. Estimating the cost and schedule of agile software projects is critical at an early phase to establish baseline budgets and to select competitive bidders. The challenge is that common ag-ile sizing measures such as story points and user stories are not practical for early estimation as these are often reported after contract award in DoD. This study provides a set of parametric effort and schedule estimation models for agile projects using a sizing measure that is available before proposal evaluation based on data from 36 DoD agile projects. The results suggest that initial software requirements, defined as the sum of functions and external interfaces, is an effective sizing measure for early estimation of effort and schedule of agile projects. The models’ accuracy improves when application domain groups and peak staff are added as inputs.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

New Effort and Schedule Estimation Models for Agile Processes in the U.S. DoD

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe DoD’s new software acquisition pathway prioritizes speed of delivery, advocating agile software processes. Estimating the cost and schedule of agile software projects is critical at an early phase to establish baseline budgets and to select competitive bidders. The challenge is that common ag-ile sizing measures such as story points and user stories are not practical for early estimation as these are often reported after contract award in DoD. This study provides a set of parametric effort and schedule estimation models for agile projects using a sizing measure that is available before proposal evaluation based on data from 36 DoD agile projects. The results suggest that initial software requirements, defined as the sum of functions and external interfaces, is an effective sizing measure for early estimation of effort and schedule of agile projects. The models’ accuracy improves when application domain groups and peak staff are added as inputs.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Best Practices for Implementing Agile Methods: A Guide for Department of Defense Software Developers

Traditional plan-driven software development has been widely used in the government because it\u27s considered to be less risky, more consistent, and structured. But there has been a shift from this approach to Agile methods which are more flexible, resulting in fast releases by working in an incremental fashion to adapt to the reality of the changing or unclear requirements. This report describes the Agile software development philosophy, methods, and best practices in launching software design projects using the Agile approach. It is targeted to Defense Department software developers because they face broad challenges in creating enterprise-wide information systems, where Agile methods could be used most effectively. Though not a panacea, agile methods offer a solution to an important class of problems faced by organizations today. Technology and E-Government

Earned Value Reporting on Agile Software Development Programs within the Department of Defense

The correct measurement of earned value on agile software development programs has recently been identified as a concern by software developers implementing agile development methods. This research attempts to address the difficulties in reporting earned value on agile development programs, and the differences between the measures of completion in agile development versus earned value reporting. The major difference was identified to be in translating between the work originally planned and the work that was “recently” planned as part of the agile development process. This difference, if not transparent, leads to different measurements of earned value and inconsistent reports of a program’s progress

Feature performance metrics in a service as a software offering

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-47).Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model has become widespread. This deployment model changes the economics of software delivery but also has an impact on development. Releasing updates to customers is immediate and the development, product and marketing teams have access to customer usage information. These dynamics create a fast feedback loop between developments to customers. To fully leverage this feedback loop the right metrics need to be set. Typically SaaS applications are a collection of features. The product is divided between development teams according to features and customers access the service through features. Thus a framework that measure feature performance is valuable. This thesis provides a framework for measuring the performance of software as a service (SaaS) product features in order to prioritize development efforts. The case is based on empirical data from HubSpot and it is generalized to provide a framework applicable to other companies with large scale software offerings and distributed development. Firstly, relative value is measured by the impact that each feature has on customer acquisition and retention. Secondly, feature value is compared to feature cost and specifically development investment to determine feature profitability. Thirdly, feature sensitivity is measured. Feature sensitivity is defined as the effect a fixed amount of development investment has on value in a given time. Fourthly, features are segmented according to their location relative to the value to cost trend line into: most valuable features, outperforming, under-performing and fledglings. Finally, results are analyzed to determine future action. Maintenance and bug fixes are prioritized according to feature value. Product enhancements are prioritized according to sensitivity with special attention to fledglings. Under-performing features are either put on "life-support", terminated or overhauled.by Avi Latner.S.M.in Engineering and Managemen