SE503 Advanced Project Management Dr. Ahmed Sameh, Ph.D. Professor, CS & IS Agile Principles: Customers and Products

Customer Value Through Innovative Products Focus on delivering customer value Iterative feature-based delivery Technical excellence

Project Types Production – Defined outcome – Optimization – Planning and control – Administrative compliance – Product focus Exploration – Defined vision – Innovation – Agile execution – Iterative delivery of customer value – Customer focus

Customer Value What they are willing to pay Meeting expectations – Product performance (now and later) – Cost/budget – Schedule/delivery Expectations and requirements – Requirements are fixed and stated up front – Expectations evolve with the project

Customers value… Innovation Adaptability Tangible progress and delivery Ease of use and/or implementation Technical excellence

Minimize Compliance Activities Little customer value Tend to grow, not shrink “We don’t ever want that to happen again” Some compliance is necessary – Internal – External – Minimizing it increases its importance Compliance stifles creativity and innovation

Project Participants Deliver Value Everyone has the vision – Goals known – Customer known – Motivated, self-directed participants Decision making at the lowest level

Iterative Development Short iterations Real deliverables Incremental improvements Lower cost commitment per iteration Product representations – Models – Simulations – Prototypes

Earlier Benefits, Reduced Risk Tradeoffs and decisions as early as possible Realistic evaluations and expectations Frequent reviews and communication Frequent customer feedback Re-evaluation of project priorities Risk control – Technical risk – Feature risk

Technical Excellence Agile methods seem loose, undisciplined Customers value technical excellence Technology evolves rapidly Technical excellence is more important than administrative excellence Agile project managers are champions of technical excellence