1. Sample Agile Assessment Report for XYZ Company
Presented by ………..
For Agile Outlook
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2. Scope of Agile Readiness Assessments
Agile Outlook performed an initial assessment of XYZ Company’s Software development process to identify how Agile development practices could improve meeting business demand and throughput for the company

3. Observations and Findings
XYZ Agile Readiness
Observations and Findings
1. Agile Practices
XYZ started its first Agile project with Marketing Applications team two years ago
Scrum is the Agile Framework that is in use in Marketing
Rest of the Business Units are still using Waterfall approach to Software Development
2. Project Prioritization
Our assessment identified that following four projects are suitable candidates for Agile projects at XYZ
Mobile
Customer Web Portal
HR and Payroll Systems
Accounting and Finance Workflows

4. Observations and Findings
XYZ Agile Readiness
Observations and Findings
3. Distributed Organization
Challenges arise from having portions of the development effort and people being geographically distributed. Cycle time for getting questions answered will be lengthened, and communications and cultural differences also affect the work.
4. Culture
There is a fear of the unknown. Under Agile, status quo of people will be challenged. Much of the authority and decision making will shift as teams become more self-organizing and cross-functional. Product Owners will need to have the authority to manage and order their respective product backlog to support delivery of working and valuable software

5. Observations and Findings
XYZ Agile Readiness
Observations and Findings
5. Roles and Responsibilities/Staffing
70-80 % of software development work is outsourced to contractors. It is unclear what current roles of FTEs will map into roles under Agile development approaches. XYZ is a publicly traded company; therefore, a stronger business case will be required to justify changes in roles and responsibilities with HR and Finance. The organization might see resistance to change from FTEs when going agile. Since turnover rate of contractors is high, this may also create problems with building self-organizing, cross-functional and matured Agile teams.
6. Project Budgeting
How projects are funded can be problematic; billing processes can be different, and the need for balancing projects by type can cause project prioritization to be reordered. There could be concern expressed around how process budgeting would be done in an Agile organization.

6. Observations and Findings
XYZ Agile Readiness
Observations and Findings
7. Training
There is a need for training across the organization in a move to a more agile model of software delivery. It was noted that it is important for management to be trained as part of the mix, and that all distributed and offshore teams would need appropriate training and coaching as well.
XYZ LMS has limited resources for people to go and gain hands on knowledge on Agile
8. Tools and Process Considerations
Assessment sensed a bit of challenges in tools and process. For example there are tools and process already in place in the current SDLC methodology and it will need to be worked out how these will be used in Agile-based methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban

7. Recommendations Pursue Agile Methodology for Software Development
This is an obvious recommendation, but is included so as to set context for the rest of the recommendations to follow
In pursing a path to organizational agility, changes in corporate culture will naturally occur as our methods for collaboratively delivering software align with our goals and objectives. Agile values individuals and interactions over processes and tool, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan. We expect to see these values becoming infused across the organization
Apply a Lean Governance model based on Agile principles that also meets the needs resulting from compliance with regulatory and auditing requirements
Based on the scope of Software Development Projects, two Agile frameworks suits better for XYX
Kanban: For routine Maintenance and IT Infrastructure support
Scrum: For API led Development and new Non-API led development

8. Recommendations
2. Projects ordered by value, with value metrics determined in an objective manner
Consideration should be given to ordering the project list according to objective value factors. Over time, as Agile-based methodologies are used, it is likely that projects will become more focused on delivering only the needed highest-value features and become more manageable as a result. Regardless of Waterfall SDLC in use, ordering projects on an agreed upon set of value factors should help reduce uncertainty and project churn, while adding predictability. Agile approach expects work to be prioritized – so an ordered project list with a Product Portfolio Owner is recommended.

9. Recommendations 3. Create a pilot Scrum project
The best measure of success in software delivery is working, valuable software. Agile is based on an empirical approach – learning from doing, and continuously improving. A pilot project based on delivery of software by a Scrum team is the best way to learn how to adapt Agile values and approaches in the organizations. The formation and guidance for the pilot project will be conducted by the Agile Path Team.
Select a candidate project
Form Scrum team - designate roles and responsibilities
Given the matrix nature of roles and responsibilities in XYZ, this could be challenging 
Deliver training
Determine tools to be use
Identify metrics and reports
Develop communications plan
Determine what facilities are needed (e.g., where standups and other meetings are held)
Consider what is needed for offshore: training, coaching, communication enablement

10. Recommendations 4. Training and Coaching
Determine training plan and deliver training and coaching to the Pilot team according to roles. Training can take the form of multi-day workshops all the way to informal sessions to cover particular topics with individuals or groups.

11. Recommendations 5. Execute pilot Scrum Project
Team executes – form product backlog, do planning, groom epics/stories, develop software in sprint cadence, and everything needed to deliver completed and valuable software. Coaching and guidance is provided throughout the pilot. The pilot will teach us how to add additional teams and continue in the transformation.

12. Recommendations 6. Development Quality Assurance Environment
Agile expects all tasks needed to deliver valuable, working software to be done by the Scrum or Kanban team. This means that QA would be doing work daily in a Scrum sprint, for example, and therefore would need to have access to developed code and environment for testing
Research with the enterprise technology teams is required to determine approach and cost.

13. Recommendations 7. Take a Step-by-Step approach to Scaling Up Agile
Transformation Foundation
Pilot a Team
Scale to Several Teams
Enterprise wide Agile Adoption
Frameworks
Roadmaps
Agile Toolkit
Educate Sponsors
Training Modules
Identify Pilot Team
Initial PBIs
Train pilot teams
Agile Coaching (Backlog, Release, Velocity and Tracking)
Prove Success, Measure Outcomes
Technical Assessments
Gain buy-in for Scaling
Stand up several teams by Program/ Business Units
Launch Tech. Transformation
Establish Agile COP
Educate on Lean Governance
Demonstrate success with teams and gain buy-in for enterprise level transformation from leadership team
Scale-up Agile
Revise HR/Finance processes

14. Recommendations
8. Achieve an ideal Agile Enterprise status