1. Agile State of the Art Survey Results November 2011
Scott W. Ambler and Paul Gorans
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

2. Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
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The suggested reference is: Results from Scott Ambler and Paul Goran’s 2011 Agile State of the Art Survey posted at
Some slides have notes
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

3. Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
About the Survey
November 2011
Survey link included in:
page
Tweet
Posting to
Posting to agile discussion forums (Agile CMMI, Agile and Lean Discussion) on LinkedIn
Data, summary, and slides downloadable from
168 respondents
49% were agile coaches
30% agile team members
79% had 10+ years of work experience, 40% had 5+ years of agile experience
40% worked in orgs of 1,000 or more people
54% North American, 23% European, 15% Asia Pacific
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

4. Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Team Size
There was only four respondents indicating failed projects
Average team size for successful projects was 26, although 12 when you drop the data for projects of 100 or more
Average team size for challenged projects was 28, although 16.4 when you drop the data for projects of 100 or more
# of responses
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

5. Geographic Distribution
Near located = Everyone works on same floor + Everyone works in same building + Everyone on same campus + Everyone within driving distance
Far located = Everyone within same time zone + Everyone within 3 hour time zone + Everyone global
Percentage of responses
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

6. Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Agile Accelerators: Environmental Highly disagree(-10) to Highly agree (+10)
Calculation:
(#HighlyAgree*10 + #Agree*5 - #Disagree*5 - #HighlyDisagree*10)/(#HighlyAgree + #Agree + #Neutral + #Disagree + #HighlyDisagree)
Agile CoE = We established an agile group/center to support our agile adoption efforts
Organized for agile = We are organized to support most agile practices
Agile environment = We have environments and tooling required for end-to-end collaborative development
Dedicated business expertise = Agile teams can secure dedicated business expertise
Single team = Agile team members are assigned to a single team
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

7. Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/
Agile Accelerators: Management and Governance Highly disagree(-10) to Highly agree (+10)
Calculation:
(#HighlyAgree*10 + #Agree*5 - #Disagree*5 - #HighlyDisagree*10)/(#HighlyAgree + #Agree + #Neutral + #Disagree + #HighlyDisagree)
Addressing barriers = We are effectively addressing our barriers to agility
Exec sponsorship = Our agile adoption effort has executive sponsorship
Value creation = Agile teams are judged on business value creation
Agile governance = IT and financial governance, including capitalization and budgeting processes, have been addressed and there is an officially recognized agile path
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler

8. Agile Impediments Highly disagree(-10) to Highly agree (+10)
Calculation:
(#HighlyAgree*10 + #Agree*5 - #Disagree*5 - #HighlyDisagree*10)/(#HighlyAgree + #Agree + #Neutral + #Disagree + #HighlyDisagree)
Traditional metrics = Agile teams are judged primarily on traditional IT and cost based metrics
Two clocks problem = We have the two clocks problem, where agile teams want to move fast but some parts of the organization are not prepared to do so
Copyright 2012 Scott W. Ambler