AGILE TRANSFORMATION AT XTRAKTER

INTRODUCTION

SPEAKERS

Gary Jones, Valtech

Alastair Brown, Valtech

Graeme Austin, Xtrakter

Gary Maplestone, Xtrakter

EXPERIENCE REPORT ON THE AGILE TRANSFORMATION AT XTRAKTER

INTRODUCTION

BUSINESS CASE FOR CHANGE – Graeme Austin

PROCESS FOR CHANGE – Gary Jones

SHAPING THE PROCESS - Gary Maplestone

THE POWER OF METRICS – Alastair Brown

QUESTIONS

XTRAKTER BUSINESS CASE

XTRAKTER OVERVIEW

Market infrastructure for bond trading

Transaction reporting conduit to the FSA

Primary data repository for European bond market

ORGANISATIONAL CHALLENGES

Silo mentality

Legacy culture from previous management

Preparing company for sale

Xtrakter is part of the Euroclear group of companies. Xtrakter is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the UK as an approved Service Company FRN: 491843

XTRAKTER TIMELINE 2007-2008

September 2007 Product management department formed

First analysis of product life cycle, soup to nuts

Issues around Velocity company-wide

October 2007 Time to market

Predictable quality

Predictable delivery

November 2007 onwards Prepare company for sale

September 2007 Product

life cycle begins

October 2007 First review of Waterfall

November 2007 Prepare

for Sale

Oct 2008 Health Check

Nov 2008 Sale

Agreement

January 2009 Selection of Consultancy

begins

XTRAKTER TIMELINE 2008-2009

October 2008

Revisit product development life cycle

Health check on Waterfall methodology

„There has to be a better way‟

November 2008

Sale and Purchase Agreement signed

January 2009

Agile consultancy beauty parade

September 2007 Product

life cycle begins

October 2007 First review of Waterfall

November 2007 Prepare

for Sale

Oct 2008 Health Check

Nov 2008 Sale

Agreement

January 2009 Selection of Consultancy

begins

BUSINESS CASE

DRIVERS

Product life cycle management

Predictable quality

Predictable delivery

CHALLENGES

Business case definition

Leadership team as aligned unit

Awareness change required

PROCESS FOR CHANGE

PROCCESS FOR CHANGE

Oct 2008 Xtrakter

Think About

Change

April 2009 Xtrakter Attend

Agile Edge

April 2009 Valtech

Assessment of Xtrakter

September 2009

Valtech Agile

Training

October 2009

Valtech Agile

Coaching

February 2010

Xtrakter Running

Solo

PROCCESS FOR CHANGE

SHAPING THE PROCESS

PRODUCT OWNER ENGAGEMENT

THE CHALLENGE New responsibilities for our Product Managers:

• Approval of minor product enhancements

• Single point of prioritisation

ACTIONS TAKEN Initially lots of business coaching from Valtech

Excellent support for the Agile transformation from the Director of Product Management

AGILE REQUIREMENTS

THE CHALLENGE

Requirements too detailed too soon

Stale requirements

Bloated requirements

ACTIONS TAKEN Promote conversation with introduction of stories

Focus BA team on the immediate requirement (Just enough!)

Heavy demand for coaching in this area

AGILE REQUIREMENTS

THE CHALLENGE

Requirements too detailed too soon

Stale requirements

Bloated requirements

ACTIONS TAKEN Promote conversation with introduction of stories

Focus BA team on the immediate requirement (Just enough!)

Heavy demand for coaching in this area

DELIVERY STAFF HIDING BEHIND THE PROCESS

THE CHALLENGE We were initially at risk of losing „organic‟ communication

e.g.

• Refusal to respond to simple queries

• Reluctance to give initial „Rough Order of Magnitude‟ estimates

ACTIONS TAKEN Guidance had to be given; Agile is a framework, not a manual

for all activity.

There is still a need for a non-deterministic system that can „self-heal‟

FRUSTRATED REQUIREMENTS OWNERS

THE CHALLENGE “I don‟t want to have to justify why my request deserves attention”

“You were more responsive to our requirements BEFORE Agile!”

ACTIONS TAKEN Explanation as to why the new approach benefits the organisation as a whole

Coaching/advice from a 3rd party i.e. Valtech, to take the heat out of the situation

INFLUENCE OF METRICS

INFLUENCE OF METRICS

POWERFUL COMMUNICATOR OF PROGRESS

– Coupled with stand up meeting and Retrospectives

Highlight Potential Risks Early

Cultural Influence of high visibility

– Early Risk Identification

– Impediment Removal

– Completion of working software

– Clarity of priority

What we did

– Ultra low cost of entry

– Leading Indicators

BACKLOG AND CATEGORISATION

1: IDENTIFIED 2: APPROVED

6: READY FOR DEV

7: IN DEV

3: PRIORITISED 5: ANALYSIS IN

PROGRESS

8: IN QA 10: IN

DEPLOYMENT

THE METRICS

RELEASE CUMULATIVE FLOW

WHAT WE DID

ITERATION CUMULATIVE FLOW

(AS A BURN UP)

POSITIVE PATTERNS

– Velocity Increasing

– Team understanding achievable level of commitment

PATTERNS REQUIRING ANALYSIS

– Large amount of work in progress

– Scope increasing mid iteration – prioritisation unstable

– Over commitment in early iterations

WHAT WE DID

VALUE CRITERIA

POSITIVE PATTERNS

– Operational Improvement (Value) and Business Value greatest

LEADING INDICATORS

– Large amount of work in progress

– Large number of points in prioritised

– QA constraint

XTRAKTER SUMMARY

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the

lead in the introduction of a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all

those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would

profit by the new order…”

Nicolo Machiavelli

CULTURE CHANGE

PRE-REQUISITES ARE CRUCIAL

PREPARE THE WAY IN ADVANCE

– Staff Briefings

– Send key staff to Agile Seminars

– Refer to the Agile idea in discussions with Senior Managers….repeatedly

– Use crises when they arise to illustrate how Agile could avoid them

– Pick your launch date with care…one shot!

YOU MUST HAVE BUY-IN AT THE TOP…CULTURE CHANGE HURTS!

INCREDIBLE IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE OUTSET

TEAM CO-OPERATION

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

TEAM MORALE

REDUCED DEFECT RATE

PREDICTABILITY

VELOCITY

?

ANY QUESTIONS …

http://www.valtech.co.uk

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