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From Cobbled To Agile: Re-Engineering Library IT Joan A. Smith, PhD Emory University

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Why we did it Library IT Division Cobbled Together Created piecemeal over 15+ years Technology dumping ground ILS + Desktop Support + Grant Projects + Webs + System Administration + Anything Involving a Computer Mixed Staffing Situation Regular Staff + Faculty + Contract Staff + Undergrad Students + Grad Students Capacity questions Project costs, capacity, impact unknown & unmeasured Few staff + lots of projects = prioritization crisis 10/03/20102Emory University

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Back Then... 10/03/2010 A Multitude of Projects HodgePodge Group A Variety of Staff & Skills If its computing, it belongs in IT!.......No Capacity Planning.......

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What was needed Comprehensive Operational Vision Professional Staffing Plan Capacity and Cost Measurements Performance Metrics In other words: A Business Model 10/03/20104Emory University

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Comprehensive Operational Vision Clear mission statement why were in business who we serve Defined tech stack primary tools for doing our job skill levels expected University-IT role vs. Library-IT role Service redundancy = wasted money Focus on appropriate market share Utilize economies of scale 10/03/2010Emory University5

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Professional Staffing Plan Classic, industry-based model Technical Project Managers Software Developers System Administrators Sustainable project staffing Post-grant maintenance & updates Common tech stack Professional development & mentoring Junior, intermediate, senior levels of expertise Code/Project/System Reviews for coaching Training materials, conferences, info-forums 10/03/2010Emory University6

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Capacity and Cost Measurements How long to get X done? Will it be on time (% probability)? How many people to get X delivered? What is complexity level of project X? How soon can we start on new project Z? 10/03/2010Emory University7

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Performance Metrics Measure Planned Effort Time: Planning/Development/Deployment Cost: Planning/Development/Deployment Support Costs (software, security patches, e.g.) Measure Actual Times/Costs & Compare Refine the Estimating Process Play It Again, Sam Keep Track of Grant & Matching Funding Dont exceed matching unnecessarily Track accuracy of plan against real expenses incurred 10/03/2010Emory University8

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PlanExecute Measure Rinse & Repeat* How we do it 10/03/20109Emory University *Continuous improvement!

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Plan List Product Requirements Divide Into Tasks Estimate Time to Complete Each Task Estimate Resource Needs Organize Tasks Into Iterations 10/03/201010Emory University

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Execute Start End Task 1 Start End Task 2 Start End Task 3 10/03/201011Emory University Begin: Iteration #1 End: Iteration #1

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Measure Estimate Velocity Adjust for incomplete tasks Add in any unforeseen tasking Calculate time per staff member per task Add up hours on all tasks 10/03/201012Emory University

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Rinse & Repeat Compare Actual vs. Planned Adjust Next Iteration Task Plans 10/03/201013Emory University

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Timeline: 2 Years & Counting Practice Planning Begin Metrics Collection Organize Teams Planning Tools Measurement Tools Refine Tools Project Process Estimation Methods Refine Process 10/03/201014Emory University 8 months12 months20 months

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Light-Weight Tools For Agile Teams Project Planning Tools Web-Based Proposal Form Dashboard Process Tools Scrums (Cork Board + Index Cards) Iteration Planning Meetings Web-Enabled Process Management Task Tracking Tools TRAC (http://trac.edgewall.org/ )http://trac.edgewall.org/ Time-Tracking Tools ActiTime (http://www.actitime.com/ )http://www.actitime.com/ Measurement Tools dWrangler Velocity Estimating Evaluation Tools RAP Sheets Iteration Reports 10/03/2010Emory University15 Home-Grown & Open-Source Note: Screenshots on next slides for reference during live tools demo

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Project Planning Tools (1) 10/03/2010Emory University16 All projects require a proposal Simple Fast (mostly)

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Project Planning Tools (2) Web-Based Consistent Quick Status 10/03/2010Emory University17

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Project Planning Tools (3) 10/03/2010Emory University18 Dashboard tracks all projects and status phase

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Process Tools (1) Several tools involved Coordination via Dashboard: 10/03/2010Emory University19

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Process Tools (2) 10/03/2010Emory University20 Yes, it is analog on purpose

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Process Tools (3) Web-Enabled Process Management 10/03/2010Emory University21 Everyone contributes

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Task-Tracking Tools (1) Staff use TRAC to manage tasks Note wiki comment option SVN data noted, too This is a single task ticket Change history clarifies Attachments optional 10/03/2010Emory University22

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Task-Tracking Tools (2) Project-oriented view of tasks Note break-down of User Stories into individual tasks Also note Milestone headline 10/03/2010Emory University23

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Task-Tracking Tools (3) Timeline for a project one of many views 10/03/2010Emory University24

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Task-Tracking Tools (4) 10/03/2010Emory University25 And there is the usual SVN repository

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Time-Tracking Tools (1) Staff enter project time daily (well, they try) 10/03/2010Emory University26

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Time-Tracking Tools (2) Example Report: Total time for each of our projects 10/03/2010Emory University27

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Time-Tracking Tools (3) Custom reports available 10/03/2010Emory University28

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Measurement Tools (1) TRAC & ActiTime hooked into our metric tools dWrangler is a home-grown product built with Django 10/03/2010Emory University29

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Measurement Tools (2) 10/03/2010Emory University30 Velocity estimates enable capacity planning Points Open tracked for each project Points Completed tracked for each project Velocity = Points Completed Per Iteration

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Evaluation Tools (1) 10/03/2010Emory University31 Monthly RAP Sheets (Report on Resources, Activities, Plans) BRIEF summary of project Discussion points for managers

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Evaluation Tools (2) 10/03/2010Emory University32 Iteration Meetings & In-Meeting Report Written while in the meeting Focus on continuous improvement

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Lessons Learned One step at a time Organize the teams Conduct trial-runs for ~ 3 months Set a go live date Training, training, training All members need to understand the Process No blame, just gain: incremental improvements Requires (mostly) disciplined behavior by all team members Measure, predict, measure again Refine the estimates with actual performance data Teams improve; measure again 10/03/201033Emory University

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Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/ )http://agilemanifesto.org/ We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. 10/03/2010Emory University34

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From Cobbled To Agile Agile is a journey, not a destination Still refining our tools, teams, processes Some projects need more planning than usual for Agile projects Too frequent changes can affect hard deadlines User stories dont work for System Administration tasks Some projects are more about configuration and deployment than software development Agile doesnt work for all projects, all roles, across all teams Underlying concepts are sound for estimating team capacity Keep what works, refine/replace/remove what does not 10/03/201035Emory University -ish

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Questions? Feedback and Comments are welcome Thanks for attending Contact me: joan.smith@emory.edu 10/03/201036Emory University

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Links for Screenshots https://digital.library.emory.edu/ https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/tracback/digital-masters/ https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/ https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/announcements/iteration-report-13-sept-24-sept-2010 https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/announcements/planning-meeting-iteration-11-oct-22-oct-2010 https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/tracback/projects/worksummary/ https://larson.library.emory.edu/trac/digitalmasters/timeline https://larson.library.emory.edu/trac/digitalmasters/roadmap https://larson.library.emory.edu/trac/digitalmasters/ticket/133 https://heisenberg.library.emory.edu/dwrangler/tracback/digital-masters/collection-editing/ https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/ http://bohr.library.emory.edu:7080/actitime/login.do 10/03/2010Emory University37