Property ManagementProduct Development Update

Randy Lott

Director, DevelopmentAMSI

Agenda

• Introductions• What’s New?• Customer Feedback – Challenges• New Development Process• Future Roadmap• Q&A

Introductions

• Karl Stembol – Development Manager

• April Bone – Quality Assurance Manager

What’s New?

• Suite based installation– Common release numbering– One installation process

• Suite based delivery– Common framework– eSite, eFinancials, eService and eDex all

delivered together

What’s New?

• eSite– Letters enhancements

• eService– Tighter integration with suite

• eFinancials– Workflow – Check Run and Bank Reconciliation

What’s New?

• What’s New in eSite – Session 100 - Monday

• What’s New in eService– Session 108 – Tuesday at 4:40pm (Gulf)

• What’s new in eFinancials– Session 112 – Wednesday at 8:10am (Gulf)

What’s New?

• Release 5.5– In beta currently– Controlled release to AMSI hosted

customers in October– General Release in October/November

Customer Feedback - Challenges

• Major releases too few and far between• Major release scope too inflexible• What is delivered does not always reflect

what is needed• No one wants to be first – quality issues• Only critical issues addressed between major

releases• Delivery dates change

Development Challenges

Development Challenges

According to the Standish Group's famous CHAOS Report of 2000, 25%*** of all projects still fail outright through eventual cancellation, with no useful software deployed.***Sadly, this is an improvement over past CHAOS Report

measurements

Development Challenges

A study in the United Kingdom shows that of 1,027 projects, only 13% did not fail, and waterfall-style scope management was the "single largest contributing factor for failure, being cited in 82% of the projects as the number one problem.”

Development Challenges

• Through Release 5.5, AMSI used the waterfall methodology– Projects were very long– Delivered what was asked for…in some cases not what was

needed– Quality issues– Issues discovered late in the cycle – delivery targets were

not always met– Resistant to changes in the landscape– Backlog of 4,600 system change requests

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

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 toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding 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.

Agile – Core Values

• Iterative• Continuous feedback• Continuous planning• Continuous testing• Continuous integration……Continuous Evolution of both the project

and the software

Agile Development Value Proposition

Agile Hallmarks

1. Releases and Fixed Length Iterations

Agile Hallmarks

2. Running, Tested Software– Primary Measure of Progress– Continuous Evaluation

Agile Hallmarks

3. Value-Driven Development – Focus on working features– Deliver business value early

Agile Hallmarks

4. Continuous (Adaptive) Planning – Continues throughout the project– Accountable to the resources that it

consumes– Deliver what is needed rather than what

is asked for

Agile Hallmarks

5. Multi-Level Planning – At the release level, we identify and prioritize the

features we must have, would like to have, and can do without by the deadline.

– At the iteration level, we pick and plan for the next batch of features to implement, in priority order. If features are too large to be estimated or delivered within a single iteration, we break them down further.

Agile Hallmarks

6. Relative Estimation– Accelerate Planning– Remove unnecessary complexity

Agile Hallmarks

7. Emergent Feature Discovery – Quick feature prioritization and estimation– Refine details as necessary

Agile Hallmarks

8. Continuous Testing– Deterministically measure progress– Prevent Defects

Agile Hallmarks

9. Continuous Improvement– Reflect on what is done– Has anything happened to change the

landscape?– Change plans accordingly

Agile Hallmarks

10. Small, Cross-functional Teams– More productive than larger teams– Teams have all the skills necessary to

successfully deliver the planned features

Agile Methodologies

• Scrum• Extreme Programming (XP)• Crystal• Dynamic Systems Development Method

(DSDM)• Feature-Driven Development (FDD)• Lean Software Development

Why Scrum?

• Flexible wrapper for existing engineering practices• Iterative and incremental• Ideal when requirements are rapidly changing• Controls the chaos of conflicting interests and needs• Improves communication and maximizes cooperation• Maximizes productivity• Teams feel good about the job that they do, their

contributions, and that they are doing their best• Ideal for the AMSI culture

Scrum Methodology

Agile Tools Investment

• Project Management software that follows the Scrum methodology

• Collaborative tools for gathering requirements, tracking test results and managing source

• Automated test tools

Agile Customer Input

• Sales, Professional Services and Support – direct input into project management system

• Web access for customers to enter Requests directly into project management system

• Conversion from existing tracking system – all previous requests retained

Agile Maintenance

• Maintenance team separated from core development team

• Bi-monthly service packs (starting with Release 5.5)

• Service packs are cumulative• Quicker response to high priority but non-

critical issues• Zero defect objective

Product Roadmap

• Release 5.5 – October/November 2007 GA– Service packs every 2 months after GA

• Release 6.0 – May/June 2008 GA– Service packs every 2 months after GA

Product Roadmap• Release 5.5

– 5.5.1 – first bi-monthly service pack in November 2007

• Release 6.0 focus areas– Conversions

• Direct conversions

– Workflow• Invoice and PO Entry

– DOS Gaps• Print a listing that shows all roles, groups, users and permissions associated with them• More control over check formats

– Locks and Limits• Cap on concession amounts• Limit ability to backdate leasing activity

Questions?