The talk will begin with the experiences in the current organization w.r.t implementing Agile. It will start from the complexities that exist in the organization due to the way it has grown traditionally. The next section will then focus on specific challenges , along with project examples, in the areas of a. Client expectations on Agile b. Estimation c. Execution d. Metrics e. Project Comparison Then the summary on where are we as an organization with these challenges and how are we trying to resolve these. Finally, the session will conclude with some learning’s which can potentially help others.

1. Srinath Chandrasekharan, CSM
Senior Manager - Consulting
HCL Technologies

2.  The IT Landscape
 The Challenges
 Our Approach
 Learning's

4.  $ 6.2 Billion 1 Lakh +
 Spread Across 31 countries employees
 Multiple Domains
 Service mix includes
 BPO 1000 + active
 Engineering services and R & D projects
 Enterprise Applications
 Infrastructure Services
 Custom Applications

5.  Other large IT players
 Infosys
 TCS
 Wipro
 CTS
 + many medium and small companies…
 Most projects won through competitive
bidding.. Margin’s play a major role….

6.  CMMI was a USP
 as customers looked for predictable, repeatable
process.
 Spread across domains and technologies, this was a
task huge task…
 All companies aspired for various levels…
 …. 5 was great, lower ones were acceptable…
 Heavy documentation needed lot of checks…
 Documentation became the focus and evidence was
largely document based… compliance to processes
became the focus instead of innovation

7.  Were more ‘Command and Control’….
 following the rule was common …
 deviations needed to be ‘approved’…..QA group
was the gatekeeper
 specialization was considered good in
processes, technologies, domains…
 creating smaller , specialized groups within the
large organizations…..led to creation of silos

12.  For many client’s going agile means…..
 Not giving the requirement in full, yet expecting
a functionally working feature….
 Changing the requirements within sprints..
 Not having to commit to the teams in terms of
time…..
 Avoided heavy and bureaucratic change
management processes

14.  Estimation became a problem..
 How do you estimate when you don’t know what
to develop…. Yet you need this for winning the
bid…..
 No industry published data to fall back on… SP
are relative and many people don’t understand
it…

15.  What’s the best methodology…
 People used to spoon feeding…
 Every step and outcome listed in CMMI…but Agile
prescribes an open culture ……
 What’s Scrum ? DSM ? Reviews? Sprints ?
 Should I have a standard Agile process across all
projects ? If yes, is it Agile ? If not, how do I
compare?

16.  Some clients don’t care about them…
 So do we ask the teams not to waste time on
them and use it more productively ?
 Even if we collected for the other projects
 nothing can be analyzed for a comparison
 No baseline report…
 Can’t get data for RFP’s
 Can’t compare which methodology will provide
better results…..

18.  Formed CoE
 All got trained on CSM
 Created some process material around Agile
(predominantly Scrum)
 Created training material similar to CSM
 Assessed / worked with projects implementing
scrum
 Studied other Agile methods and created
processes, so as to increase our basket of
offerings….
 Forums for addressing questions..CoP

19.  Started getting involved right from the RFP
stage… so as to understand clients maturity
and expectations from Agile.. And if needed
correct them…
 Assessed projects for applicability of Agile
 Training for client business / IT teams
 Session for sales team….very important..
 Sessions for Senior Management….
 Self learning modules on the Learning
Management System….

20.  Gathered experiences from different
projects on FPP
 Evolved a guideline on fixed price contracts
for Agile
 Educated Senior Management

21.  Created a structured process around Scrum
and some XP practices
 Structured training program
 Leveraged existing QA group to continuously
check projects for consistent implementation
and regular feedback
 Getting involved with teams for 2-3 sprints
 Focused sessions with teams on estimation,
story writing etc.

22.  Made a set of metrics as core, ensured that
these are gathered by all teams for every
sprint…
 Published a report which said how are
projects doing.. Without comparing them
 Used CSAT as a common measure, across
Agile and Non-Agile projects as well.
 Collected qualitative data (team stress,
weekend working, client pressure, etc.) to
support the other data.

24.  Proactivelytake Senior Management along at
all times. Agile should be well thought out
instead of being knee- jerk
 CoE was focused a lot on projects and delivery
teams, left senior management interaction to
project teams.
 Sales teams / senior management involvement
was as and when needed, so there was no single
approach to Agile.
 Cultural change needed was slow to take off.

25.  Top-down and bottom-up working together
 While teams were becoming Agile, management
was not.
 Metrics from traditional methodologies were still
expected from teams, resulting in pressure on
teams.
 Support for teams was problematic, in many
areas.

26.  Geta delivery sponsor who can speak for you
at various forums
 Important to spread awareness and intricacies of
Agile.
 Get buy in from delivery teams for activities
done by CoE and not be seen as an ‘outsider’.

27.  Focuson tooling and skills ….along with
processes
 While Scrum was becoming popular, XP practices
were largely ignored.
 Some practices were questioned for cost
effectiveness (Pair Programing, TDD).
 Leveraging projects experience was not well
established.

29. c.srinath@hcl.com
Srinath_cs@yahoo.com