Agile software development methods are now well established in many commercial organizations, and are starting to make inroads into government contexts. There are reports of software development projects using Agile methods that achieve significantly higher levels of productivity and quality compared with projects that used traditional methods. When it comes to brand new “start from scratch” software projects, a wealth of information, advice, training, and literature exists to help guide practitioners and speed them along the path to agility. Unfortunately, most such publicly available resources have relatively little to say when it comes to legacy systems. However, there is a small but growing amount of evidence that agile practices can yield compelling benefits for legacy projects—even those that have been previously successful using traditional methods. Our experience suggests that agile practices need to be customized and introduced in a different order into a legacy project. This presentation provides an analysis of the differences between legacy projects and new software development and the implications for the adoption of agile methods.

1. 1
Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks:
Agile For Legacy Systems
Craeg Strong
CTO, Ariel Partners
June 23, 2015
Mclean, VA
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Copyright
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2015
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2. 2
Software Development since 1988
Large Commercial & Government Projects
Agile Coach / Kanban Trainer
Performance & Scalability Architect
Apache Ant Open-Source Contributor
New York & Washington DC Area
CTO,
Ariel
Partners
CSM,
CSP,
CSD,
CSPO,
PSM,
PMI-­‐ACP,
PMP,
SAFe
Agilist
www.arielpartners.com
cstrong@arielpartners.com
@ckstrong1
Craeg
Strong
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3. 3
Agenda
1. Up
Front
AsserOons
2. Why
Is
Legacy
Different?
3. SituaOonal
Assessment
4. Whirlwind
Tour
1. FaciliOes
2. Team
3. Agile
Methodology
4. Technical
Debt
5. DocumentaOon
6. “Sprint
0”
7. Lifecycle
Management
Tool
8. Roadmapping
9. Automated
Tests
10. DevOps
AutomaOon
5. Summary
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4. 4
AsserOons
1
2
3
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Big
legacy
projects
represent
a
cons4tuency
that
has
been
largely
le8
out
of
the
conversa4on
about
Agile.
Agile
methods
can
provide
benefits
for
big
legacy
so8ware
projects
–
even
if
they
have
been
previously
successful
under
waterfall.
Agile
prac4ces
may
need
to
be
customized
and
introduced
in
a
different
order
in
a
legacy
project.

5. 5
q Mission-Critical
q Heavily Regulated
q Missing or Out of Date
q Significant Documentation Requirements
q Mostly Manual
q System Not Designed For Testability
q Resistant to Change
q Battle Fatigue
q Optimized For Non-Collaboration
q Private Offices May Be Tied To Self-Worth
q Heavyweight, Prescriptive
q Manual-Intensive Reporting
q Lengthy Approval Process
q Skeptical of Open Source
How
Is
Legacy
Different?
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System
Criticality
Documentation
Testing
Staff
Facility
Governance
Procurement

6. 6
SituaOon
Assessment
Mature
So]ware
Significant
Challenges
Assessment
Ques4ons
q What
does
our
capital
budget
look
like?
OpEx
vs
CapEx
q How
long
will
the
capability
be
needed?
q How
many
of
the
original
team
are
available?
q What
is
the
state
of
the
code
base
relaOve
to
modern
best
pracOces?
q Does
the
so]ware
use
a
strategic
plaaorm?
Is
it
sOll
supported?
UNIX
Healthcare.gov
FBI
Trilogy
Denver
Airport
Baggage
Handling
System
“Criminal
JusOce
Project”
Conclusions
ü How
much
we
will
invest
in
the
exisOng
code
base
ü How
we
will
allocate
our
budget
between
maintenance
and
re-­‐design
ü How
that
allocaOon
may
shi]
over
the
next
5
years
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7. 7
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Criminal
JusOce
Project

8. 8
Whirlwind
Tour
1. FaciliOes
2. Team
3. Agile
Methodology
4. Technical
Debt
5. DocumentaOon
6. “Sprint
0”
7. Lifecycle
Management
Tool
8. Roadmapping
9. Automated
Tests
10. DevOps,
CI/CD
AutomaOon
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9. 9
Dream
1.
FaciliOes
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Reality

10. 10
Summary:
Structuring
The
Space
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Remove Barriers to Collaboration
q Co-Locate The Team
q Cubicles à Open Spaces
q Put Whiteboards Everywhere
q Post-Its of all shapes and colors
q Dual Hi-Res Monitors

11. 11
2.
Staffing
The
Team
q New Project
q Lightweight Governance
q Little Technical Debt
Traditional Scrum Team
DevelopersTesters Business
Analyst
CM/Build
Engineer
DBA
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11
q Legacy Project
q Heavyweight Governance
q Significant Technical Debt
Specialists
DevOps
Engineer
UX
Designer
Technical
Writer
Development
DevelopersTesters Business
Analyst
CM/Build
Engineer
DBA
Tool /
Automation
Specialist
Increasing
Complexity

12. 12
Team
ComposiOon
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Project
Veterans
(Mid/Senior)
ü Senior
Developer
ü Domain
Expert
ü Expert
Manual
Tester
ü Training
Specialist
50%
30%
20%
New
Staff
ü Junior
ü Midlevel
Specialists
(Senior)
ü UX
Designer
ü DevOps
Engineer
ü Build
AutomaOon
Engineer
ü Tool
Specialist
ü Technical
Writer
ü UI
Test
AutomaOon
Expert
ü BDD/TDD
Developer

13. 13
Summary:
Structuring
The
Team
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Mix of System Knowledge & New
Automation Skills Needed
q Up To 50% Experienced Staff Members
q Most New Staff Should Bring Specific Automation Skills
q Relatively Few Junior Developers
q May Need Documentation Specialists
q Expect Some Turnover, Especially Veterans

14. 14
3.
Methodology
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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
*According to VersionOne

15. 15
Choosing
A
Methodology
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Scrum Kanban
Awareness
&
Precedent
Awareness,
Acceptance,
or
OrganizaOonal
Precedent
No
Experience
With
Agile,
or
Previous
NegaOve
Experience
Nature
of
the
Work
Best
for
Development
or
“Disciplined
O&M”
O&M
or
Development
plus
O&M
Stakeholder
Availability
Time-­‐Boxed
IteraOons
provide
Convenient
Planning
Horizon
for
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
cannot
commit
to
fixed
Ome-­‐frames,
or
can
engage
more
frequently
External
Dependencies
Effort
fairly
self-­‐contained,
Cross-­‐FuncOonal
team
Lots
of
dependencies
on
external
teams
Openness
to
Change
Need
or
Want
Clean
Break
from
past:
RevoluOon
EvoluOonary
approach
is
necessary
Team
Preferences
&
Maturity
Ceremonies,
Time-­‐Box
Desirable
Escape
“Tyranny
of
the
Time-­‐
Box,”
Lengthy
Planning
MeeOngs

16. 16
What
If
You
Are
Kind
Of
In
The
Middle?
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2015
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Scrum Kanban
Awareness
&
Precedent
Awareness,
Acceptance,
or
OrganizaOonal
Precedent
No
Experience
With
Agile,
or
Previous
NegaOve
Experience
Nature
of
the
Work
Best
for
Development
or
“Disciplined
O&M”
O&M
or
Development
plus
O&M
Stakeholder
Availability
Time-­‐Boxed
IteraOons
provide
Convenient
Planning
Horizon
for
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
cannot
commit
to
fixed
Ome-­‐frames,
or
can
engage
more
frequently
External
Dependencies
Effort
fairly
self-­‐contained,
Cross-­‐FuncOonal
team
Lots
of
dependencies
on
external
teams
Openness
to
Change
Need
or
Want
Clean
Break
from
past:
RevoluOon
EvoluOonary
approach
is
necessary
Team
Preferences
&
Maturity
Ceremonies,
Time-­‐Box
Desirable
Escape
“Tyranny
of
the
Time-­‐
Box,”
Lengthy
Planning
MeeOngs

17. 17
Consider
Scrumban
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Adopting
Scrum
To
facilitate
adopOon
of
Scrum,
starOng
from
wherever
you
are
right
now
Demand
Analysis,
Workflow
Analysis
Amplifying
Scrum
Help
idenOfy,
implement,
and
measure
improvements
for
an
exisOng
Scrum
team
WIP
limits,
Lead
Time
Metrics
Scaling
Scrum
To
facilitate
inter-­‐team
planning
and
communicaOon
Visualize
and
manage
dependencies
via
Kanban
boards,
PorColio
Kanban
Using the Kanban Method for…

18. 18
How Does Kanban Improve
Scrum?
Service Pack
Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6Month 1
Sprint 1
Product
Backlog
Sprint
Backlog
Release
Backlog
Sprint 2
Sprint 3
Sprint 4
Sprint 5
Sprint 6
Sprint
Backlog Sprint
Backlog Sprint
Backlog Sprint
Backlog Sprint
Backlog
Sprint Planning
System Testing
Government Acceptance Testing
Release
Planning
Retrospective
Change Control Board
18
Change
Control
Board
MeeOng
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19. 19
Challenges
We
Encountered
Using
Scrum
For
Maintenance
Project
Release
Month 2Month 1
Sprint
1
Product
Backlog
Sprint
Backlog
Release
Backlog
Sprint
2
Sprint
Backlog
Change
Control
Board
MeeOng
Influx
of
Expedited
Items
Expectation
q Too Many Work Items
q Recurring Need For Estimates
q Constant Interruptions
Reality
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20. 20
?
(Dark Matter)
Why
Were
We
Always
So
Busy?
Work
Item
Type
Class
Of
Service
Business
User
Story
Standard
Infrastructure
User
Story
Standard
Tier
III
EscalaOon
Expedited
ProducOon
Script
Fixed
Date
Hot
Fix
Expedited
Escaped
Defect
Expedited
DocumentaOon
Deliverable
Fixed
Date
DocumentaOon
Rework
Expedited
Technical
Chore
Intangible
Kanban gives us the analytical tools to understand these
work items better and to see why they have been
disrupting the smooth delivery of value
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21. 21
Summary:
Choosing
A
Methodology
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Pick Best-Fit For Situation
q Learn Both Kanban and Scrum
q Full-Time Coach
q Up-Front Training “Agile Bootcamp”
q Learning Kanban Makes You Better At Scrum

22. 22
4. Technical Debt
90%
10%
Greenfield
60%
40%
Legacy
NegoOate
A
High
Percentage
of
Bandwidth
To
Be
Spent
Paying
Down
Technical
Debt
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23. 23
Focus
On
Test
AutomaOon
Version
Control
Automated
Smoke &
Verification
Tests
Compile
Automated
Unit Tests
Packaging
Automated
Security
Tests
Automated
Performance
Tests
Static
Analysis
Deployment
End
Sprint
DEV
TEST
Begin
Sprint
q Ideally
we
have
full
automated
test
coverage
q We
can
potenOally
ship
at
the
end
of
any
sprint
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24. 24
But Set Aside Extra Time For
Manual Testing
Dev
Sprint
Dev
Sprint
Tech
Sprint
Dev
Sprint
Tech
Sprint
Release
Sprint
PROS
• Faster Technical Debt
Reduction
• Faster Progress Towards
Continuous Delivery
• Additional Testing
• Fewer Regressions
CONS
• Reduced Business Value
Delivery
• Additional Complexity
• Inconsistent Metrics
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2015
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For
our
project,
Technical
Sprints
were
the
“training
wheels”
we
needed
to
maintain
high
quality
in
the
absence
of
test
automaOon.
We
have
since
discarded
them.

25. 25
Summary:
Dealing
With
Technical
Debt
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Maintain High Levels Of Quality In Spite of
Low Initial Automated Test Coverage
q Achieve Agreement On Need For Infrastructure
Investment
q Allocate Additional Time Required For Manual Testing
q Balance Cost of Delay with Cost of Failure
q Testing / Hardening Sprints May Require Whole-Team
Participation
q Remove Barriers To Manual and Automated Testing

26. 26
5. Documentation
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Tradi4onal
Governance
Comprehensive
documentaOon
is
a
criOcal
component
of
so]ware
development
Agile
Working
so]ware
over
comprehensive
documentaOon

27. 27
Recognize
That
DocumentaOon
Requirements
May
Be
Bursty
Sprint
TesOng
DocumentaOon
Procurement
Guidance
Release
Design
&
Technical
DocumentaOon
Sprint
Sprint
Sprint
Sprint
Sprint
TesOng
DocumentaOon
TesOng
DocumentaOon
TesOng
DocumentaOon
TesOng
DocumentaOon
Design
&
Technical
DocumentaOon
Design
&
Technical
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Training
DocumentaOon
Design
&
Technical
DocumentaOon
Design
&
Technical
DocumentaOon
Design
&
Technical
DocumentaOon
Interface
DocumentaOon
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28. 28
Summary:
Dealing
with
DocumentaOon
Requirements
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Maintain High Quality Documentation That Is
Valuable
q Improve Documentation Capabilities
q Plan and Measure the Work
q Reduce Amount of Documentation Required
q Reduce Effort Required to Produce Documentation

29. 29
6. Sprint 0
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1. People
Staffing Reaches Critical Mass (~80%)
2. Hardware
Every Team Member Has An Imaged PC
3. Software
Source Code Manager Installed
4. Initial Product Backlog
Small List of Business and Technical Items
5. Initial Kanban Board
Simple Workflow, One Post-It Per Item

30. 30
Summary:
When
To
Start
IteraOng?
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Don’t Wait: Start Iterating As Soon As
Possible
q Automated Build May Take Extra Time To Setup…
q Automated Testing May Not Be Possible At First…
q Last Few Staffing Slots May Take Time To Fill…
q …But You Will Learn Quickly
q Kanban Workflow Board Will Evolve Rapidly
q Gather Baseline Metrics

31. 31
7. Lifecycle Management Tool
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Tes4ng
Tool
Defect
Tracking
Tool
Requirements
Tool
Traceability
Cross-­‐Reference
Agile
Tool
q One
Tool
Specialist
q Custom
ReporOng
Likely
To
Be
EssenOal

32. 32
Use Manual Kanban Board
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q Workflow
Evolves
Quickly
q Excel
Can
Be
Used
For
Metrics
q Immature
Agile
Tool
May
Be
Burden

33. 33
Summary:
Tool
Chain
Support
For
Agile
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Simplify Tool-Chain & Automate Prudently
q Tool Consolidation May Be Beneficial
q Automated Reports Preferable To Manual Reporting –
But Watch Cost versus Benefit
q Always Start With Manual Kanban Boards
q Capture Metrics In Excel To Start With

34. 34
8. Roadmapping
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Sprint
Sprint
Sprint
Sprint
Sprint
Release
N
Sprint
Installer
Improvement
Automated
Builds
Feature
1
Sprint
Upgrade
.NET
Release
N+1
Sprint
Feature
2
Upgrade
DB
Libraries
Upgrade
GUI
Libraries
Business
Roadmap
Technical
Roadmap

35. 35
Technical Improvements Address
Risks
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Express
Technical
Items
In
Terms
of
The
Business
Risks
They
Mi4gate
Bad
InvesOgate
ArOfactory
Binary
Repository
Migrate
To
EnOty
Framework
Rewrite
Error
Handling
Component
Improve
Config
Mgmt:
Eliminate
Unused
Third
Party
Libraries
ReOre
Obsolete
&
Unsupported
Database
Libraries
Replace
COM
Components
PrevenOng
NaOve
64-­‐Bit
OperaOon
Good

36. 36
Demonstrate Progress On
Technical Items Via Reports
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Release
2015-­‐01

37. 37
Summary:
Maintain
Both
Business
and
Technical
Roadmaps
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Roadmaps Can Help Communicate The Big
Picture
q May Help Replace Gantt Charts and Earned Value
Management
q Avoid Overpromising
q Start With Technical Spike To Determine Feasibility
q Focus on Removing Technical Barriers First
q Older Platforms & Libraries May Not Support Automation
q Platform and Third Party Upgrades Require Significant
Testing

38. 38
9. Automated Tests
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q WriOng
Automated
Tests
For
Legacy
ApplicaOons
Not
Designed
For
Testability
Is
Difficult
q We
Are
Asking
Our
Customer
To
Make
A
Large
Investment
In
AutomaOon
With
Delayed
Return
On
Investment
q We
Need
To
Maximize
Our
Efforts
ü Create
Tests
That
Don’t
Break
When
We
Change
The
GUI
ü Get
The
Whole
Team
Involved
ü Focus
On
Business
Scenarios,
Not
Source
Code
ü Create
Tests
That
Will
Survive
A
Component
Rewrite
ü Create
Tests
That
Support
Traceability
To
Requirements
If only we could..

39. 39
BDD/ATDD To The Rescue
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Given…
When…
Then…
Behavior Driven Development
Acceptance Test
Driven Development
Gherkin

40. 40
Feature
File
BDD
With
SpecFlow
1.
Write
Feature
Step
DefiniOons
2.
Generate
Template
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2015
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Tester
Analyst
3.
Fill
In
Code
Developer

41. 41
The
Agile
RTM
q All system functions expressed as user stories
q All user stories have acceptance criteria
q Each criterion translated to an automated test using structured
English (Gherkin)
q Customized report matches epics and user stories to automated
acceptance tests
q Test fails unless software is implemented correctly
Links
to
Theme
Record
in
TFS
Links
to
Epic
Record
in
TFS
Links
to
User
Story
in
TFS
Links
to
Feature
DocumentaOon
Generated
via
Pickles
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2015
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41

42. 42
Summary:
Focus
On
High-­‐Value
Automated
Tests
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Partners
2015
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467-­‐7394
BDD/ATDD Tools Enable High-Value Tests
q “Three Amigos” Work Together (Analyst, Tester, and
Developer)
q Tests Map Directly To Acceptance Test Criteria
q Code Tags Provide Traceability To Features or User
Stories
q BDD/ATDD Tools Rapidly Maturing
q More Robust, Lower Barrier To Entry Than GUI-Level
Test Tools

43. 43
10. DevOps Automation
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Partners
2015
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Monitor
Smoke
Test
ConOnuous
IntegraOon
Build
Package
Source
Control
Develop
Report
Configure
Build
Scripts
Unit
Test
IntegraOon
Test
Other
Tests
Upload
To
Repo
Deploy
NoOfy
Collaborate
Dev
ITE
Smoke
Tier III
ST 1
ST 2
How To Achieve
Vision of Full
Automation?
Track

44. 44
Automate Each Piece of the
Pipeline: One By One
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Partners
2015
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((646)
467-­‐7394
Manual
Ad-Hoc
Undocumented
Analyzed
Documented
Baselined
Initial
Automation:
Stand-Alone
Script
Improved
Automation:
Build Script adds
Validation
Pre-Conditions
Post-Conditions
Full “Lights Out”
Automation:
Reporting
Diagnostics
This
Step
is
EssenOal

45. 45
Summary:
DevOps
AutomaOon
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Partners
2015
*sales@arielpartners.com
((646)
467-­‐7394
Establishing Continuous Integration &
Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
q DevOps Tools Maturing Rapidly
q Support Varies Widely By Platform (Linux/Unix,
Windows, Mainframe)
q Legacy Projects Typically Have Many Manual &
Undocumented Processes (Folklore)
q Significant Analysis & Problem Solving Skills Required
q Many High-Value Candidates For Automation Are Non-
Obvious
q Avoid Paving the Cow Paths

46. 46
Summary
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Ariel
Partners
2015
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((646)
467-­‐7394
q Legacy Projects Can Realize Benefits By
Adopting Agile Practices
q Practices May Need To Be Modified
q Consider Kanban or Scrumban
q Staff Your Team Thoughtfully
q Manage Stakeholder Expectations
q Balance Cost of Delay with Cost of Failure
q Adopt Systems Thinking Approach To Addressing
Technical Debt
q Reduce Complexity
q There Is No Silver Bullet

47. 47
QuesOons?
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Copyright
Ariel
Partners
2015
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((646)
467-­‐7394
We
are
available
for
consulOng
or
Agile
coaching
We
love
to
compare
notes
and
talk
shop!
Ariel
Partners
(646)
467-­‐7394
sales@arielpartners.com
www.arielpartners.com
@arielpartners
Thank
You!