“We deliver projects in 12+ months. How do we lean out the process to deliver quarterly?”

A client wanted to improve the collection of customer requests. There were about 15 request types including report requests, setting up a new item, item changes, putting an item on-hold, and more. Within 3 months, the new, automated request process was launched. That initial release included customized data collection for a handful of requests while the others were launched with generic data collection and ability to add comments and upload files. Agile brings different decomposition methods and practices to help deliver software faster.

“How do I do agile when my projects interact with traditional applications following waterfall?”

A client had a user self-service application that interacted with several waterfall-based applications, including an Oracle ERP system. The team focused on the XML data definition that would be the basis for communication. The early, basic spec allowed the teams (producer, consumer) to work independently. The agile team was able to provide feedback on the spec sooner against working software. The agile working software was then used to help the waterfall development cycle – ready for unit & integration testing. While the teams worked at different paces, there are points of intersection that can be leveraged successfully.

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“How can I learn more about agile?”

We offer a 2-day training course to expose participants to Agile. The course includes agile concepts, exercises, concrete examples, and a walk through of the life of an Agile project.

It is offered with an Agile engagement or ad hoc. The class can be hosted at the client facility or by Cohesion. Cohesion can also provide one hour lunch and learn sessions to cover specific areas of concern such as Test Driven Development, Metrics, Stories, etc.

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“How can I develop applications quicker, on-budget, and improve our ability to meet product needs?”

A client in the finance industry had a 10-year old application that wasn’t scalable anymore. Any change was a large investment that didn’t pass cost-benefit analysis. An embedded Cohesion coach led a team of 40 people to move the application to newer technologies, modern infrastructure, and better usability. The new application launched within 6 months with a core set of features. Every 3 months additional features were launched. The original features were migrated within 18 months. Along the way, new requirements and features were also introduced as the need was seen.

“My software department is not perceived as delivering sufficient value”

At a marketing/retail client, two business units did not have a good history of working together – trust issues. The transparent aspects of Agile became a bridge towards trust. The Agile team was able to take concepts to reality within a month. The customer was part of the daily process versus a consumer at the tail end – not large paper documents to review, not continual 80% complete statuses.

The relationship between the groups increased to extend to expanding the product and creating a new one together.

“I have a troubled project. How can I get it moving and back on track?”

A client had a project that was 3 months late (on a 6-month schedule) and over-budget. Blame was being thrown around on requirement clarity, development progress & quality, and project management not able to coordinate & deliver.

An Agile coach helped reorganize the work into a Backlog that can be inspected, with bi-weekly working software as the milestone – verifiable, touchable. The delivery date was flexible so the team made baby steps towards Agile, introducing core concepts to turn the project around, but not the time investment to fully adopt Agile. The first release was delivered within 4 months. To continue progress, the team was then trained on Agile practices and expanded its use.

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