Scaled Agile Maturity Model

140 Pages·2016·2.93 MB·English

by  Revathi Mangalrevu Chandrasekaran

Scaled Agile Maturity Model

MSc Thesis Revathi M Chandrasekaran

August 2016
Scaled Agile maturity model

Thesis submitted to
Delft University of Technology

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE

In System Engineering Policy Analysis and Management
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management

By
Revathi M Chandrasekaran
Student Number: 4385276
COHORT: 2014-2016
Date: 17th August, 2016

Graduation Committee
Chair: Prof.Dr.Ir. Marijn Janssen, TU Delft
First Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Drs. Jolien Ubacht, TU Delft
Second Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Martijn Warnier, TU Delft
External Supervisors: Ms. Yasmina Beithia, Mr. Pascal Kersic, TomTom Group, The
Netherlands.
This page intentionally left blank
Preface

This thesis report written in the period of March-August 2016 is the final facet of my master studies
and concludes my MSc education in System Engineering Policy Analysis and Management at the
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft. It has been a challenging period of
extensive learning not only in the academic arena, but also on a personal level. I would like to take this
opportunity and thank all those who have supported my research in different occasions and made my
research experience cherish forever.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my first supervisor Jolien Ubacht who helped me in
shaping my ideas towards a clear goal. Starting point of the thesis represented a challenging situation
when the scope was unclear with a broad research context. She believed in my ideas and provided
flexibility in building up the research according to my interests. Her approach towards partnering in
learning and open mindset towards all perspectives demonstrated her perfect role as a coach.
Furthermore, I am grateful to my chair, Professor Marijn Janssen and Second supervisor Martijn
Warnier for their constructive feedbacks and support during our meetings. And I would like to show
my appreciation to entire academic group of TU Delft in helping me achieve great heights.

I would also like to show my deepest gratitude to my TomTom mentors Pascal Kersic and Yasmina
Beithia in demonstrating a positive attitude and taking personal interests towards my work, during my
internship period. Even before the start of internship, they extended constant support and guidance
in analyzing the problem and research context. They constantly appreciated my ongoing effort and
empowered me through constructive feedback and reinforcement. They extended willingness to go
out of their comfort zone in different occasions, in spite of their busy schedules. This research would
have not been possible without their support. I have had many chances to work in closer collaboration
with Pascal, who acted as a positive role model in demonstrating specific behaviors and actions
required, to be successful in the professional world.

I would like to thank the experts who helped me in giving constructive inputs during the interview
and expert evaluation phase which was extremely helpful in finalizing my design. I would also like to
thank the rest of my TomTom colleagues who made my stay in Drive team such a pleasant experience.

Finally, my deepest thanks must to be my family and friends who supported me with confidence and
motivation in the most crucial moments of the journey. Saving the most important to the last, I wish
to give my heartfelt thanks to my beloved husband, whose continual support in my academic
endeavors helped me to complete this thesis.

Revathi M Chandrasekaran
August 2016
ABSTRACT

In today’s world agile software development has been embraced more and more in
software service industry. Though the agile practices have gained widespread popularity
in the recent years, there are quite a number of concerns in scaling the agile practices
from team level to the entire enterprise. Few frameworks such as Scaled Agile
Framework (SAFe, Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) and Large Scale Scrum (LeSS)
have been developed to address these concerns in scaling agile practices. Although these
frameworks provide a template in scaling agile in large enterprises, currently there is a
lack of a holistic method which would help them in implementing scaled agile practices
or adapting to scaled agile software development. Before or after adopting such a
framework, organizations require a structured model for assessing the level of
completeness of adoption or find areas of improvements in the scaled agile practices,
which would also help them in developing a roadmap for further progress and
initiatives.

This research offer guidance for the IT organizations towards scaled agile software
development by providing a maturity model. This maturity model is composed of six
stages as rows and five scaled agile principles in columns, in which each stage and
column forms a matrix of scaled agile practices. Each of the practices consists of
indicators which help in assessing the level of adoption of the practices. Once having
identified the lacking criteria in the adoption of scaled agile practices, organizations can
start focusing on the lacking criteria and other areas of improvement. The research also
strongly suggests the collaborative spirit in adaptation of scaled agile practices, by using
this model as a discussion tool in the team, program and portfolio levels of scaled agile
environment. Future research in this arena would aim at researching on the dynamics
of emergence on scaled agile practices and the notion of such an emergence on
multitude of stakeholders involved in a scaled agile process.

Key words: Scaled agile framework, Agile software development, Maturity model, Scaled agile practices,
ambidexterity.
i
This page intentionally left blank

ii
Table of Contents

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... i
List of tables..................................................................................................................................... 7
List of figures ................................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 10
1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10
1.2 Research context – Scaled agile software development.......................................................... 10
1.3 Problem at stake ................................................................................................................... 11
1.4 Study relevance ..................................................................................................................... 12
1.4.1 Societal relevance............................................................................................................ 12
1.4.2 Scientific relevance ......................................................................................................... 13
1.5 Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 13
1.5.1 Main research question ................................................................................................... 13
1.5.2 Sub research questions.................................................................................................... 13
1.6 Thesis outline and research planning..................................................................................... 15
1.7 Delineations.......................................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 2 Agile and scaled agile software development .................................................................. 19
2.1 Literature review method ...................................................................................................... 19
2.2 Agile software development .................................................................................................. 19
2.2.1 Software development .................................................................................................... 20
2.2.2 Need for agile software development.............................................................................. 20
2.2.3 Agile principles and values .............................................................................................. 23
2.2.4 Scrum process ................................................................................................................ 24
2.2.5 Need for scaled agile methodologies ............................................................................... 26
2.3 Scaled agile methodologies.................................................................................................... 26
2.3.1 Scaling software development......................................................................................... 27
2.3.2 Scaled agile software development .................................................................................. 27
2.3.3 Scaled agile principles and core values ............................................................................ 33
2.4 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 34
3
Chapter 3 Maturity models of agile software development ............................................................. 36
3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 36
3.2 Maturity model ..................................................................................................................... 36
3.2.1 Definition and concepts ................................................................................................. 36
3.2.2 Selection criteria ............................................................................................................. 38
3.3 Exploration on maturity models ........................................................................................... 38
3.3.1 Capability maturity model integration for development (CMMI-DEV)........................... 38
3.3.2 Agile maturity model (AMM).......................................................................................... 40
3.3.3 ISO/IEC 15504 – SPICE ............................................................................................... 43
3.3.4 Scrum Maturity model .................................................................................................... 44
3.3.5 Agile adoption framework .............................................................................................. 45
3.3.6 Robert Benefield’s model................................................................................................ 46
3.4 Characteristics of agile maturity models ................................................................................ 49
3.5 Requirements of scaled agile maturity model......................................................................... 51
3.5 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 52
Chapter 4 Design and Development of Scaled agile maturity model ............................................... 54
4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 54
4.2 Translation of requirements into the model .......................................................................... 54
4.3 Design pattern of the model ................................................................................................. 55
4.3.1 Stages of the maturity models ......................................................................................... 57
4.3.2 Agile/Scaled agile principles ........................................................................................... 61
4.3.3 Agile and Scaled agile practices ....................................................................................... 66
4.2.4 Initial design of Scaled agile maturity model ................................................................... 76
4.2.6 Participatory observation ................................................................................................ 77
4.2.6 Assessment criteria ......................................................................................................... 81
4.3 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 81
Chapter 5 Evaluation of the scaled agile maturity model ................................................................ 83
5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 83
5.2 Evaluation approach ............................................................................................................. 83
5.2.1 Type of evaluation used in expert interviews................................................................... 83
5.2.2 Expert selection method ................................................................................................. 84
4
5.2.3 Evaluation procedure ..................................................................................................... 85
5.3 Evaluation results ................................................................................................................. 86
5.4 Adaptation of the scaled agile maturity model ....................................................................... 90
5.4.1 Structural adaptations ..................................................................................................... 90
5.4.2 Model adaptations .......................................................................................................... 91
5.4.3 Assessment criteria ......................................................................................................... 94
Chapter 6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 98
6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 98
6.2 Main findings ........................................................................................................................ 98
6.5 Scientific relevance.............................................................................................................. 108
6.6 Societal relevance ................................................................................................................ 109
6.7 Limitations.......................................................................................................................... 109
6.8 Recommendations for future research ................................................................................ 110
6.6 Reflection ........................................................................................................................... 111
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 116
Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................. 120
Interview structure for expert evaluation .................................................................................. 120
Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................. 121
Appendix 3: Scientific article ........................................................................................................ 127
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 128
2. Related work ............................................................................................................................ 128
2.1 concepts of maturity model................................................................................................. 128
2.2 Agile maturity models ......................................................................................................... 129
3 Issues of current maturity models.............................................................................................. 131
4 Empirical study ......................................................................................................................... 131
4.1 Participatory observation .................................................................................................... 132
5 Characteristics of scaled agile maturity model ............................................................................ 132
5.1 Potential performance perspective ...................................................................................... 132
5.2 Ambidextrous nature .......................................................................................................... 133
5.3 Underlying notion on maturity ............................................................................................ 133
5.3.1 Adherence to a process................................................................................................. 133
5
5.3.2 Emphasis on people ..................................................................................................... 133
5.3.3 Emphasis on project ..................................................................................................... 133
6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 133
References.................................................................................................................................... 134

6