Scaling Agile using Scaled Agile Framework

100 Pages·2017·10.95 MB·English

Eindhoven University of Technology
MASTER
Scaling agile using scaled agile framework
Stojanov, I.
Award date:
2015
Link to publication
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Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences

Scaling Agile using Scaled Agile
Framework

Master Thesis

Igor Stojanov

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Business Information Systems

Supervisors:
dr. O. (Oktay) Türetken
dr.ir. J.J.M. (Jos) Trienekens
Frederik Kooistra (Phillips)
Martine Vleeshouwers (Philips)

Version 1.0

Eindhoven, August 2014
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Abstract

Nowadays IT organizations are facing dynamic business environment. This dynamicity demands from
organizations to deliver software at much faster pace and be more tolerable to changing requirements
during the project development cycle. The agile software development, as an iterative and incremental
approach for software development, has emerged as an alternative to the traditional development
methodologies to address these challenges. Among the several different agile methods is the Scaled Agile
Framework (SAFe) which arose in the past decade. SAFe is a novel framework for implementing agile
practices at enterprise scale. The focus of SAFe is to highlight the roles, activities and artifacts
necessary to scale agile to teams, programs and enterprises. This Master Thesis provides in-depth
investigation on the benefits of adopting practices from the Scaled Agile Framework. Furthermore, due
to lack of an appropriate implementation strategy for SAFe, an evolutionary implementation strategy is
proposed based on existing software process improvement and maturity model.

Keywords: Agile; Agile Adoption, Scaled Agile Framework, SAFe, Benefits

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Dedication
To the loving memory of my father.
To my mother, who sacrificed all to set me on the right path in life.
I owe every bit of my existence to you both.

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost I would like to thank my parents for all their support and guidance throughout my
life. I am grateful for their patience, love and attention without which I would have never reached this
point in my life.

I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Türetken, Dr. Trienekens, Frederik Kooistra and Martine
Vleeshouwers for their advice, professionalism and guidance during my master thesis project. Their
dedication, kindness and assistance were vital for the completion of my thesis work.

During my graduate internship I was also fortunate to work at Philips with the management team of
Martine Vleeshouwers. They made my internship at Philips a positive and fun place to do research and
study. These are: Peter Voetman, Henk Mooijweer, Zsuzsanna Rozsahegyi, Maria Lara, Wim Welberg,
Skelte Bergsma, Abirami Ganesan, Leendert van Achteren, Fred Jacobs, Gareth Mulligan, Andriy
Paliychuk, Rohit Gupta.

I would also want to extend my gratitude to my close friends and relatives. I am especially thankful for
the support and assistance of my fellow graduate students. These are: Juby Joseph, Ekaterina
Sabelnikova, Kostas Traganos, Goppy Gustaman. Those who I forgot to mention, please forgive me.

Last by not least I am thankful to the department of Mathematics and Computer Science at TU/e and
the faculty for their contribution to my learning experience.

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Contents
Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Dedication .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... 5
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. 9
List of Tables.............................................................................................................................................. 10
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................. 11
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 12
1.1. Problem description ..................................................................................................................... 13
1.2. Research questions ....................................................................................................................... 14
1.3. Structure ...................................................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 2 ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
2. Background........................................................................................................................................... 17
2.1. Traditional waterfall model ......................................................................................................... 17
2.2. Agile methodologies ..................................................................................................................... 18
2.3. Comparison of waterfall and agile methodologies ....................................................................... 18
2.4. Scrum ........................................................................................................................................... 19
2.5. Extreme programming (XP) ............................................................................................. 20
2.6. Lean software development ......................................................................................................... 21
2.7. Product development flow ........................................................................................................... 21
2.8. Agile enterprise big picture ......................................................................................................... 22
2.8.1. Team level ........................................................................................................................... 23
2.8.2. Program level ....................................................................................................................... 23
2.8.3. Portfolio level....................................................................................................................... 23
Chapter 3 ...................................................................................................................................................... 25
3. Research Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 25
3.1. Research approach ....................................................................................................................... 26
3.2. Data collection and analysis ........................................................................................................ 27
Chapter 4 ...................................................................................................................................................... 29
4. Implementation strategy for SAFe .......................................................................................................... 29
4.1. Proposed implementation strategy .............................................................................................. 30
4.1.1. IDEAL model....................................................................................................................... 31
4.1.2. Barriers and risks to agile adoption .................................................................................... 34
4.2. SAFe maturity model .................................................................................................................. 37
4.2.1. Sidky agile measurement index (SAMI) ............................................................................. 38
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4.2.2. Developing the SAFe maturity model ................................................................................ 40
4.2.1. Development of SAFe maturity model with Delphi study ................................................. 43
4.2.2. Panel of experts ................................................................................................................... 43
4.2.3. Results ................................................................................................................................. 45
Chapter 5 ...................................................................................................................................................... 48
5. Case study ............................................................................................................................................ 48
5.1. Introduction of case company (Royal Philips) .......................................................... 48
5.1.1. Brief description .................................................................................................................. 48
5.1.2. Transformation of Philips ................................................................................................... 49
5.1.3. Adoption of SAFe at Philips ............................................................................................... 50
5.2. Related case studies ............................................................................................................. 51
5.3. Time-to-market ............................................................................................................................ 52
5.4. Predictability ............................................................................................................................... 54
5.4.1. Velocity reliability ............................................................................................................... 55
5.4.2. Cost predictability ............................................................................................................... 55
5.5. Customer satisfaction .................................................................................................................. 57
5.6. Quality ......................................................................................................................................... 57
Chapter 6 ...................................................................................................................................................... 59
6. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 59
6.1. Research conclusions .................................................................................................................... 59
6.2. Validity and reliability ................................................................................................................ 60
6.3. Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 60
6.4. Future research ............................................................................................................................ 61
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 63
Appendix A. Graphs and tables ................................................................................................................... 67
Appendix B. Agile Manifesto principles [3] ................................................................................................. 71
Appendix C. SAMI populated with agile practices (adapted from [28]) .................................................... 72
Appendix D. Description of SAFe maturity model practices ..................................................................... 74
Appendix E. Indicators per level ................................................................................................................. 81
Appendix F. Delphi study questions and responses .................................................................................... 92

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List of Figures
Figure 1. Waterfall model .............................................................................................................. 17
Figure 2. SCRUM sprint cycle ....................................................................................................... 20
Figure 3. Enterprise Big Picture v 2.5 ........................................................................................... 22
Figure 4. Research methodology .................................................................................................... 27
Figure 5. SAFe implementation strategy ....................................................................................... 29
Figure 6. IDEAL model .................................................................................................................. 31
Figure 7. Components in SAMI Adapted from [28] (Indicators not shown) ................................ 38
Figure 8. Delphi method structure ................................................................................................. 43
Figure 9. Characteristics of the panel of experts ........................................................................... 44
Figure 10. Results from evaluation of Maturity Model ................................................................. 45
Figure 11. Scatterplot of time to market projects (in days) ......................................................... 52
Figure 12. Scatterplot of delayed projects (in days) ..................................................................... 54
Figure 13. Average velocity of team/sprint ................................................................................... 55
Figure 14. Velocity of teams/sprint ............................................................................................... 55
Figure 15. Box plot representation of cost predictability.............................................................. 56
Figure 16. Bar chart customer satisfaction .................................................................................... 57
Figure 17. Pie chart customer satisfaction .................................................................................... 57
Figure 18. Scatterplot of defect density ......................................................................................... 58

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List of Tables
Table 1. Comparison of Traditional and agilemethodologies (adapted from [23]) ....................... 19
Table 2. Agile levels in SAMI ........................................................................................................ 39
Table 3. SAFe maturity model ...................................................................................................... 47
Table 4. Time to market statistics in days .................................................................................... 53
Table 5. Delayed project statistics (in days) ................................................................................. 54
Table 6. Cost predictability statistics (in EAC/planned cost) ..................................................... 56
Table 7. Defect rate statistics ........................................................................................................ 58

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