3 October 2011| Article by Birgitte Agergaard

Article by Birgitte Agergaard, Marketing Consultant, NNIT

Linear or agile development; waterfall or scrum? All project models are fundamentally about successfully reaching the project’s end goal, so what should one choose? The optimal route from A to B is not necessarily linear. Agility is a particular advantage when it concerns complex IT projects. This is simply because development projects typically stretch over a long period of time – and time is a changing force. What was true yesterday is not necessarily valid tomorrow. With a global economy under pressure, it makes sense to exploit methods that prioritise speed and concrete deliverables to provide value here and now. Scrum does this par excellence. 

Less contract and more content. Increased productivity and reduced bureaucracy. This is how one could summarise, in simple terms, the most obvious differences between the scrum and the waterfall as a method. Add to that a focus on dialogue as opposed to meticulously controlled communication, short and dynamic sprints with deliverables and loops with ongoing experience-gathering - and the contours of a scrum begin to take shape as an outright break with the waterfall's linear progression.

Speed and change have become conditions and, as a result, the ability to readjust quickly has become paramount. This also applies to IT development projects. A project is conceptualised based on an expectation that it will help drive the business and improve it. And since the market and economy can change at the drop of a hat, long development projects no longer make sense. Because before the project has been completed, the world is a different place and the solution risks becoming outdated and therefore fails to deliver the anticipated value. More and more companies therefore choose to take the actual situation as their starting point and increase the pace from requirement to solution.  This is more or less the world view that scrum followers subscribe to.

“The world is constantly changing and a project that starts with a nine-month analysis phase risks becoming outdated even before it really gets going. Scrum breaks the project down into smaller parts in which analyses, development and tests are ongoing.  The idea is to enable the product to enter production at short notice, should the client require this,” explains Lars Kanstrup, who is an architect and part of NNIT's scrum team, which is currently working on a solution for jobnet.dk.

Value from the first sprint
Traditionally, the specification requirements describe the scope of the deliverables in minute detail; then the development phase starts working its way through the predetermined tasks; and then the solution is typically handed over and implemented after several months. Scrum starts without a finalised requirements specification, and the development, testing and delivery are ongoing. The client is involved throughout and prioritises which deliverables they receive next time.  Among other things, the advantage of this is that the solution - or aspects thereof - is implemented far quicker. “There is no doubt that commissioning a project based on scrum requires more of the client. Success is largely dependent on client involvement – but then you also get a solution that creates business value from the first sprint.”

Structure and transparency
In scrum there is no project manager delegating tasks. The scrum team is self-reliant, and although there is a certain collectivity about scrum as a method, this type of project is far from anarchistic. On the contrary, scrum demands discipline and is completely controlled by structure. It also requires each team member to take full responsibility in order for the project to work.
“Many envisage losing control of the project when it follows the scrum framework. But that is not the case,” explains Jon Bille, who is an architect working with scrum. “Scrum increases transparency in relation to the project status, and the constant prioritisations and reprioritisations ensure the project keeps moving in the chosen direction - which actually enables you to achieve greater control with scrum. But it definitely represents a different way of running a project if you are used to working with the waterfall method, and this can take some getting used to,” says Jon Bille.
Lars Kanstrup adds: “In scrum the focus is on communication. The project status is gone through during short daily meetings called DailyScrum, where each individual reports on what they have done and the team plans what needs to happen today. This provides a brilliant overview and problem areas are identified immediately.”

NNIT and agile project management
“One of NNIT's great ideas is to help each client meet their needs - also even if it differentiates from what the client originally wanted and as described in the requirement specifications. If we deliver what the requirements specification says, the client has received what she asked for. Period. But this is not necessarily the same as what she needs – and sometimes this only comes to light along the way and adjustments then need to be made. Agile project management and feedback loops have therefore always been part of NNIT's approach - simply because, in our experience, a complete and exhaustive requirements specification can be an illusion.  Being dedicated to the scrum method is actually only about learning from this experience,” says Jon Bille.

Scrum is also suitable for regulated industries
“When the starting point has not been set in stone, trust becomes a fundamental aspect of the partnership. The client is the one who takes the risk and who therefore looks for a trustworthy partner who has already proven capable of delivering quality systems and who has the necessary internal setup and resources,” says Jon Bille, continuing: “By virtue of our history as a supplier of complex services to the regulated industries, we have a headstart in relation to many other IT and consultancy firms. Put simply, we have unique experience in delivering business-critical IT systems to regulated industries. And although scrum is primarily about delivering content - and less about documentation - the method can be customised to suit to documentation and approval requirements applicable to industries, such as life sciences and finance.”

Scrum delivers results
NNIT is experiencing that an increasing number of bidding rounds involve clients demanding that projects are to be completed according to the scrum method.  NNIT undoubtedly supports the development of more agile methods; but there are also challenges associated with methods such as scrum. In the first place, they demand a great deal of both developers and the recipient organisation; and getting scrum to work for offshoring requires additional effort.
But scrum is definitely here to stay at NNIT: “We have now worked exclusively with scrum over a period of time and can see the results. In essence, we believe in scrum because it corresponds with what our clients need,” explains Lars Kanstrup. “And with scrum, time is spent on the content as opposed to the contract,” adds Jon Bille. “And the content is after all what creates the business value.”

Core scrum concepts
• ProductOwner
The client owns the project and is, as such, responsible for the prioritisation. The client must accept delivery
• DailyScrum
The daily status meeting in which team members advise each other of their progress and tasks are assigned
• Sprint
A set period of 14 days in which a series of defined tasks (user stories) are to be developed and tested
• ScrumMaster
Leads the daily scrum and is the team's contact person with management. The ScrumMaster solves the problems that prevent the team from reaching their goal for the specific sprint.
• Backlog
A prioritised list of desired functionality. When a sprint is initiated, work starts from the top of the list. The list is prioritised by the product owner on an ongoing basis.
• Burndown chart
A visual representation of the sprint's development, enabling the progress of completed tasks to be tracked in relation to the time remaining

Learn more about agile development
If you would like to learn more about how NNIT applies scrum and agile development, you are welcome to contact Claus Toxværd Østergaard by clicking here or by calling +45 3079 2994.