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When XP Met Outsourcing

S a l l y. H a r r y. When XP Met Outsourcing. We used two interpretative in-depth case studies We obtained multiple perspectives, both from the customer and the developers We used semi-structured one-on-one interviews to collect the data

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When XP Met Outsourcing

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  1. S a l l y H a r r y When XP Met Outsourcing

  2. We used two interpretative in-depth case studies • We obtained multiple perspectives, both from the customer and the developers • We used semi-structured one-on-one interviews to collect the data • We validated our raw data and our interpreted findings with each interviewee • We use a number of quotes from the interview to illustrate our findings Method When XP Met Outsourcing Martin, Biddle & Noble Slide 2

  3. We explored one successful outsourced XP project • Intranet content management (CMS) system, tried previously and failed • Three organisations were involved: • KiwiCorp - client • DevCorp - development vendor • BureauCorp - infrastructure vendor • An enthusiastic development team, of the recommended size, with no prior XP experience • Non-standard XP implementation, an up-front requirements phase occurred prior to the decision to use XP Project Endeavour When XP Met Outsourcing Martin, Biddle & Noble Slide 3

  4. The impact of the contract structure • Changes the working relationship between the organisations: • “If we were working on a FP per iteration … I would have had to have been a lot harder on the client” • Project Manager, DevCorp • The vendor needs to add an overhead in fixed price contracts to ensure they do not make a loss • The impact of multiple organisations • Organisational inter-relationships are complex • Vendor management consumes a significant portion of the XP Customer’s role: • “All of these issues were taking about half of my time” • Customer, KiwiCorp Project Endeavour When XP Met Outsourcing Martin, Biddle & Noble Slide 4

  5. We explored one ‘failed’ outsourced XP project • Three organisations were involved: • FalconCorp - product development company • RCCorp – client company • ManageCorp – RCCorp’s outsourced IS function • The product was to meet RCCorp’s specific needs + be resold as part of FalconCorp’s product suite • An aggressive fixed price project: • “Everyone … said it was doomed for failure … [but] … we were going to make it work anyway” • Customer Proxy, FalconCorp • Delivered software and entered “bug-fixing” mode … six months later decided to re-start the project Project Pinta When XP Met Outsourcing Martin, Biddle & Noble Slide 5

  6. The importance of a defined scope • Up-front requirements addresses scope creep issues in Fixed Price type contracts: • “… with a contract … you have very little wiggle room … to shift that and change that and so XP finds itself significantly hampered and you have to start shifting it towards waterfall” • Development Coach, FalconCorp • The impact of the Winner’s Curse • Winning vendor over-estimates value of project and then needs to introduce cost-cutting measures • The end-result is a loss situation for all parties: • “We didn’t want to raise questions that would lead to gaps in the requirements we would be responsible for … and so we built [it] without asking questions” • Customer Proxy, FalconCorp Project Pinta When XP Met Outsourcing Martin, Biddle & Noble Slide 6

  7. We need to ensure that agile methods work in outsourcing environments • Agile does not protect from all project issues, developers who encounter the Winner’s Curse should consider what they want from an agile process • Involvement of multiple organisations requires the accommodation of multiple cultures and processes • Outsourcing, even in successful projects, presents a challenge in interpreting the XP Customer Role • For XP to “embrace change” an organisational and contractual context is needed that allows change to be embraced without penalty Conclusions When XP Met Outsourcing Martin, Biddle & Noble Slide 7

  8. S a l l y Angela Martin H a r r y Robert Biddle James Noble When XP Met Outsourcing

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