On May 10th and 11th in 2016, the Association for Enterprise Information hosted the fifth annual Agile in Government Summit in Washington, DC. The Summit was designed to provide information to those working in Government agencies and programs as they work to incorporate Agile principles and methods in an environment where prescribed oversight and governance acquisition processes challenge Agile’s use. As with all conferences, the event also focused on connecting attendees with experts, leaders, and peers to discuss their Agile challenges and share ideas and best practices.
Blueprint is proud to have been a Bronze Partner at the event. After two full days of sessions and networking events, here are four themes that emerged from the Agile in Government Summit 2016:
Theme 1: Not surprisingly, major challenges to Agile adoption exist.
As you would expect, people working in Government agencies and programs struggle to make Agile work for them. They face many challenges, particularly related to contracting, contract management, progress reporting, design reviews, and Earned Value Management. They don’t know how to accommodate requirements change, because they’re used to big up-front planning and lengthy cycles. They need to balance Agile with traceability and impact analysis, while improving velocity, quality, and transparency. They know Agile isn’t the answer for everything, but their old, waterfall approaches aren’t working.
Two key resources are helping Government staff meet the challenge of Agile adoption head-on:
- The U.S. Digital Services Playbook is a document with 13 key “plays” drawn from successful practices of other organizations to help Government build effective digital services.
- The TechFAR Handbook is a handbook highlighting flexibilities in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to help agencies implement the plays in the Digital Services Playbook, particularly related to contractor acquisition.
Theme 2: Government agencies and programs are evolving every aspect of delivery.
The conference sessions at the Agile in Government Summit 2016 addressed how to incorporate Agile best practices into nearly all phases of the software delivery lifecycle, including:
- A session on “Agile” contracting that highlighted the challenges of contracting when requirements aren’t known up-front and how the TechFAR Handbook offers guidance.
- A session on testing in Agile that described the differences between traditional and Agile testing practices and covered Agile test planning, metrics, and the definition of “done.”
- A session on Agile project and program management that addressed the challenges of governance and tradition to Agile adoption in the Government and offered advice on moving to a more Agile planning framework.
Theme 3: There are success stories.
Despite the challenges, progress is being made. Two examples:
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has adopted Agile techniques for program management, enabling it to make the best use of Federal resources. It has applied Agile to deploy new processes and management tools, which allows its staff to make data-driven, risk-informed investment decisions. NNSA has used Agile best practices to improve management of its enterprise infrastructure portfolio. And it has created a standardized, repeatable, transparent process and common vocabulary to improve cross-stakeholder communication.
The Army’s Reserve Component Automation Systems (RCAS) successfully transitioned to an Agile Scrum software development methodology, creating the RCAS Agile Solution Factory (ASF). The RCAS ASF sustains a suite of integrated, web-based software solutions that provide efficient software enhancements to manage mobilization, safety, personnel, and force authorization requirements. It has also begun using Story Point Analysis (SPA) to measure the productivity, capacity, and efficiency of the RCAS ASF. After 20 months, it has seen a 26% increase in productivity/capacity, a 44% increase in efficiency, and a 39% decrease in staff size.
Theme 4: DevOps in Government is a hot topic.
DevOps is a movement or practice that emphasizes a higher level of communication and collaboration between development teams – those that develop technology solutions – and operations teams – those that support and maintain it. It’s a here-and-now best practice, and the Government is embracing it. It was the topic of two sessions and a keynote presentation by Gene Kim, who advised that the business value of DevOps is higher than he thought and pointed out that it’s good for both Dev and Ops groups. He recommended that those interested in DevOps watch Mark Schwartz’s presentation at the 2014 DevOps Enterprise Summit.
These themes highlight only a portion of the valuable information shared at the Agile in Government Summit 2016. You can view the presentations online to learn more.
For more information on how Blueprint is helping Government agencies and programs transition to Agile effectively, please contact us today.
To learn more about Blueprint’s capabilities within the Government sector, click here to find more detailed information on who and how we help.
