i3Huddle

A software factory's on-board instruments explained

12 January 2017

software factory
agile development
DevOps

Let us think for a moment and compare the development of a new application with a flight from an airport to a destination. The project team is ready to act as your crew to ensure your flight is as pleasant as possible. The crew includes the developer, functional analyst and all the other staff in and outside Realdolmen. The Realdolmen DevOps Factory Manager is in the control tower to manage the project. The passengers are the users.

Without the airline, passengers will not book the flight and the aircraft will operate at a loss. Without the air traffic controller in the control tower, the aircraft may be able to take off, but will soon crash into other aircraft in the sky. Without the pilot, the aircraft will never get to its destination. All profiles must work together to make the flight successful.

An idea evolves into a successful application in the same way in a software factory such as the Realdolmen DevOps Factory, with everyone working together to achieve the same goal.
Using a software factory as a development method brings people and tools together: all team members of your company – the customer – and team members of the Realdolmen partners and nearshore staff. As a customer, you are an equal part of a single team. Close cooperation within this team reduces any errors as the dream is converted into a solution, with constant adjustments during the development process. It also ensures applications are delivered faster.

However, this close cooperation does not exclude each team member's individuality. To the air traffic controller, a departing aircraft is a dot on a radar screen. To the pilot, the aircraft is his "big iron bird". Similarly, the planner, the analyst, the project manager and the developer each look at the same basic data in their own way from their own position in the process leading to new software.
To make this process a success, good communication and integration tools are essential. We will list some of the key instruments of the Realdolmen DevOps Factory that will guide you during your next flight.

How do you have progress meetings and/or task meetings with all members of the project team?

The task board with colored sticky notes is a well-known image in agile software development. Team software in combination with devices such as the i3Huddle take this method into the digital era. Gather your team members around the board either physically or virtually, discuss the planning and use your fingers to move data on the board. The touch screen is mainly for the people on site of course, but the others can also see the task board and make changes during the conference call.

How do you develop functionality together?

If you want to discuss the project in a small group without any disruption, the Realdomen DevOps Factory in Ghent can make available so-called "engines". These are seating areas for two to four persons, which of course include a videoconference screen to involve other team members, partners or you – the customer – on location. All data on the digital task board are also available and editable with this tool.

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How do you arrange ad hoc communication with team members in other locations?

The Realdolmen DevOps Factory uses a number of nearshore experts. Because cooperation is a key concept in agile software, the team members have the opportunity to be connected with each other permanently live. The big screen for "permanent presence" in Ghent shows you live images of the nearshore colleagues, for example. They in turn also see the team members in Ghent. They can even see them enter the office.

This makes going to see someone virtually to ask a question the most natural thing in the world in location-independent projects.

How do you keep analyses up-to-date?

In a cost-efficient way!

Once an application is in full development, all team members are hard at work in their own "cockpits" with their own tools (TFS, IntelliJ, Sparx Enterprise Architect and MS Project to name just a few popular ones). However, it is important to ensure that the basic information on the project and progress is the same for everyone. This is guaranteed by the integration within the toolset: because the data from different tools are integrated with each other, all information about the application you develop will evolve with the project and will always be up-to-date and accessible to all persons in their cockpit.

What about project management and dashboard?

Needless to say that project management and KPIs are also important. There is an integrated view of the budget, scope, planning and quality for every project. The dashboard allows you to monitor KPIs, availability (in development, test and production) and performance.

In the Realdolmen DevOps Factory this is self-evident, but we would still like to emphasize that every tool and every view is also visible to you, the customer, as you are an equal member of the project team.

Also: even though the world around us is quickly becoming more and more digitized, this does not mean we should throw face-to-face contact overboard. The Realdolmen DevOps Factory in Ghent certainly invites you to come and be part of a project team on site.

If you want to realize a certain idea, or if you would like more information on the Realdolmen DevOps Factory, do not hesitate to contact  Realdolmen DevOps Factory Manager Roel De Cuyper at roel.decuyper@realdolmen.com.

To find out more about Realdolmen DevOps Factory, read the blogposts published previously:

Reducing your time-to-market: R Project (DevOps) Factory, your ideas incubator

From C-level digital (il)literacy to digital maturity

Cooperation that really works

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