Summary

Effective Agile allows your team to move quickly and with confidence to evolve your business needs in short iterations. Configuration Management (CM) provides the smooth road and controls needed to move and maintain such a fast pace. The key is finding the right balance between Agile and CM, allowing you to stay on track whilst maintaining high velocity.Many professionals find the alignment of CM and Agile a challenge, however adaptive CM for Agile should not mean throwing out the CM principles of identification, control, audit and report. Nor does it mean ignoring Agile values. Instead it means providing the best integration through rigorous yet lean CM practices that provide Agile projects with the sticky surface needed to keep it on track and with the integrity the customer expects. The question is how do we do this?Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams provides very tangible approaches on how Configuration Management with its practices and infrastructure can be adapted and managed in order to directly benefit agile teams. Written by Mario E. Moreira, author of Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap, columnist for CM Crossroads online community and writer for the Agile Journal, this unique book provides concrete guidance on tailoring CM for Agile projects without sacrificing the principles of Configuration Management. When done properly, CM provides the lean and evolving structure needed for Agile projects to continue to run fast. CM for Agile can be a very powerful combination when done effectively.Inside, learn how to:Adapt to Continuous Integration and Build introducing the notions of bit-size tasks, right-sizing branches, minimizing merging, emphasizing continuous build, and testing with teeth. Adapt CM Planning moving away from big-effort-up-front (BEUF) to a more evolutionary approach, applying an iteration 0 to get started, adapting CM roles and responsibilities, and considering wikis and other CM formats. Adapt CM to better support more effective Refactoring, Pair Programming, and Test Driven Development (TDD). Adapt CM to support Distributed Development for Agile teams when co-location is not an option by performing a distributed analysis and considering the best code access solution. Adapt CM to support Traceability, Baselines, Problem Management, CM Audit, and CM Reporting and lean metrics in an Agile context. Merge the mindsets of CM and Agile to form a very powerful partnership. Approach technical infrastructure for Agile thru Infrastructure Envisioning for brand new product lines or Infrastructure Refactoring for modifying existing infrastructure, focused on minimizing infrastructure debt while considering infrastructure on-premises or in-the-clouds. Approach CM infrastructure for Agile thru implementing CM Envisioning for a brand new product line that is following Agile methods or thru CM Refactoring when you need to adapt CM for an existing product line moving to Agile methods. Recognize those CM tools that can be a strategic Agile partner and how the more modern CM features help with implementing Agile in an effective manner. Effectively evaluate CM and Agile tools to ensure you are selecting those tools better suited for Agile and aligned with your Agile needs. Effectively support your Agile needs when your organization, product team, or project must align with CM standards and frameworks.Sprinkled throughout the book are "Pit Stops" which provide insightful CM and Agile information in bit size chunks as take-aways for the reader and to encourage reading on.

Author Biography

Mario Moreira has been working in the configuration management (CM) field since 1987, and the agile field since 1999. He's a certified ScrumMaster and author of Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap published by Wiley in 2004. Mario is also columnist/writer for CM Crossroads, online community and resource for configuration management with 40 articles written to date ranging from topics on CM, Agile requirements engineering to release management.
He has led various agile initiatives with his employer Fidelity Investments as well as leading an agile coaching forum, he is an experienced conference and webinar speaker.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

About the Author.

Contributor Biography.

1 Introduction: Racing with Confidence.

1.1 Focus of this Book.

1.2 Who should Use this Book.

1.3 Navigation through this Book.

1.4 Value of this Book.

2 CMPrimer.

2.1 Brief History of CM.

2.2 CM Values.

2.3 CM Practices.

2.4 Benefits of CM.

2.5 CM Roles.

2.6 CM Mindset.

2.7 Relationship of CM to Culture, Methods, & Governance.

2.8 CM Resource Guide.

3 Agile Primer.

3.1 Brief History of Agile.

3.2 Agile Values (a.k.a., Manifesto).

3.3 Agile Methods.

3.4 Benefits of Agile.

3.5 Agile Personality Types.

3.6 Agile Roles.

3.7 Agile Mindset.

3.8 Moving to an Agile Culture.

3.9 Agile Resource Guide.

4 How CM and Agile Values Work Together.

4.1 Aligning Agile and CM Mindsets.

4.2 Supporting Agile and CM Values without Sacrifice.

4.3 Value of Retrospective to CM.

4.4 Agile Perspective of CM Practices.

5 Approaching Infrastructure for Agile.

5.1 Guiding Principles for Approaching Infrastructure.

5.2 Considerations for Approaching Infrastructure.

5.3 Infrastructure Envisioning.

5.4 Infrastructure Refactoring.

5.5 Owning on Premises or Renting in the Clouds.

6 Approaching the CM Implementation for Agile.

6.1 CM Envisioning.

6.2 CM Refactoring.

6.3 Automate, Automate, Automate for Agile.

7 Adapting CM Practices for Agile.

7.1 Adapting to Continuous Integration and Build.

7.2 Adapting CM Planning.

7.3 Adapting to Support Refactoring.

7.4 Adapting to Support Pair Programming.

7.5 Adapting to Support Test Driven Development (TDD).

7.6 Adapting to Support Agile Distributed Teams.

7.7 Adapting Change Control, Traceability, and Baselines.

7.8 Adapting CM Audit.

7.9 Adapting Problem Management.

7.10 Adapting CM Report and Review.

8 CM Tool as a Strategic Agile Partner.

8.1 CM Tool Support for Software Development.

8.2 The Agile Practices that Impact a CM Tool.

8.3 Evaluating Your Situation.

8.4 CM Tool Features that Facilitate Agile Development.

8.5 Integration with Your Agile Ecosystem.

8.6 Conclusion.

9 Evaluating Tools Suited for Agile.

9.1 Looking for Tools out there and in here.

9.2 Levels of Technology Evaluation.

9.3 Perform a Technology Evaluation.

10 Using CM Standards and Frameworks to Support Agile.

10.1 Importance of CM.

10.2 Compliance and IT Governance Requirements.

10.3 Communicating Your Approach to Senior Management.

10.4 Which Standards Should Be Considered?

10.5 Configuration Management Functions that are most Essential.

10.6 How do Frameworks such as Cobit, ITIL, CMMI, and RUP support Agile?

10.7 Achieving Synergy through Harmonization and Tailoring.

10.8 Conclusion.

Bibliography.

Index.

Supplemental Materials

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