How to reduce product release cycles down to 4 weeksOctober 2015

Yousif Asfour, PhDAmerican University of BeirutChief Information Officer

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Managed Services Company:Re-implemented system end-to-end

to change invoicing processIn less than 4 weeks

Software Company:We reduced the product release cycle

from 2 years down to 4 weeks in 6 months

We started with basic questions …

• Relevance• Quality• Team• Practices• Platform

We focused the relevance …

… and reduced supported platforms

We insisted on quality …

… by cleaning up bugs first

…and setting QA as gate to release …

• QA sole decision maker for release• Source code management• Bug fixing is a priority• Insisted on user acceptance testing• Strict release management process

But we balanced quality …

… against customer needs

• No priority 1 bugs• Fewer new bugs

• Hired for attitude and not skills• Helped build working relationships • Got rid of bad apples quickly

We also focused on team dynamics

We also instituted “practices” …

… to make the team more efficient

• Open office space• If you feel the urge to email – don’t! • Established common office time• Set up a war-room• Convened daily standup meetings

• Set up committees to involve all stakeholders

• Chaired the committee to drive decision

• Kept friends close, but enemies closer

• Walked around and drank a lot of coffee!

We got buy in from everyone

… and time boxed deliverables …

… in order to fix release cycles

We built a “resource based” plan …

… and played “Tetris” to manage change

Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8

Ali

Bassam

Christine

... and we managed it daily

We took risks in decision making …

… to avoid analysis paralysis

…and used the “10 minute” rule ..

…to get unstuck!

• Teamed up developers with business owners• Used workshops to develop code• Put prototypes in hands of users early• Trained. Trained. Trained.

We created a “hands on” environment

• Pick a standard – any standard!• Focus on integration and not creation• Buy when you can, build when you have to• Buy only when can’t use what you have• Only buy systems that are easy to modify• Remove redundancies• Ensure single point of data entry

… and we built modular systems …

by starting with the output first … and design backwards

We measured everything …

… including team values

… to hold each other accountable

Team Health Dec Jan Feb March April May Jun JulAccountability 4.2 3.9 4.2 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.3Integrity 4.0 4.0 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.3Transperancy 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.9 4.2 4.0 4.3 4.3Excellence 3.8 3.9 4.1 4.2 4.0 4.2 4.3 4.3Teamwork 4.0 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.3 4.3 4.4Learning & Innovation 3.6 3.8 3.5 3.9 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.1Balance 3.3 3.6 4.0 4.0 3.6 3.8 3.8 4.3

Average 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3

It is about focusing on the basics …

• Delivering small value fast• Avoiding re-work• Developing a collegial team• Instituting best-fit practices• Building a flexible platform

… and solving the right problem

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