writing within an agile development environment
TRANSCRIPT
Writing within an Agile Development Environment
Gavin Austin, Staff Technical Writer, salesforce.com
“Safe harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This presentation and the oral remarks that accompany it contain forward-looking statements the achievement of which involves risks, uncertainties
and assumptions. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions proves incorrect, our results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including any statements concerning new, planned or upgraded services or technology developments, any projections of subscriber growth, earnings, revenues or other financial items and any statements regarding strategies or plans of management for future operations, statements of belief and statements about future customer contracts or future customer use of our services.The risks and uncertainties referred to above include - but are not limited to - interruptions or delays in our service or our Web hosting; our ability to complete and successfully release new and improved versions of our on-demand platform and development environment; our new business model; problems integrating, launching or operating services based on newly acquired businesses or technologies, breach of our security measures; possible fluctuations in our operating results and rate of growth; the emerging market in which we operate; our relatively limited operating history; our ability to hire, retain and motivate our employees and manage our growth; competition; our ability to continue to release and gain customer acceptance of new and improved versions of our CRM service; unanticipated changes in our effective tax rate; fluctuations in the number of shares outstanding; the price of such shares; foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates.Further information on these and other factors that could affect our financial results is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2008 and our Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2008. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Information section of our website at www.salesforce.com/investor.Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase our services should make purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com, inc. assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Safe Harbor
Overview
1. What is agile?
2. Why did salesforce.com transition to agile?
3. The challenges of writing within an agile environment.
4. Strategies for writing within an agile environment.
5. The benefits of writing in an agile environment.
What is agile?
What agile is not…
Phased Development Process (waterfall)
Great if you know exactly what you want and won’t change your mind.
Plan Design Build Test
Documentation, Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation, Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation, Signoffs, Handoff
Done
Changes with a phased process
Change interrupts the flow.
Plan Design Build Test
Documentation, Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation, Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation, Signoffs, Handoff
Change!
Agile development
Sprint2-4 weeks
Sprint2-4 weeks
Sprint2-4 weeks
•Incremental releases
•Expects change
•Feedback
Agile is a great buzzword!
Who doesn’t want to be agile?
No thanks, I’d rather be inflexible and slow.
Agile
Is a flexible framework of common values.
The most popular are Scrum, XP, and Lean.
A common-sense approach.
Agile does not mean…
“Cowboy” coding
No planning
Poor quality
Compressing the schedule
Scrum 101
Sprint2-4 weeks
Sprint Plan
Commitment Potentially shippable
Backlog
Daily Stand-up
Retrospective
Why did salesforce.com transition to ADM (agile)?
2000
3 employees R&D
4 product releases
Releases on time
2005 & 2006
200+ employees R&D
1 product release a year
Releases not on time
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Features Delivered per Team
Days between Major Releases
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Features Delivered per Team
ADM (agile) results
Days between Major Releases
ADM has delivered total visibility, total transparency and unbelievable productivity… a complete win!”
Steve Fisher Sr. Vice President, Platform Division
Salesforce.com
“
The challenges of writing within an agile environment
Originally, the methodology did not include documentation, but many organizations have figured out how to use it…”
Alyssa Fox & Meredith Kramer Mobile and Agile: The Floating Writer’s Survival Kit
© 2008 WinWriters, Inc.
“
Heartburn
Terminology!
Estimates!
Tracking tools!
Meetings, meetings, meetings!
Multiple teams!
No specs!
Context switching!
Done!
Team loyalties!
No time!Fiction!
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80
30
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Are yousatisfied withthe rollout of
agile?
Is agilemaking yourteam moreeffective?
Agile willmaintain orimprove the
quality of ourproducts.
Since therollout, I'm
having a goodtime.
R&DDS
Unhappy Writers
Strategies for writing within an agile environment
From salesforce.com’s experience…
Daily Ask
Email team
Write fiction
Revise fiction
Skip meetings
Doc office hours
Team Volunteer
Be wrong
Speak up
Quid pro quo
Self organizing
Shared service
Estimate beyond
Last line of defense
Implementation Class
Patience
Templates
Tracking tool
Pad estimates
Clear definitions
Hire more writers
Extend doc deadlines
The benefits of writing in an agile environment
Doc has more impact
Doc is more visible
Learn what to expect
Retrospectives fix problems
Self determining
More personable
Team spirit
Features less complex
Easier to document
Clearer communication
Know who does what
Know who to ask
Fixed deadlines
No surprises
Happy Writers
0
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62
30
14
46
00
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
The best time A good time Not much fun A terrible time
Mar-07Mar-08
