"When will it be done?" That is probably the first question your customers ask you once you start working on something for them. Think about how many times you have been asked that question. How many times have you ever actually been right? We can debate all we want whether this is a fair question to ask given the tremendous amount of uncertainty in knowledge work, but the truth of the matter is that our customers are going to inquire about completion time whether we like it or not. Which means we need to come up with an accurate way to answer them. The problem is that the forecasting tools that we currently utilize have made us ill-equipped to provide accurate answers to reasonable customer questions. Until now. Topics Include Why managing for flow is the best strategy for predictability-including an introduction to Little's Law and its implications for flow. A definition of the basic metrics of flow and how to properly visualize those metrics in analytics like Cumulative Flow Diagrams and Scatterplots. Why your process policies are the potentially the biggest reason that you are unpredictable.

The definitive guide on Lean-Agile forecasting that gives you all the tools you need in order to answer your customers' most important question.

Summary Agile Metrics in Action is a rich resource for agile teams that aim to use metrics to objectively measure performance. You'll learn how to gather data that really counts, along with how to effectively analyze and act upon the results. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Book The iterative nature of agile development is perfect for experience-based, continuous improvement. Tracking systems, test and build tools, source control, continuous integration, and other built-in parts of a project lifecycle throw off a wealth of data you can use to improve your products, processes, and teams. The question is, how to do it? Agile Metrics in Action teaches you how. This practical book is a rich resource for an agile team that aims to use metrics to objectively measure performance. You'll learn how to gather the data that really count, along with how to effectively analyze and act upon the results. Along the way, you'll discover techniques all team members can use for better individual accountability and team performance. Practices in this book will work with any development process or tool stack. For code-based examples, this book uses Groovy, Grails, and MongoDB. What's Inside Use the data you generate every day from CI and Scrum Improve communication, productivity, transparency, and morale Objectively measure performance Make metrics a natural byproduct of your development process About the Author Christopher Davis has been a software engineer and team leader for over 15 years. He has led numerous teams to successful delivery using agile methodologies. Table of Contents PART 1 MEASURING AGILE TEAMS Measuring agile performance Observing a live project PART 2 COLLECTING AND ANALYZING YOUR TEAM'S DATA Trends and data from project-tracking systems Trends and data from source control Trends and data from CI and deployment servers Data from your production systems PART 3 APPLYING METRICS TO YOUR TEAMS, PROCESSES, AND SOFTWARE Working with the data you're collecting: the sum of the parts Measuring the technical quality of your software Publishing metrics Measuring your team against the agile principles

Velocity is the most commonly used metric in agile software delivery. It is also perhaps the least effective metrics in agile software delivery. In "Escape Velocity", Doc Norton walks the reader through common issues with metrics and how to avoid them, altermative metrics that not only help agile teams perform better, but enable them to continuously improve, and techniques for forecasting that vastly outperform the use of velocity. In a quirky, casual, and information dense style, Doc Norton makes the topic of tracking data entertaining and shows us how to be more effective in the pursuit of excellent software.

"I set myself the task of describing the 'humane, start with what you do now approach to change' not as a productivity tool, but as a management method built around a strong framework of values-a way to help organizations work better for their people, their customers, and other stakeholders." - Mike Burrows, author Kanban from the Inside takes a distinctive approach to the Kanban Method-using a system of nine values to explain what it is, to give insight into how its practitioners think, and to offer practical advice on how to apply it. Readers new to Kanban will understand why and how it works, while those with experience will appreciate its fresh perspective and the connections it makes with a range of related models. Part I draws on real-world experience to explain the Kanban Method through nine values: transparency, balance, collaboration, customer focus, flow, leadership, understanding, agreement, and respect. It also introduces Kanban's three Agendas and the Kanban Lens. Part II describes other models useful to understanding and applying the Kanban Method more effectively. It is a tour through related bodies of knowledge, including Systems Thinking, Lean, Agile, and Theory of Constraints. Part III is a step-by-step implementation guide that brings up to date the Systems Thinking Approach to Introducing Kanban (STATIK). It offers practical ways to capture and address in your Kanban implementation the needs of your organization, your colleagues, and your customers. --------------------------- "This book is the new standard that I will recommend to anyone getting started with Kanban." -Wolfgang Wiedenroth, Kanban Trainer/Coach, it-agile "It is not focused just on the mechanics of the kanban board; rather it explains everything you need around it to keep a Kanban initiative moving." -Klaus Leopold, Kanban Trainer/Coach, LEANability "This gave me a deeper understanding of familiar concepts and introduced concepts new to me." -Kevin Murray, Delivery Director, Valtech UK

“Companies have been implementing large agile projects for a number of years, but the ‘stigma’ of ‘agile only works for small projects’ continues to be a frequent barrier for newcomers and a rallying cry for agile critics. What has been missing from the agile literature is a solid, practical book on the specifics of developing large projects in an agile way. Dean Leffingwell’s book Scaling Software Agility fills this gap admirably. It offers a practical guide to large project issues such as architecture, requirements development, multi-level release planning, and team organization. Leffingwell’s book is a necessary guide for large projects and large organizations making the transition to agile development.” —Jim Highsmith, director, Agile Practice, Cutter Consortium, author of Agile Project Management “There’s tension between building software fast and delivering software that lasts, between being ultra-responsive to changes in the market and maintaining a degree of stability. In his latest work, Scaling Software Agility, Dean Leffingwell shows how to achieve a pragmatic balance among these forces. Leffingwell’s observations of the problem, his advice on the solution, and his description of the resulting best practices come from experience: he’s been there, done that, and has seen what’s worked.” —Grady Booch, IBM Fellow Agile development practices, while still controversial in some circles, offer undeniable benefits: faster time to market, better responsiveness to changing customer requirements, and higher quality. However, agile practices have been defined and recommended primarily to small teams. In Scaling Software Agility, Dean Leffingwell describes how agile methods can be applied to enterprise-class development. Part I provides an overview of the most common and effective agile methods. Part II describes seven best practices of agility that natively scale to the enterprise level. Part III describes an additional set of seven organizational capabilities that companies can master to achieve the full benefits of software agility on an enterprise scale. This book is invaluable to software developers, testers and QA personnel, managers and team leads, as well as to executives of software organizations whose objective is to increase the quality and productivity of the software development process but who are faced with all the challenges of developing software on an enterprise scale.

"With Kanban, every minute you spend on a software project can add value for customers. One book can help you achieve this goal: Agile Project Management with Kanban. Author Eric Brechner pioneered Kanban within the Xbox engineering team at Microsoft. Now he shows you exactly how to make it work for your team. Think of this book as {28}Kanban in a box.

Gold winner in Business Technology category, 2020 Axiom Business Book Awards Extraordinary innovations in technology promise to transform the world, but how realistic is the claim that AI will change our lives? In this much needed book the acclaimed economist Roger Bootle responds to the fascinating economic questions posed by the age of the robot, steering a path away from tech jargon and alarmism towards a rational explanation of the ways in which the AI revolution will affect us all. Tackling the implications of Artificial Intelligence on growth, productivity, inflation and the distribution of wealth and power, THE AI ECONOMY also examines coming changes to the the way we educate, work and spend our leisure time. A fundamentally optimistic view which will help you plan for changing times, this book explains AI and leads you towards a more certain future. Extraordinary innovations in technology promise to transform the world, but how realistic is the claim that AI will change our lives? In this much needed book the acclaimed economist Roger Bootle responds to the fascinating economic questions posed by the age of the robot, steering a path away from tech jargon and alarmism towards a rational explanation of the ways in which the AI revolution will affect us all. Tackling the implications of Artificial Intelligence on growth, productivity, inflation and the distribution of wealth and power, THE AI ECONOMY also examines coming changes to the the way we educate, work and spend our leisure time. A fundamentally optimistic view which will help you plan for changing times, this book explains AI and leads you towards a more certain future.

Globalization, rapid technology churn, and massive economic shifts have made it more difficult than ever to deliver high-value enterprise software. In Enterprise Software Delivery, IBM Distinguished Engineer Alan W. Brown guides decision-makers in understanding these new challenges, choosing today's best solutions, and successfully anticipating future trends. Alan presents detailed, actionable techniques for building software supply chains that improve agility and innovation while responding to growing cost pressure. Using real-world case studies, he introduces the modern global software factory, demonstrating how to integrate and leverage global outsourced teams, collaborative application lifecycle management, and cloud-based virtual infrastructures. Drawing on his extensive experience leading IBM Rational software strategy, and consulting with IBM enterprise customers, Alan illuminates everything from software R&D to metrics. Coverage includes Understanding recent dramatic changes in enterprise software delivery requirements and practices Overcoming false assumptions, outdated data and delivery models, and inexperience with strategy, innovation, education, or research Incorporating integrators and partners in centers of excellence that specialize in delivering business value Establishing team-based practices that encourage agility, scalability, and quality Building adaptive software factories that integrate real-time feedback and respond rapidly to change Using virtualized collaborative infrastructure to connect worldwide teams for developing software, assembling solutions, and delivering results Transcending barriers related to geography, organization, skills, and culture If you're an enterprise software leader, strategist, or practitioner, this book can help you improve every facet of performance you care about, including agility, quality, predictability, innovation, and value.

Design IT Organizations for Agility at Scale Aspiring digital businesses need overall IT agility, not just development team agility. In Agile IT Organization Design, IT management consultant and ThoughtWorks veteran Sriram Narayan shows how to infuse agility throughout your organization. Drawing on more than fifteen years’ experience working with enterprise clients in IT-intensive industries, he introduces an agile approach to “Business–IT Effectiveness” that is as practical as it is valuable. The author shows how structural, political, operational, and cultural facets of organization design influence overall IT agility—and how you can promote better collaboration across diverse functions, from sales and marketing to product development, and engineering to IT operations. Through real examples, he helps you evaluate and improve organization designs that enhance autonomy, mastery, and purpose: the key ingredients for a highly motivated workforce. You’ll find “close range” coverage of team design, accountability, alignment, project finance, tooling, metrics, organizational norms, communication, and culture. For each, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of where your organization stands, and clear direction for making improvements. Ready to optimize the performance of your IT organization or digital business? Here are practical solutions for the long term, and for right now. Govern for value over predictability Organize for responsiveness, not lowest cost Clarify accountability for outcomes and for decisions along the way Strengthen the alignment of autonomous teams Move beyond project teams to capability teams Break down tool-induced silos Choose financial practices that are free of harmful side effects Create and retain great teams despite today’s “talent crunch” Reform metrics to promote (not prevent) agility Evolve culture through improvements to structure, practices, and leadership—and careful, deliberate interventions