[ale] OT: Scrum and Extended Development

[Michael Hirsch]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
John
> Wells
> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 2:44 PM
> To: ale at ale.org
> Subject: [ale] OT: Scrum and Extended Development
> 
> All,
> 
> I know there's a few Scrum guys on the list.  I've been researching
Scrum
> for possible implementation in our organization, but have read (and
> sensed, to a certain extent), that Scrum is better suited for new
product
> development ("Both Scrum and Sashimi are suited best to new product
> development rather than extended development" --
> http://www.controlchaos.com/about/how.php).

Wow.  I'd never seen that before, and there it is in the first line of
that page.

I don't know what is meant by that line.  What does "extended
development" mean in this context?  I would have used it to mean "a
development project over an extended period of time" in which case,
scrum is ideal.  I guess they mean "development extending earlier,
non-scrum, development" in which case they recommend against it.  I
think that all processes are best used ab initio, and that scrum is no
worse than any other for starting in the middle.

> My company works on a large ERP system.  It's core functionality is
there
> and we mainly do bug fixes and enhancements.  We are in the midst of a
> conversion from Progress 4GL to Java, so the app is changing, but it's
> still 80% functionally complete (at least).
> 
> So...my question: is anyone actually using Scrum in an extended
> development environment?  If not, what agile alternatives might you
> suggest?

I'd like to see why they make that claim.  I think scrum is great for
coming in and clearing logjams in projects.

Scrum sounds to me like a really good thing to use on your project.
After each iteration you are supposed to have "shippable code".  It
should be fully tested and running--no "demo ware".  For a conversion
project, this seems like a good thing.

Scrum only works if you have real management buy-in on it.  If you adopt
it, will management let you proceed?  Will they let you not change
requirements except between iterations?  Will they let you have fixed
length iterations?  If not, then I wouldn't bother adopting it.

Good luck,

Michael