M8 - Agile Quality & Risk Management

Question 1

How do DSDM practices help ensure quality of the solution (6)?

Answer 1

Workshops - effective collaboration

Modelling, Daily Stand-ups, Team boards

Timeboxing and Iterative development - Ensure evolving solutions is continually validated to meet business needs

Question 2

How do DSDM roles help ensure quality of the solution?

Answer 2

DSDM ensures this happens through the active participation of business roles in the development of the solution. This makes the business accountable.

Breadth of roles involved in DSDM provides a wider business viewpoint

Question 3

Solution Quality question to ask (3)

Answer 3

Scope of Features Delivered

In DSDM, the quality is determined on meeting the MoSCoW prioritisation.

A solution that only meets:

Must haves - viable, but doesn’t meet the business needs

Must haves and Should haves - expected quality, meet business needs

Must haves, Should haves & Could haves - exceeds expectations

Maintainability of the Solution

3 levels:

1. Maintainability is a required attribute - solution must be supported before its released to business
2. Deliver first, re-engineer later
3. Short term, tactical solution - one off or temporary solution

Technicality of the Solution Delivered

The level that the project must meet is determined by the end of foundations

Question 4

What is Process Quality?

Answer 4

• Refers to the project process that enable the delivery of quality solutions
• Confirms compliance with internal defined standards and practices
• Large organisations often require auditors to do this for them
• Needs to be flexible enough to allow the solution to evolve using the DSDM agile process

Question 5

Process quality and it’s role in predictability

Answer 5

Predictability is a key attribute of process quality.

In DSDM, predictability is based on 3 considerations:

1. Delivery on time

DSDM fixes the time of a project , and failure to deliver on time means failure of process and is a quality issue.

1. Delivery on budget

DSDM fixes cost of a project in terms of a fixed team size for a fixed duration

Overstepping either of these are a failure of process too

1. Predictability of what will be delivered

Incremental DSDM approach allows for less important solutions to be pushed back

Question 6

When are quality decisions taken (3 stages of the Agile project)?

Answer 6

Feasibility

Setting early expectations by agreeing on the high level acceptance criteria

Foundations

Early expectations confirmed and refined

Evolutionary development

Expectations are agreed on before each timebox, including the acceptance criteria

Question 7

When are quality decisions taken (3 stages of the Agile project)?

Answer 7

Feasibility

Setting early expectations by agreeing on the high level acceptance criteria

Foundations

Early expectations confirmed and refined

Evolutionary development

Expectations are agreed on before each timebox, including the acceptance criteria

Question 8

Agile process quality statements (4)

Answer 8

Say what you do