We transitioned to agile in a similar to what you're doing. We use scrum
but only a subset which is suited to to our teams. We start an epic for
projects that deliver new function. We then break the epic down into
sprints. It helps if you've got good tooling. We use the Atlassian suite
with Jira at the core. We create a backlog of Jira tickets for each
feature that we prioritize and drag onto the sprint board to start
development. Sprints are typically one to two weeks. At the end of the
sprint we have a review meeting.
One of the best things about agile is the emphasis on writing tests
before the code. A light bulb went on for me when we started doing this.
It makes you think very carefully about implementation details, handling
exceptions, recovery etc. Writing code to pass tests improves quality.
Our testers work with the devs during development as opposed to after
the code is complete.
Rocket software's Git port has been a game changer for us. We already
used Git for our Eclipse plug-ins so we're familiar with it. To be able
to use it on the mainframe is gold dust. We use Atlassian BitBucket
which is similar to Github but runs locally and integrates with Jira. We
start a Git feature branch for each Jira item on the Agile board. When
the task is complete the dev commits the code, opens a pull request and
the code is peer reviewed before being approved and merged. Some older
developers may not like the idea of their code being peer reviewed but
it's absolutely critical and finds so many bugs.
We also use DevOps tools for automated builds and deployment. Atlassian
Bamboo is a CI tool similar to Jenkins and integrates with Jira and
BitBucket. When a feature branch is merged in BitBucket Bamboo kicks off
an automated build, runs tests and then deploys to z/OS. It has a remote
Java agent that runs on z/OS that can pull git repos, run Makefiles or
Maven builds. You can also run commands over SSH which we do to
start/stop servers using REXX SDSF scripts.
It works brilliantly for us. The Atlassian tools integration is amazing.
We can track features in Jira which have links to a branch in BitBucket
with code diffs showing exactly what changed. In Bamboo we can track
what jobs have failed back to the branch and Jira. Of course, you need
to have your code in the z/OS UNIX file system to use Git. That might be
unacceptable to some shops or not feasible. IBM have a beta for a
product that provides CI tooling that works with legacy apps which looks
interesting
https://www-01.ibm.com/marketing/iwm/iwmdocs/web/cc/earlyprograms/dbb/index.shtml.
On 8/12/2017 10:44 PM, Christopher Y. Blaicher wrote:
Yes you can. We are transitioning to using agile. I say transitioning because
even though we use the agile methodologies of sprints, daily standup meetings,
stories, epics and all that goes with it, we don't have it perfected, yet.
Our consultant warned us that it takes time to transition into it and get good
at it, like 12 to 18 months, but we are already seeing results.
It makes you identify what is important and breaks tasks down into bite sized
chunks that you can better track.
It also makes the product owner break down what is most important to him and
build that first. Then you start adding on to it piece by piece. You don't
spend 3 years building the Taj Mahal and then find out they didn't really need
50% of the rooms. You avoid scope creep. You get what was originally agreed
to out the door, and then based on user experience add the next thing they want
in the next sprint.
Is it easy? Not really. Is it worth it? Yes.
There is far too much to agile to cover in an email.
Chris Blaicher
Technical Architect
Mainframe Development
P: 201-930-8234 | M: 512-627-3803
E: cblaic...@syncsort.com
Syncsort Incorporated
2 Blue Hill Plaza #1563
Pearl River, NY 10965
www.syncsort.com
Data quality leader Trillium Software is now a part of Syncsort.
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jake Anderson
Sent: Friday, December 8, 2017 5:55 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Agile Project management in Mainframe System project
Hi
Does anyone follow Agile methodologies for Mainframe System project ?
If so can you share me any template you followed for any previous projects.
Jake
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