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Agile Transitioning: Why Is It Important?

May 31, 2022

Last November, the AASHTOWare Project™ Technical & Applications Architecture (T&AA) Task Force released the 2021 version of the Standards and Guidelines (S&G) Notebook with a new Hybrid Agile Development and Maintenance Standard that identifies a hybrid Agile approach for development, enhancement, and maintenance work and includes a different work intake model. This new S&G allows task forces and contractors to follow the Hybrid Agile Development and Maintenance Standard or the traditional Software Development and Maintenance Standard.

The timing was perfect, as Infotech, the official AASHTOWare Project contractor, was finalizing the proposal for AASHTOWare Project 4.9/4.10. Working closely with the Project Task Force (PTF), Infotech came up with a plan to transition into agile while continuing to deliver enhancements through the biannual enhancement release schedule. That plan evaluates each PTF-approved enhancement TMR and determines the best approach for execution. The goal is to start agile small, learn from retrospectives, adjust the process, and repeat with additional TMRs, increasing the number of TMRs with each round of development. While the releases remain as traditional biannual releases and are not truly agile, each TMR will be run as an agile “project within a project,” complete with a Product Owner, TMR backlog, and an agile approach to embracing change.

The first step of the transition is training, and that effort is well underway. Infotech is planning high-level overviews for each TRT, followed by detailed courses for new Product Owners and Business Stakeholders. The training team recommends “just in time” training so that the courses will follow the approval of new agile TMRs and the formation of new agile teams. The first agile TMR – APR-23115, Subcontract Payroll Approvals Need to Follow Parent Subcontracts – will have completed its course by the time you read this article. Like all things agile, that will be followed by retrospective and improvement.

So, why is this transition occurring? The Hybrid Agile Development and Maintenance Standard say it well in the Purpose section:

  • The primary purpose of the Hybrid Agile Development and Maintenance Standard (HADM) is to reduce the time and cost of the web, cloud, and mobile software development, ensure that prioritized features are available earlier, reduce the time and cost of software maintenance support, and improve the quality of software produced. These changes will ultimately improve AASHTOWare’s competitive position within DOTs and the transportation domain.

Additionally, the Glossary defines Agile as:

  • Agile development advocates adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, and continual improvement, encouraging rapid and flexible responses to change.

This approach isn’t new – nor is it unique to AASHTO or Infotech. The Manifesto for Agile Software Development was drafted in 2001 and has been adopted by over 70% of companies and 80% of federal IT projects. The agile approach is designed to be much more engaging than the traditional approach. While the traditional approach called for completing the design before stakeholder review and completing development before stakeholder input and testing, the agile approach breaks everything down into sprints. For the web-based AASHTOWare Project, we will use two-week sprints. Every two weeks, the product owner and business stakeholders (the agile enhancement team – AET) will review the Infotech team’s work during each sprint. That will provide a more focused review and earlier adjustments and deliver a more collaborative result.

For those that don’t like change – don’t panic. Many of the details remain the same. Infotech will continue to design using the same format (the behavior-driven “given/when/then” format that lends itself to test-driven development), just in two-week increments. Testing in the TRT Preview site will continue again in two-week increments. If you’re already a TRT member – consider volunteering for an agile TMR. If you’re not a TRT member – consider joining!

We look forward to this new way of working together to continue to enhance the web-based AASHTOWare Project. Please contact your Infotech Account Manager if you have any questions.

By:

Lisa Durbin, Engineering Operations Manager, Montana DOT

Russ Barron, Director, Portfolio Management Office (PMO), Infotech