Agile in Fixed Price Projects

Kurush P. Wadia

12th November, 2010

Contracts are about protection

2

Agile is about trust

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• Individuals and interactions over processes and

tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

While there is value in items on the right, we value the items on

the left more.

Agile Manifesto

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… want to know what their

total costs are

Customers usually…

… are conscious of

both, schedule and

cost

… want measurable business

value using the developed

software

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Excellent relationships and successful projects…

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But when things go wrong…

• For customer

• Loss of business value

• Scope changes

• For seller

• Extra effort

• Unhappy customer

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Prerequisites for Fixed Price

Inputs and requirements have to be clear

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Prerequisites for Fixed Price

Risks and dependencies have to be minimal

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Feasibility & Assumptions

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Business

Requirements

Technical

Feasibility

User Friendly

Design

Feature list in Scope Statement drives the

estimates for:

– Scope in terms of Story Points

– Project duration in terms of Months/Weeks

– Cost in terms of €

Planning for the Project

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Principles Of Agile Not To Be Compromised

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Put the right people on the team

(customer and development)

Agile teams therefore need to…

Determine and communicate

business value upfront

Set a project completion date

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… goals rather than targets based on

money and time available

Contracts could be framed around…

14

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Time

Fixed Price Time &

Material

Profits

Contracts could be framed around…

Possibility to switch to T&M

in case assumptions in the

contract turn invalid

Spirit of the Contract…

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We'll collaborate together

to define the best set of

detailed features to go live

with, on that date, for that

price.

Thank you! This will help

us do justice to your

business needs and be

open to any changes that

might come in the future.

• Dynamic Systems Development Method

• Some key tenets

– There will always be business change

– You can move forward as soon as enough is known

– Timeboxed iterations help us meet an unmovable

deadline

– Prioritize using MoSCoW principle

Introducing DSDM

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DSDM Philosophy

Fixed

Variable

Traditional DSDM

Quality

Features

Time Cost Features

TimeCost

Quality

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DSDM Lifecycle

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DSDM Organization

• MoSCoW Principle

– Must – has to be done (60-

75%)

– Should – important but may

be worked around short-term

(20%)

– Could – may be left out if

necessary (20%)

– Won’t – add to the list to be

done next time

Technique in DSDM – MoSCoWPrinciple

Won’t

Must

Should

Could

Out of scope

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• Quality is planned from the start

– Product Quality Criteria

• Facilitated Workshops

• Continuous focused user involvement

• Reviews

– Prototypes

– Supporting documents

• Testing through the lifecycle

• Base-lined requirements

• Configuration management

Quality in DSDM

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• Several extra roles

• Existing roles need additional tasks

• Additional risks

• Additions to phases

Risks in DSDM

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• Weigh pros and cons of Agile in fixed price so as

not to lead to scope changes

• Feasibility study is vital

• DSDM can provide flexibility with control but has

additional roles, phases, and tasks to it

• Quality should never be compromised

Summary

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Questions?

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