Chapter 11 Case Study - DST Systems Scores with Scrum & Application Lifecycle Management

Question 1 : What were some of the problems with DST Systems’ old software development environment?

Some of the problems with DST Systems’ old software development environment were its processes often manual and time-consuming. The managers were unable to easily determine how resources were being allocated, which also the employees were working on certain projects and status of specific assets. Another problem was that the DST struggled to update its most important product, AWD in a timely fashion. Its development schedule was to release a new version once every two years. However, the competitors were releasing the versions faster.

Besides, the development group had used a mixture of tools processes and source code control systems without any unified repository for code or a standardized developer tool set. Different groups within the organization used very different tools for software development. Due to organization without used any unified repository, it was difficult to control. Hence, in our opinion, we think that DST must use new method and better than the old traditional.

Question 2 : How did Scrum development help solve some of those problems?

Scrum relies on self-organizing, cross-functional teams supported by a ScrumMaster and a product owner. The Scrum is exists software development tools and experienced strong results. Scrum development helped solve some of these problems by accelerating its software development cycle from 24 months to 6 months and developer productivity increased 20%. What the scrum development pretty much acted like was the coach for the team. This is how the Scrum development helped solve some of these problems.

Question 3 : What other adjustments did DST make to use Scrum more effectively in its software projects? What people, organization, and technology issues had to be addressed?

The other adjustments DST was able to make to use Scrum more effectively in its software projects were by setting up a project evaluation team to identify the right development environment. Another key adjustment was DST's adoption of CollabNet's products. This adjustment allowed DST to complete all of their work within the ALM platform. The management issue being addressed was production being slowed down. The organization issue was the lack of organization so processes were breaking down. Finally, the technology issue being addressed was the problem occurring with the software so production was taking a major hit.

For the part of management, organization and technology issues had to be addressed, Jerry Tubbs, the systems development manager at DST systems, says DST was successful in attempts to revamp the software group because some factors.

1.  Looked for simplicity rather than complicated

2.  Much cheaper than some of the alternatives

3. Involved developers in the decision making process to ensure that change to be greeted enthusiastically

4. Allow for the developers to adopt ALM software on their own.

The company was successful because they selected the right development framework as well as the right software to make that change a reality and skillfully managed the change process.