Applying Agile For Large Scale Development At Microsoft Romanenko

Microsoft Ireland

Vlad RomanenkoProgram Manager, CSM

Mobile Hotmail

Microsoft: Move to AgileBefore

Marketing driven releasesBig feature promises up-frontCommitted release date that always slipped

NowNo committed release dateTechnical Community Previews (TPC)Incorporating customer feedback

Microsoft Ireland

Agile in Microsoft?No single methodology across companyHuge product suites – lots of dependenciesLegacy architecture – hard to adopt new tools

Microsoft Ireland

Windows Live HotmailSuite: Hotmail, Messenger, Calendar, Spaces, …270 million users10 000 servers

Microsoft Ireland

Hotmail MobileDeveloped in 1 yearTeam: 6 people

1 program manager3 devs2 devs in test

Microsoft Ireland

Team rolesScrum

Product OwnerScrum MasterTeam

MicrosoftProgram ManagerSoftware Development EngineerSDE in Test

Is there a match?

Microsoft Ireland

Managing requirementsScrum

Product backlogUser stories

Microsoft‘1 page specs’PM SpecsSpeclets – the most agile wayDesign docsTest plan

Microsoft Ireland

PlanningRelease cycle is ~1 year (Windows Live)Milestone is 3 month long (4 per release)Mini release at the end of each milestoneBig release at the end for the whole suite

How do you run the milestone?We tried 2 week sprintsNo clear sprint boundaries

Microsoft Ireland

Daily ScrumEffective communication toolEach team member has individual office – no open spaceFlexible working hours – need enough overlap time11:40-12:00 – just before lunchWhoever is late pays 1 euro for team building (= beer)

Weekly sync with remote teams (30 minutes)Scrum of scrum?

Microsoft Ireland

Coding PracticesCode review – mandatory for every check-in

Over email + In-house tool (bbpack)Collective code ownershipContinuous integration

In-house solutionCoding standards

StyleCop / FxCopMicrosoft Ireland

Unit TestsNot yet introducedLegacy architectureWeb application

‘Critical mass’ is required for TDD adoptionInternal knowledge sharing – TDD seminars

Our team plans adopting TDD in coming releaseOther teams already have full TDD

Microsoft Ireland

Testing methodologiesIt’s mobile web!Testing is done by EngineersAutomated functional testing (black-box)Visual Studio Test SystemCode coverage above 75%

Manual testing is required with mobile devicesTest plans are used to outsource manual testing

Microsoft Ireland

ToolsIn-house web based

Poor support, deprecatedExcel – simpleRallyDev – costly for big teams

Future is…Team Foundation Server + MS Project

Integrated solution

Microsoft Ireland

Usage for Agile Practices

Microsoft Ireland

Team Attitudes

Microsoft Ireland

Microsoft Ireland

Vlad.Romanenko@microsoft.com