While not specifically part of the Agile process, many Agile software development teams leverage the Scrum methodology to focus on delivering working product. You will recall that Agile stresses Individuals & Interactions over Processes & Tools. So while it is important to have a working framework such as CLIP, and tools to efficiently build your the required models, they are less important than delivering the EA Artifacts.
For the purposes of the EA Practitioner, Scrum has one basic tenet that needs to be adhered to: that during the development cycle, the “customer” can and will change their mind about what they want. This implies that the EA Practitioner needs to be flexible in adapting to rapid change. As described in a previous post, the Architecture may pass through many Interim States, and that the Target State may never be reached. This flexibility in the Agile EA approach further means that the EA work can begin long before the target state is fully defined or understood.
There are three roles within the Scrum – the Business (or client), the Development Team and the Scrum Master. The Business is required for the setting of initial priorities and end-of-sprint reviews. The Development Team performs those tasks that are needed to fulfill the activities of the sprint. To see how to plan those activities, take a look at this post. The Scrum Master is meant to insure that the work is being properly time-boxed, to monitor the progression of the sprint & to remove any barriers to success.
Since the work of an EA Practitioner is not necessarily project-centric, it doesn’t necessarily need a team to complete. But the Scrum approach:
- breaking the work into smaller chunks
- prioritizing the activities into specific deliverables
- time-boxed sprints of activity
- customer review at the end of each sprint
- iterative work that is accepting of change
- regular velocity review
all have significant value to the Practitioner of Enterprise Architecture.
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