Contents

Methodology

This page describes the development process used in the Incubator. During the course of the GÉANT 4.3 project, the incubator runs a number of sequential cycles, which typically last 6 months. During such a cycle, an incubator activity team, or A-team, engages with a number of different topics called "Activities", typically 2 or 3, in parallel. The incubator has 2 A-teams working in parallel. As such, the Incubator can work on 4 to 6 activities in parallel during a 6 month cycle. The development process used for this engagement is a loose implementation of the Scrum development methodology, and roles and also some terminology used in this document are borrowed from this Agile methodology.

During one cycle the A-team uses Sprints to work on activities. A sprint runs for ~4 weeks in which the A-team focuses on a specific subset of tasks. The Principe Investigator, or Magnum P.I., defines the work for an activity, and its priorities. While the team membership of the A-team itself is as stable as possible, a Mentor, a senior A-team member with specific expertise, is being brought in on a per activity basis to support the A-team as a subject matter expert. The A-team supports the PI by providing feedback to the work items defined. The team also makes estimates of how much work specific work-items are so the PI can decide priorities accordingly. In the spirit of the scrum methodology the A-team itself is responsible for planning of the work in a sprint, based on the prioritized list of the PI.

During a cycle, various artifacts are used to collect and report on the work being done. The Backlog holds all items the PI wants to work on. The PI may update, change and (re)prioritize the Backlog items at any given time, according to newly gained insights and priorities. The Sprint Backlog holds a selected set of Backlog items the A-team is working on for a specific sprint. The Sprint Backlog does not change over the course of a Sprint.

The Scrum methodology also includes a number of so called ceremonies, meetings who all have with a specific function. The Backlog planning is done by the PI in collaboration with the A-team and makes sure the items on the backlog are well described and understood. During the Sprint planning the A-Team discusses the top items on the Backlog and decides which ones to engage with in the upcoming sprint. A sprint demo showcases the work done by the A-team in the past sprint and allows for the P.I and possibly other stakeholders to learn about the result, ask questions and provide feedback. A Sprint retrospective is done by the A-team to evaluate the processes of the past sprint and to discuss improvements.

Figure 1 displays the various actors, artifacts and ceremonies in the Trust and Identity Incubator development process

Figure 1: Actors, artifacts and ceremonies in the Trust and Identity Incubator development process

Roles and responsibilities

This section describes the roles and responsibilities of various actors in more detail

Principal Investigator / Product Owner (Magnum P.I.)

The Magnum is the person mainly responsible for defining the work and then prioritizing those tasks. The PI is clear on the goals of the activity and represents the stakeholders,e.g. the customer, market and organizations. The PI is responsible for the Backlog and makes sure it is filled and the items are understood.

Activity Team (A-Team)

The members of the A-Team engage with tasks within the activity. A team is typically made up of people with various skills and different expertise. The A-team selects shich items they work on from the Backlog, based on amount of work and priority set by the P.I.
During a sprint, they work on tasks on the Sprint Backlog. The A-team demonstrates the results of a past sprint during the Sprint Demo

Scrum Master (SM)

The Scrum Master supports the activity by facilitating task communication, organizing meetings and allocating resources. The major task is to keep organizational overhead away from the team and resolve impediments, so that the A-Team and P.I. are able to focus on their actual work.

Mentor / Incubator Activity Mentor (IAM) / Activity Advisor (AA)

The Mentor is an experienced advisor who helps the P.I. to plan the product and upcoming work and provides subject matter expertise to the A-team.

Main Incubator Board (MIB)

Within the development process, the MIB replaces the Customer in Scrum terms. During the monthly Sprint demo the A-Teams present the newly created product increment among others to the members of this board. The MIB's provide feedback to the teams and especially P.I.'s to suggest product improvements within the next Sprint.

Activities

This section describes in more details the ceremonies and artifacts

Backlog planning

The Scrum Master, Mentor (optional) and P.I. meet at the start of each sprint to discuss the remaining work to be achieved within the activity cycle. New work items that were discovered will be added to the Backlog as well as remaining items from the last Sprint.
Although it is fine to document future work, it should also be considered that it is possible to implement the backlog during the remaining time.

Actors: Magnum, Scrum Master, (Mentor)
Input: Trello Template
Output: Activity Backlog (Trello)

Sprint retrospective and planning

Before the A-Team prepares the next Sprint, it talks about success stories but also problems of the last Sprint. The lessons learned facilitate improvements of the process, implementation and communication, which enables the team to continually improve their collaboration.

The Activity Backlog is used to prepare the Sprint Backlog. Thi sis done by the A-team in collaboration with the P.I. and the the Scrum Master. The purpose is to plan the work for the upcoming sprint. The Team jointly decides on how much work a specific item on the Backlog is.
It is necessary that each team member estimates the amount of time they will contribute to the activity during this Sprint. Since internal, none project related, tasks may reduce the average time one can contribute to the tasks, it is import for the planning to provide a honest assessment.
The team evaluates the remaining Activity Backlog and assigns work items according to the working time available for the Sprint.

Actors: Mentor, Scrum Master, A-Team
Input: Activity Backlog, Estimated FTE, Feedback from MIB Sprint Demo
Output: Sprint Backlog (Trello) consisting of assigned action items (Trello cards)

Implement

The Team implements the agreed Sprint Backlog over the course of a Sprint.

Actors: A-Team
Input: Action items (Trello cards)
Output: Result (e.g. Software Release, Concept, Business Plan, ...)

Weekly Standup Meeting

The team meets once a week for a short meeting to report work done, work for the next week and impediments.

Actors: Scrum Master, Magnum, A-Team
Input: Trello cards
Output: Impediments, Project Status Report, Add dates to calendar in confluence

Sprint Demo

The A-Team (least one representative) presents the Sprint results to the MIB's and any other stakeholders, who provide feedback potentially to be used for the next Sprint. The Sprint demo takes place for all activities at once. A Sprint demo is a public event ans is open to anybody.
From a project perspective, a Sprint Demo may be accomapanied by a “all-hands” project team meeting (not open for public).

Actors: A-Team, Scrum Master, Stakeholders
Input: Sprint Results (e.g. Software Release, Concept, Business Plan, ...)
Output: Feedback

Meeting Overview