With gargantuan computer projects a thing of the past, 'agile' development is very much the buzz word in government. Suzannah Brecknell reports on two sessions at Civil Service Live which explored the new approach.
The government hopes that using ‘agile’ methodology to pursue its IT programmes will put an end to the IT nightmares of the past, when flagship projects ran over time and over budget without delivering all – or, sometimes, any – of the expected benefits. Agile methods are used widely in the private sector, but the biggest and highest-profile example of their use within government is the Department for Work and Pensions’ Universal Credit programme.
At a CSL session discussing this reform project the programme’s senior responsible officer, Terry Moran, explained that under a traditional development model (known as waterfall), “You do all your design and specifications first, and then you start to build the system, and then you start to test the system.” In the agile model, the project is broken down into ‘mini steps’ which are specified, developed and tested iteratively. It’s similar to building a world with Lego, using simple, small components to build larger, complex structures.
Moran was joined by Universal Credit’s programme manager Chris Hayes, who explained that under the agile approach, when you fail, “you fail early”. Rather than taking “six months to do the user requirements and then find out 18 months down the line that it doesn’t work, you find out on a real-time basis and you can adjust as you go along”.
In another session specifically focused on agile techniques, DWP corporate director of major programmes Steve Dover said that while these techniques may not reduce capital costs, they can make overall development time much shorter. This explains why the methodology was so attractive to the Universal Credit team, which needs to create an entirely new way to distribute a new set of benefits by 2013. The department has made impressive progress in its first six months: delegates at Civil Service Live were able to try out a version of the Universal Credit delivery software at the DWP stand. They were also able to take part in building a Lego city using agile methods.
For Universal Credit, the team has broken down the delivery system into segments dealing with different customer groups, and is developing these segments through a number of short design cycles, known as leaps. Each leap lasts a few weeks, producing tangible results such as components for the IT system, contact centre scripts or training materials. After this the team tests and reconfigures the materials they have developed. The design of these components is constantly being reshaped following input from claimants as well as frontline workers.
Asked by CSW for advice for other departments considering using agile techniques, Moran first said that “agile isn’t a panacea for everything”. The recent Institute for Government report System Error, he said, is a helpful starting point for identifying when agile may not be an appropriate choice. If you do use agile, he continued, “you have to be clear about the focus of what you want to achieve”, and prepared to work collaboratively in multi-disciplinary teams.
Dover made a similar point when asked what skills developers need to bring to agile projects: “They bring their individual expertise from their own areas,” he said. “What they leave behind [is] their egos.” Within the team, everyone can challenge colleagues respectfully, no matter what their background. This working method can seem alien to civil servants used to hierarchies and sharp divisions between different professions, Moran suggested, but the technique’s empowerment and involvement “energises people”. Dover encouraged delegates to meet the DWP team, and view that energy for themselves: “They’re really bright-eyed,” he said. “They love this method of working.”