Off-shore, Fixed Price and still Agile. (How) does that work?

Organizer: Marco Jansen

Objectives:
Share lessons learned on running an off-shore fixed price project in an agile way

Contents:
During the last two years the presenter lived in Bangalore and worked for ThoughtWorks India.  He run a product development project that had a duration of one year, a fixed-price contract, customers in the UK, a 3 person team in the UK and a 45 person team in India that was run in an Agile way. This experience report tells about which Agile practices still hold in this situation and which Agile practices needs to be adjusted. It covers topics like how to run a distributed stand-up, when to split teams, how to negotiate scope when having a fixed price contract, how to build a relationship between the customer and the team in Bangalore and the value of weekly showcases. It also covers the impact of traffic congestion and the wild job market in Bangalore.

Process & Timetable:
50 min Experience Report
10 min Q&A

Session Format: presentation

Intended Audience:

• People who are (going to be) participating in agile projects that are running in multiple locations.
• People who are (going to be) participating in fixed price projects.
• Potential customers of agile projects who would like to work in a fixed-price mode.
  

• Get tips on how to be Agile while working under a fixed price contract and to manage scope
• Get tips on how to be Agile while working in two different locations
• Get tips on how to be Agile while working in two different time zones
• Get tips on how to be Agile while working with a team of 45 people
• Get tips on tools that can be used to support distributed development

Benefits of organizing:

• Hear experiences of other people with fixed price projects
• Hear experiences of other people with off-shore projects