Although agile development can be more flexible and increase vendor participation, there are risks involved, the California Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) writes in a budget analysis of the state’s Child Welfare Service – New System (CWS-NS) project.
As Techwire has reported extensively, the state is using agile procurement and development for the new CWS-NS. Bid opportunities for the project’s first two modules were released in December 2015.
LAO writes in its Feb. 25 analysis that “while there may be merit to the agile implementation approach, the state has limited experience planning, procuring and developing an IT system based on the agile approach.”
The perceived benefits come with risks, LAO said.
“This flexibility allows for functions to be completed and deployed to users more quickly. However, the agile approach may also create a risk in that it may be more disruptive to the users of an IT system. Whereas in a traditional implementation approach system users would only have to adapt to change once, in an agile implementation, system users would have to adapt to changes as each module is implemented,” LAO says.
“Despite this potential benefit of engaging new and potentially more innovative vendors, this may, however, create a potential risk. At the conclusion of the project, all the modules must work seamlessly together in order to fully meet the objectives of the project. Engaging multiple vendors for discrete modules will require increased coordination to ensure the modules function seamlessly at the conclusion of the project."
LAO recommends approval of the governor’s 2016-17 budget proposal for CWS-NS and recommends the Legislature revise the project’s reporting requirements to reflect the shift to agile development. LAO recommends four additional reporting requirements:
“(1) a description of each of the modules, their current status, and any associated risks and issues (including impacts on county child welfare programs); (2) a description of how the agile approach has affected the project’s overall cost and schedule; (3) a description of how the Department of Technology’s approval and oversight processes are being applied to the agile implementation approach; and (4) information on how lessons learned from the agile implementation of the CWS-NS project can be leveraged by other state IT projects.”
Read the LAO’s analysis here.
