Agile and the Cloud – Match made in Heaven!

Agile and the Cloud are both pervasive these days.  Agile is a software development method based on an iterative and incremental approaches. Applying an Agile method and mindset can, on the one side, can incrementally build Software as a Services (SaaS) based products and, on the other side, utilize IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) to build the SaaS products and services.

As most software professionals are aware, the action of delivering the increment into the traditional on-premise software product environment is often laborious and time consuming. SaaS conveniently provides shared software products as services, and associated data via the Internet, a model that can be scaled and configured to a company’s or product team’s needs. SaaS changes the software paradigm by providing the software as a service “in the cloud” to people and companies that need that product or service. Companies no longer need local administrators to handle the rigorous and time-consuming effort of establishing on-premise product infrastructure and the installing the software.

When building products for the cloud, a production-ready environment is made available to teams almost instantly. While most products require an on-premise installation, building cloud products reduces the need for the often rigorous and time-consuming effort of installing the new releases of the software product infrastructure prior to the installation. Because Agile utilizes an iterative and incremental approach, SaaS products can be incrementally upgraded when the Sprint Review (aka, demonstration) indicates that the product is ready. The effort on the SaaS provider side is reduced also, because a few installations by experts are much easier to develop and manage than the many installations by customers (and documentation, ramp-up, and problem resolution that are included).

On the Agile side, the challenge is to build an infrastructure that supports Agile and does not impede the progress of the Agile team that must continue to deliver value. A simultaneous goal is to avoid investment in infrastructure that may not be needed in later phases of the project. One suggestion is to utilize the infrastructure envisioning approach, which applies an incremental approach to the continuous establishment of an effective infrastructure. This is where Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) can be useful to Agile teams. The cloud IaaS and PaaS approaches enable consumers to only use and pay for what they need. This is a distinct advantage for incremental development processes like Agile. This "use-what-infrastructure-you-need" approach minimizes technology debt and allows the team to adjust and scale its needs just-in-time.

As Agile methods continuously build SaaS product increments (i.e. functionality), the cloud delivers them as increasing business value to the customer with little effort from the customer. In addition, the cloud (by way of IaaS and PaaS) provides Agile projects with tools and infrastructure just-in time, so that the team always has the tools and infrastructure they need but never wastefully invests in unused equipment. Consequently, they are able to provide continuous value to the customer in the cloud. This mutually beneficial relationship is a “match made in heaven” for project teams utilizing Agile to build software in the cloud and using cloud infrastructure to support Agile projects. 

Have you benefited with the Agile and Cloud relationship?  If so, in what ways?  

Cloudy with a chance of Agility - CM predictions for 2010

As we gaze in the horizon, what do we think will be hot in the CM landscape and improve our working lives? What might be some of the latest trends in the industry? My prediction is the CM weather report will be “Cloudy with a chance of Agility”. My predictions will focus on:

• Agile in the forefront of CM
• Extending the CM reach into ALM and beyond
• CM “in the Clouds”

Prediction #1: Agile in the forefront of CM

I predict that we will continue to see a stronger focus on agility in the way we approach and deploy CM. This is because Agile methods are continuing to increase in adoption. With the need to adapt and change, comes the need for CM that is both lean, yet well integrated to support the Agile processes. We'll see CM tools cater more to Agile. We'll see more publications focusing on CM and Agile.

Prediction #2: Extending the CM reach into ALM and beyond
As we continue into the future, we will see CM extending into the ALM space and then see ALM extended into a more unified approach. Integration across engineering areas helps teams streamline their processes and reduces the effort of implementation and maintenance of manual integrations. We'll see Agile ALM solutions with CM as its core for organizations looking to improve and scale their Agile processes while still maintaining control. And we may see more holistic unified change and release management solutions

Prediction #3: CM “in the Clouds”
As we looking into 2010 and the future, there may be two focus areas relating to the “Cloud”. The first is ensuring that there is configuration management of the Cloud infrastructure and the second is that there will be more of a focus on hosted CM services in the clouds. Companies are looking for software as a service (SAAS) solutions to limit their infrastructure debt, but these environments also require solid configuration management so the customers of the SAAS solutions can feel confident that changes within these environments will be effectively managed. The second is providing a CM service for software development in the clouds. This way development teams do not need to incur the cost and effort of setting up a CM environment and maintaining it, but instead use a CM environment in the clouds with built in version control, build management, and defect tracking tools that already exist.

Summary
As we look into 2010, conditions may get cloudy but not in the meteorological sense. Companies are looking for “software as a service” (SAAS) solutions to limit their technology debt, but will want to ensure the infrastructure is well managed. Agility will continue to show up in various forms in both the Configuration Management (CM) and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) contexts. Also, books such as “Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams” and blogs will help CM and Agile teams understand and adapt to Agile methods. Whether your forecast is sunny or cloudy (or both), consider flexibility, adaptability, and agility in driving your business! Have a productive 2010!!!

To read the full article on this, feel free to visit: http://www.cmcrossroads.com/cm-journal-articles/13187-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-agility-cm-predictions-for-2010

What are your thoughts on where CM is moving to in 2010? 

Infrastructure for Agile Teams - Who are some "in the Clouds" service providers?

Unlike the past where organizations and product lines spent considerable time and large amounts of capital to establish local infrastructure, the future presents us with other options. They include (but not limited to) renting infrastructure "in the clouds" (e.g., in the internet), owning the server and renting space "in the clouds" (hosting service provider), and owning everything locally and on-premise (within your company). Focusing on "in the clouds", there are several types of "in the Clouds" service providers that allow teams to quickly get infrastructure set for Agile teams.

For those wanting to rent or lease a cloud infrastructure, this is a more recent concept and option that some organizations are utilizing where the infrastructure (servers, software, etc.) is effectively in the internet cloud. This service is sometimes known as cloud computing but have a variety of other names each with slightly different focuses and approaches including software as a service (SaaS) sometimes known as the application service provider (ASP) model, platform as a service (PaaS), application infrastructure provider (AIP). Some companies that provide cloud infrastructure include Force.com, Right Scale, Rackspace, GoGrid, and Caspio Bridge. Not all provide the exact same set of services, but they each provide aspects of cloud infrastructure services. Consider performing a search on “cloud infrastructure” for more service providers.

For those wanting to avoid the cost of having a secure datacenter on premises, then can rent a space in the clouds. Co-location as a service refers to renting space in the clouds by a service provider in order to physically host your server or servers. This is slightly different from cloud infrastructure where you rent a service that provides you access to infrastructure without necessarily knowing the details behind it. For co-location services include ColoSpace, I/O Data Centers, Colocation.com and Peer1 amongst others. They all provide either strictly collocation services or co-location as part of their set of services. Since co-location is most advantageous when the service is within your location, it is best to perform a search on “co-location” and possibly your city or state.

As you consider each of these approaches, take a good look at the amount of your budget, need for control, and even the development methodology you are considering. These factors can help you better evaluate the best infrastructure model that is best for your needs.