4 Agile Best Practices Every Managed IT Service Should Follow

  The role of the architect in the agile team is challenging and not precisely defined. Neither the Agile Principles nor the Scrum Principles clearly define responsibility. But the role of the architect in agile development services is important.

Agile transforms traditional command and control mechanisms, including all rules, guidelines and standards, into a democratic process that gives everyone on the team the freedom and flexibility to design their systems. Without an architect, things get ugly as the sprint progresses, and without standards and frameworks, managing code becomes a nightmare.

Traditionally, Managed IT Services have designed, created and documented solutions. This documentation is extensive and is made available prior to the development phase of the project.

In agile scenarios, however, architects work on epics and user stories in the product backlog to provide the best solution. After talking to product owners and agile teams, they need to get an overview and make global design decisions.

Here are the best strategies and practices all agile architects should use to be successful.

1. Define the vision of the architecture

Agile architects define an architectural vision that is tailored to the company's business and strategic goals. In addition, the technical direction is determined taking into account the most important constraints such as scope and budget. You choose the right solution for your company and design an architecture that can be tested and adapted.

To do this, architects need to understand the needs, goals and limitations of their stakeholders. Architects must work closely with the sprint team and be agile in terms of design, architectural modeling, and documentation.

2. Choose the right technology and tools

In Agile, the selection of tools and technologies is very important. The architect should help the team choose the right tools and technologies, but not tell them which tools and technologies to use. Agile architects need to involve people in decisions and collaborate and contribute when necessary.

3. Change plan

Architectures that cannot handle changes are fragile and not agile. Agile architects need to be able to plan changes, manage changes in a controlled manner and understand the associated costs.

Architects should encourage comments and suggestions, not protect their ideas. Architects need to embrace change and feedback.

 

However, architects should not accept changes without considering the impact and cost of the changes. The architect should be able to find alternatives.

4. Interact, cooperate and motivate

Agile architects need to build relationships with team members. Socialization is critical to the success of agile architects. The failure of the dating can be the reason for the failure of the agile architect of the agile team. Therefore, agile architects have to be good at communication and collaboration within and between teams.

Agile architects need to communicate with interested parties and understand their goals, requirements and constraints.

The agile architect absolutely has to communicate the architecture so that everyone in the team can recognize it. Agile architects must be able to spend time with the team, motivate team members, and earn the team's respect and trust in order to be successful. The success of the agile team is primarily based on mutual understanding, knowledge and cooperation.

The agile architect doesn't have to be a problem solver. Agile architects need to motivate, guide and lead the team rather than solving problems so that members can solve the problems themselves. The architect must work with the team to make design decisions. You need to keep developing your design ideas by coordinating product inventory with your team.a