The role of a solution architect on an agile project. Slides for the Association of Dynamics Professionals session on August 08, 2015

1. dynamicpartnerconnections.com
Dynamics AX Consulting Expert Series
Solution Architecture of Dynamics AX
The role of a solution architect on an agile project, part I
Viktor Lesiv
Director of Technology
Arbela Technologies
Viacheslav Nefedov
Program manager
Celenia Global Services
Presenters

2. The authors
2
vin@celenia.com
viktor.lesiv@arbelatech.com
Viacheslav Nefedov
Celenia Global Services
Program Manager
Viktor Lesiv
Arbela Technologies
Director of Technology

3. The topics
Session 1
– Definition of Software Architecture
– Responsibilities and deliverables
– SA role in project planning
3
Session 2
Technology selection
Estimation technics
Working with requirements
 Now
 September, 9th

4. 4
1. Solution
Architect Role
4

5. What is Software Architecture
According to ISO standard ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 "Systems and
software engineering - Architecture description":
5
Architecture is a fundamental concepts or
properties of a system in its environment
embodied in its elements, relationships, and
in the principles of its design and evolution

6. Solution architecture
The big difference between a piece of
software and a solution is that there will
be different solutions for a single
problemset and to define a solution also
means to perform a feature selection
and to find an optimum project scope.

7. What an architect does
Does
• Defines main design decisions
and standards
Responsibility
• Solutions possibilities and
restrictions
• Defining or resources,
software, environments, skills
needed to develop software
• Estimation
7

8. Sample deliverables
• Up-front design
• Designing of solution scope and definitions
of success (together with a product owner)
• Technology mapping
• Standardization
• Development and adjustment of design
standards
• Planning
• Estimation
• Participation in a project roadmap design
• Defining demands in skills and
environments
8

9. 9
2. Architects
and
responsibilities -
Case studies
9

10. Big project, low-qualified team
Project
• Big holding company, more than 30 legal entities
• Automation of finance and accounting
• Low qualification of consulting team
Solution
Use a team of solution architects to:
• Prepare work estimation and roadmap
• Make a fit-gap report, define list of epics to develop
• Monitor and finalize if needed all the Functional
Design Docs
• Take the responsibility for the solution design
10
 Risk!

11. Complex project, hi-qualified team
Project
Development of warehouse solution with
mobile computers, reach trucks and
warehouse optimization tasks
Hi-qualified team of consultants, all the
requirements and solutions are clean for the
team
Solution
No dedicated architects
Regular architecture meetings are used
instead
11
 No upfront design needed!

12. Brand new platform (problem)
Project
Transfer of a big solution to a new
platform
Technology approach is changed
Technologies used are very new for the
team
12
 No standard solutions!

13. Brand new platform (solution)
Solution advisors (technology experts, RnD)
team is used to:
• Prepare technology mapping
• Take responsibility for new kind of tasks –
technology gaps
Solution architects team
• Defines milestones and roadmap for the project
together with the product owner and the project
manager
• Defines design and development standards
• Prepares epics
13
Technology
Design

14. 14
3. Product planning
14

15. Feature selection
Gathering of requirements
Technology mapping and estimation

16. Feature selection path
1. Define the big initial list of business requirements and value
each requirement and each epic feature inside the
requirement in man-hours or in money from customer’s
point of view
2. Split each epic feature into features that can be estimated,
give estimations and give the customer possibility to
compare features by value and costs and to select the final
feature set

17. Voice of the Customer form
Customer Voice of the Customer Business requirement Value
Who is the Customer?
What does the customer
want to be able to do
using the product?
What should the system
do to meet voice of the
customer?
What is the definition
of value for the
customer?
Voice of the Customer collection form

18. Business requirements breakdown form
Business
requirement
Value of BR (in value
points)
Functional epic Weight of epic
Value of epic (in
value points)
Create loyalty
program
management
module
2000
Loyalty program
management console
100 200
Create loyalty
program
management
module
2000
Loyalty cards data
storage and hands-on
processing
700 1400
Create loyalty
program
management
module
2000 Loyalty card scanning 200 400
Business requirements breakdown form

19. Glossary for requirements
1. Business requirement - the goal of the solution described
in terms of business usage. Product is done when it fits
business requirements
2. Functional requirement (feature) - description of the
solution's feature, e.g. credit card processing module for
creation of payment journals
3. Epic features - main features, that are known before the
development process starts. In most projects 50-70% of
functionality is covered by epic features. All the other
features are either subfeatures for epics or are necesary to
cover business requirements

20. Roadmap creation
• Releases with
dates and
names
• List of features
for each
release
• Plan how each
release will be
promoted and
used

21. Product roadmap's goals
1. Limit timeframe to deliver parts of the solution to minimize costs
by defining milestones, names and epics for every milestone
2. Limit technology usage for every stage of development to
maximize ability to communicate between team members by
defining technologies and modules for every stage
3. Provide customer with some dates to ensure possibility to
synchronize product development with related tasks (marketing,
business process changes, business model changes and so on)
4. Ensure possibility for managing project resources (peoples,
knowledge, environments and so on)

22. Questions?
www.Nefedov.net