Copyright 2011 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved. CONFIDENTIAL: FOR INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLY

Presenters:David RamosIlya Solovyev

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Agile Meets Waterfall

CONFIDENTIAL: FOR INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLYCopyright 2011 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Project Objective

To enable Linkshare to collect and pay VAT (Value Added Tax) exclusive to the

commissions that Publishers earn, which will enable Linkshare to compete effectively for Publishers in the U.K and

European markets.

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VAT

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Project Challenges

� Complexity� Changes required on 5 production systems� Limited legacy documentation� Large volume of semi-documented exceptions

� Time to Market� Compressed project schedule to meet same year

revenue target

� Resources Availability� Competing projects� Limited number of Subject Matter Experts� Steep learning curve to ramp additional resources

� Lessons learned from a previous related project� High volume of bugs� Limited test cases and test rounds� Inadequate testing environment� Limited test data

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Inception

Requirements

Design

Code

Test

Regression

UAT

Deploy

Close

Solution to Challenges: Agile Meets Waterfall

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Q4 2011Q3 2011Q2 2011

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Project Approach

Key Agile Principles Key Waterfall Principles

Small Batches �Functionality is developed in short iterations of 1-4 weeks, and

released into production frequently, as often as weekly.

Large Batches

Typical delivery schedule is two or three times a year.

Responding To Change �Acknowledge uncertainty, and adapt to both external (market)

and internal changes, by modifying plans and approach. Use

engineering principles to make code base easy to modify.

Baseline and Change Control �Typically constrain, or even completely eliminate any

significant change other than dropping features. Work to initial

plans, even when they are proven to be invalid.

Iteration & Continuous Improvement

Retrospectives at the end of each iteration allows teams to

reflect, learn and continually improve by continually adapting.

Lessons Learned at the End �Negative feedback is rarely if ever given, and often too late to

avoid significant project consequences.

Small, Integrated Teams �Small team size and complementary overlap in skill sets

simplifies communications, allows everyone to see the big

picture, creates self discipline and provide flexibility.

Silo Teams with Handoffs �Staff works in functional oriented groups, throwing

documentation and code over the wall.

Focus on Highest Value First �Align project, product and team visions

by prioritizing by business needs, and using well-architectured

code, to deliver better quality products faster and cheaper.

All or Nothing

Tight coupling, and a bias toward building out the internals in

a breadth first fashion, means that nothing can be delivered in

isolation, even if it’s valuable.

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Team Structure

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Role Agile Waterfall

Product Owner �

Project Manager �

Technical Functional Manager

�

RequirementsManager

� �

Technical Lead �

SoftwareDevelopers

� �

QA Lead �

QA Engineers � �

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Development Approach

• Agile for Development and Test• Daily ½ hour meeting • Three 1-week sprints

• Assignments to sprint backlog tasks• Dependent on developer’s expertise

• The team was self-organized• Found the best architecture and

code design approaches during weekly sprints

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• Test development first – from unit testing to demo

• Test Environment– 60% performance

improvement

• Test Data

• Created WIKI page– result of existing unit

tests

• Sprint QA testing

Test Approach

LinkShare Wiki

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Project Outcomes

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Largest Related Code Release since Q4 2010– Code Reviews– Early Testing + Testing with Recent Data– Multiple Rounds of UAT

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned

Out Box ThinkingOut Box Thinking

Team WorkTeam Work

Project SuccessProject

Success

Post Release Bugs Pre Release Bugs

329

264

111

Days to First Invoice

29

2

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Agile Challenges

Backlog • It can grow to a size where

it’s difficult to groom or prioritize in any reasonable amount of time

Documentation• It often gets out prioritized

Staffing• Some resist to co-locate• Estimating complex stories

can be difficult to less experienced team members.

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Conclusion

Agile + Waterfall

– Can co-exist

– Helps produce the highest quality product

– Helps achieve milestones and adhere to timelines

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Next Steps

• 2012 Product Roadmap

• Adapt this new approach to complex and time sensitive projects

• Example: Global SAP

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CONFIDENTIAL: FOR INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLYCopyright 2011 LinkShare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Next Steps – Global SAP Rollout 2012

Global SAPGlobal SAP

Phase 1LinkShare

Rollout

Phase 1LinkShare

Rollout

Legacy System

Integration

Legacy System

Integration

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Agile

Waterfall

• Multiple Concurrent Projects• 2 Week Dev Sprints• Quick response to change• Waterfall UAT and Regression

• Single Waterfall Project• Strict Change Control• All or Nothing

Currently Underway