Application of Lean tenets in various Software life-cycle models

Application of Lean tenets in various Software life-cycle models
Nikhil Gupta
Software Quality Assurance Manager
Wipro Technologies

Introduction:

Lean principles initiated by Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda, his son Kiichiro Toyoda, and the engineer Taiichi Ohno have been successfully adapted and implemented in industries like automotive, construction, healthcare, banking, aero and so on. In Wipro, in our quest for continuous improvement, we have been analyzing and applying lean principles for Software Industry, and have applied lean in 250+ projects since 2004. This paper shares the lean principles and tools that have yielded maximum benefits in a software environment.

The projects have been broadly classified in 3 project buckets: Software Development (projects developing new functionality following life-cycles like Waterfall, V or Iterative), Software Maintenance (projects providing defect fixing or feature enhancement services) and Production Support (projects providing end-user Level1/Level2 helpdesk support).

Based on our lean implementation experience, we have identified principles that provide most value in each of the 3 project buckets and also the phase that they would be applicable. Example, for a software development project, Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) helps in planning. A Visual Control is best utilized during Design, Coding and Testing phases. Similarly, for Production Support, we have found that Value Stream Mapping (VSM) provides benefits in eliminating waste.

In this presentation, we would share the lean principles and tools best suited for a software industry, with examples of their use in various phases of software projects and their use for Software Process Improvement.

Learning Objectives:

Lean principles
Application of lean in SPI
Explore 1 tenet in depth.

Biography:

Nikhil Gupta has about 16 years of industry experience, having worked as Software Quality Assurance Manager, Quality Consultant & Project Manager for various Software programs. He has been involved in multiple lean projects and driven process improvement activities in requirement collection, design, implementation, testing, test automation, sustenance phases. His experience includes a 2 year stint in the US/UK working on providing process consulting to clients. His professional certifications and accreditations include Certified Quality Black Belt in Six Sigma, PMP, PRINCE2 (Practitioner). He has presented papers in various national and international forums including “Managing your Test Organization in the outsourcing scenario” for Swiss Testing Day in Zurich , Switzerland and “ Test Process Maturity Assessment using Software Test Diagnostic Model (STDM)” for PSQT West 2007 in Las Vegas.