Published by Addison-Wesley (June 29, 2016) © 2017
Vinod SankaranarayananOrganizations invest immense amounts of time, resources, and attention in their software projects. But all too often, when it's time to transfer the finished project to new "owners," they settle for the most superficial classroom training, documentation, and code walkthroughs. These conventional approaches to knowledge transfer often fail, dramatically reducing the value of new systems in production. You can do much better - and Software Ownership Transfer will show you how.
This is the first practical, hands-on guide to knowledge transfer in today's agile environments. Using a realistic, large-scale case study, ThoughtWorks expert Vinod Sankaranarayanan shows how to elevate knowledge transfer from "necessary evil" to an activity full of agility and innovation, and bring together multiple organizations and cultures to make ownership transfer work.
Sankaranarayanan explains why mere documentation of error reports and processes isn't enough, and shows how to successfully craft a knowledge transfer program that's more substantive and effective. Along the way, he offers guidance on overcoming the commercial compromises and personal tensions often associated with transferring systems to new ownership; and on transforming mere "knowledge transfer" into something much better: "taking ownership."
Preface xxiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: The Challenge with Knowledge Transfers 5
Post Takeover 7
Contracting 8
Timing 9
Scope 9
True Cost of Transfer 10
Practical World 12
Competing Priorities 12
Rebadging 12
The Evolving Nature of the Program 15
Politics 15
Things to Know and Do 17
Chapter 2: Ownership Transfer: Bringing Home a Child 19
Ownership Is More than Experience and Expertise 20
Investment 20
Empowerment 21
Building Ownership Takes Time 21
Action 21
How Do You Recognize Ownership? 22
Things to Know and Do 25
Chapter 3: The Approach 27
Visualize the To-Be State 27
Things to Know and Do 29
Chapter 4: The Program 31
Purpose of the Program 31
Orbits of Influence 32
Cost of the Program 34
The Scope 35
Timeline 36
Program Structure and Governance 36
Risks 37
An Imperfect World 38
Team Retention 39
Effectiveness and Assimilation 39
Management and Measurement 39
Motivation 40
Production Issues 40
Miscellaneous 41
Things to Know and Do 42
Chapter 5: Being Agile 43
Pairing Interaction and Collaboration 43
Tools 44
Be Agile and Build Ownership 45
Code Comfort: Working Code over Documentation 46
The Product Principle 48
On Change 49
Things to Know and Do 50
Chapter 6: Culture 53
Power Distance 54
Cross-Organizational Cultures 54
Team Culture and Process 56
Retrospective Culture 58
Iteration Planning Culture 59
How Distance Impacts Culture 59
Capacity and Culture 60
Culture and Ownership 61
The Politics of Culture 62
“Not Invented Here” Syndrome 64
Culture in the Trenches—Pairing 66
Culture of Toil 67
Culture of Documentation 68
Ownership Is Taken 68
Pulling Them Together 71
Things to Know and Do 72
Chapter 7: Engineering 75
Transforming the Factory 76
Automating Quality 76
Versioning 77
Transformation through Ownership Transfer 78
Things to Know and Do 81
Chapter 8: Infrastructure 83
Ship the Shop 83
There Is Software in Infrastructure, Too 83
Engineering and Infrastructure 84
Distributed Hardware 85
The Infrastructure Team 86
Things to Know and Do 88
Chapter 9: Continuous Business 89
The Float 89
Releases 91
Releases Are Must-Haves 92
Business Value 93
What Not to Transfer 93
Business Stakeholder Management 94
Comfort through Continuous Business 95
Business Continuity 95
Production Support 96
Team Ramp-Downs 96
Ownership Transfer Must End as a Non-Event 97
Things to Know and Do 99
Chapter 10: Executing Ownership Transfer 101
The Process of Transfer 102
Pairing 103
Tracking Ownership Transfer 104
Teaming 104
Remote Pairing Checklist 105
Retrospectives 107
Ownership Transfer of BAs and QAs 112
Transferring Hardware 113
Colocation 114
Changing Equations 115
A Layered Experience 118
Things to Know and Do 119
Chapter 11: Process 123
Team Interdependencies 123
Team Structure Changes 124
Inceptions and Project Ownership 126
Skill Sets 127
Showcases 128
Project Execution 128
Defects 129
Release Process 130
Team Size Changes 131
Conway’s Law 132
The Definition of Done 133
Production Support 134
DevOps Communication 136
Costing 136
Governance 137
Things to Know and Do 138
Chapter 12: Measuring Ownership Transfer 139
Purpose of the Transfer 140
Releases 140
Functional Projects 140
Incumbent Team Ramp-Down 141
Things to Know and Do 141
Chapter 13: The Three Bridges 143
Duration of Ownership Transfer 143
Functionality 144
Domain Appreciation 144
Cross-Domain Experience 145
Being a User 146
Skill 147
Contextual Ambidexterity 147
Quality Analysis Skills 148
Skill for the Future 148
Agile Fluency 148
Teams Operating at Different Levels 149
Things to Know and Do 151
Chapter 14: Putting It Together 153
Change Management 154
Individual 154
Reskilling 154
Recalibrating Expectations 155
Team Interactions 155
Team 155
Resistance to Change 156
Team Restructure 156
Organization 156
Wide Impact 157
Outsourcing 157
Global Village 157
National Culture 158
Things to Know and Do 159
Chapter 15: Conclusion 161
The Lean Agile March 161
Incentives 163
Start Early 164
Sign-Off 164
Things to Know and Do 165
Chapter 16: Epilogue 167
Bibliography 171
Glossary 173
Index 177
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: The Challenge with Knowledge Transfers 5
Post Takeover 7
Contracting 8
Timing 9
Scope 9
True Cost of Transfer 10
Practical World 12
Competing Priorities 12
Rebadging 12
The Evolving Nature of the Program 15
Politics 15
Things to Know and Do 17
Chapter 2: Ownership Transfer: Bringing Home a Child 19
Ownership Is More than Experience and Expertise 20
Investment 20
Empowerment 21
Building Ownership Takes Time 21
Action 21
How Do You Recognize Ownership? 22
Things to Know and Do 25
Chapter 3: The Approach 27
Visualize the To-Be State 27
Things to Know and Do 29
Chapter 4: The Program 31
Purpose of the Program 31
Orbits of Influence 32
Cost of the Program 34
The Scope 35
Timeline 36
Program Structure and Governance 36
Risks 37
An Imperfect World 38
Team Retention 39
Effectiveness and Assimilation 39
Management and Measurement 39
Motivation 40
Production Issues 40
Miscellaneous 41
Things to Know and Do 42
Chapter 5: Being Agile 43
Pairing Interaction and Collaboration 43
Tools 44
Be Agile and Build Ownership 45
Code Comfort: Working Code over Documentation 46
The Product Principle 48
On Change 49
Things to Know and Do 50
Chapter 6: Culture 53
Power Distance 54
Cross-Organizational Cultures 54
Team Culture and Process 56
Retrospective Culture 58
Iteration Planning Culture 59
How Distance Impacts Culture 59
Capacity and Culture 60
Culture and Ownership 61
The Politics of Culture 62
“Not Invented Here” Syndrome 64
Culture in the Trenches—Pairing 66
Culture of Toil 67
Culture of Documentation 68
Ownership Is Taken 68
Pulling Them Together 71
Things to Know and Do 72
Chapter 7: Engineering 75
Transforming the Factory 76
Automating Quality 76
Versioning 77
Transformation through Ownership Transfer 78
Things to Know and Do 81
Chapter 8: Infrastructure 83
Ship the Shop 83
There Is Software in Infrastructure, Too 83
Engineering and Infrastructure 84
Distributed Hardware 85
The Infrastructure Team 86
Things to Know and Do 88
Chapter 9: Continuous Business 89
The Float 89
Releases 91
Releases Are Must-Haves 92
Business Value 93
What Not to Transfer 93
Business Stakeholder Management 94
Comfort through Continuous Business 95
Business Continuity 95
Production Support 96
Team Ramp-Downs 96
Ownership Transfer Must End as a Non-Event 97
Things to Know and Do 99
Chapter 10: Executing Ownership Transfer 101
The Process of Transfer 102
Pairing 103
Tracking Ownership Transfer 104
Teaming 104
Remote Pairing Checklist 105
Retrospectives 107
Ownership Transfer of BAs and QAs 112
Transferring Hardware 113
Colocation 114
Changing Equations 115
A Layered Experience 118
Things to Know and Do 119
Chapter 11: Process 123
Team Interdependencies 123
Team Structure Changes 124
Inceptions and Project Ownership 126
Skill Sets 127
Showcases 128
Project Execution 128
Defects 129
Release Process 130
Team Size Changes 131
Conway’s Law 132
The Definition of Done 133
Production Support 134
DevOps Communication 136
Costing 136
Governance 137
Things to Know and Do 138
Chapter 12: Measuring Ownership Transfer 139
Purpose of the Transfer 140
Releases 140
Functional Projects 140
Incumbent Team Ramp-Down 141
Things to Know and Do 141
Chapter 13: The Three Bridges 143
Duration of Ownership Transfer 143
Functionality 144
Domain Appreciation 144
Cross-Domain Experience 145
Being a User 146
Skill 147
Contextual Ambidexterity 147
Quality Analysis Skills 148
Skill for the Future 148
Agile Fluency 148
Teams Operating at Different Levels 149
Things to Know and Do 151
Chapter 14: Putting It Together 153
Change Management 154
Individual 154
Reskilling 154
Recalibrating Expectations 155
Team Interactions 155
Team 155
Resistance to Change 156
Team Restructure 156
Organization 156
Wide Impact 157
Outsourcing 157
Global Village 157
National Culture 158
Things to Know and Do 159
Chapter 15: Conclusion 161
The Lean Agile March 161
Incentives 163
Start Early 164
Sign-Off 164
Things to Know and Do 165
Chapter 16: Epilogue 167
Bibliography 171
Glossary 173
Index 177