This presentation was given by Tom Sylvester at IBM Innovate 2014 in Orlando, Florida. This presentation is essentially a case study/lessons learned as Paychex has worked on transforming to Agile and implemented Rational Jazz tools (ex. Rational Team Concert) to support the process and teams.

1. © 2014 IBM Corporation
Session: 1887A
SDLC Transformation: How
Paychex Began Adopting
Rational CLM and Adapted
Along the Way
Tom Sylvester
Agile Coach & Automation Engineer,
Paychex, Inc.
@tsylvest

2. 2
A Tale of Pocket 2s…

3. 3
• Go “Behind the Scenes” at what an SDLC
transformation/adoption really looks like
• Condense 3 years of successes/failures into 40 minutes
– From Waterfall to Agile
– From miscellaneous tools to Rational Jazz (RTC/RRC/RQM)
• Hear the 5 lessons that we learned as an organization
What’s in it for you?

4. 4
Did You Hit Trips?
If Not…
 DDZ-1174 - Collaborative
Development Panel: Best
Practices in Implementing a
Rational Concert Solution
–Dolphin Oceanic 1
DAG-1338 - Configuring the
IBM Rational Jazz Suite in a
SAFe Environment
–Dolphin Southern V

5. 5
• Located in Rochester, NY
• Offers products to support
businesses for payroll,
human resources and
benefits outsourcing
• Approximately 1300
resources in Analysis,
Development and Test
organizations
A Word About Paychex

6. 6
The First Question to Ask

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Our Why
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SDLC Visibility, Integration & Automation
Established 2011
Purpose & Scope
•Provide end to end transparency and traceability for SDLC from requirements
through build and deploy
•Provide consistent and improved development workflow across Development
teams
•Establish the framework for a single Development SCM and workflow engine
•Reduce the complexity introduced through tool integration

8. 8
• Challenges
– Multiple Tools
– Support for Multiple
Tools
– Custom Integrations
– Multiple Processes
– Manual Report
Generation
– Lack of Project
Visibility (Especially IT)
– Outdated Reporting
Our Why
SDLC Visibility, Integration & Automation
Established 2011
Reporting
DB
Stat
Tracker
Release
Access DB

9. My Team’s Visibility, Integration & Automation
9

10. 10
2011 - 2013
10
Busy Times!
• RTC
• Began Adopting
Workflow
• Custom integration
with HP QC
• RRC
• Piloted Several
Requirements
Processes
• RTC SCM
• Began Migrating
Source Code Team
by Team
Reporting
DB
Stat
Tracker
Release
Access DB

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But Wait…

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Our Real Why…
VISION
Maximize the power and creativity of high performing, cross-
functional teams to deliver value to the business and increase the
reliability of delivery through active engagement and collaboration.
12

13. 13
Shifting Our Approach
13
SDLC Visibility,
Integration & Automation
Established 2011
SDLC Transformation
Established 2013

14. 14
The Modified (DAD) Agile Manifesto
INDIVIDUALS & INTERACTIONS
OVER PROCESSES AND TOOLS
WORKING SOLUTIONS
OVER COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTATION
STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION
OVER CONTRACT NEGOTIATION
RESPONDING TO CHANGE
OVER FOLLOWING A PLAN

15. • Discipline 1- Focus on the Wildly
Important Goals
– Our real why
• Discipline 2 - Act on Lead Measures
– Lead measures improve lag
measures
• Discipline 3 – Keep a Compelling
Scoreboard
– Visible reporting
– Team defines their own
• Discipline 4 – Create a Cadence of
Accountability
– Structured and creative can co-exist
Lesson 1: 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)
15

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Lesson 2: People, Process, Tools
• Get the right people involved
• Utilize tools and process to
support people
• Passion, Knowledge,
Influence – 3 Key Traits
• Top Down and Bottom Up
• Seek optimized flow, not
local efficiency
16

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Lesson 3: Drink Your Own Champagne
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 Utilize an agile approach to transform
 Utilize agile tools for the transition
 Utilize agile reporting for the transition
 Think this can be done overnight
 Hold back on communication vision and
updates
 Be afraid to slaughter sacred cows

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Lesson 4: Select Adoption Approach with Intent
• Incremental Rollout or Big Bang?
• Applies to process and tools
• We chose incremental for tools and process
Benefits:
– Focused training, learn & adapt
– Less people needed to support
– Less business interruption
Challenges:
– Working with non-agile teams
– Working with teams using different
tools
– Culture not used to inspect and
adapt process
18

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Lesson 5: Shu-Ha-Ri
• Caterpillars & Organizations
• Shu – Obey
– Provide clear direction and training for what needs to
be done
• Ha – Detach
– People now begin to understand and learn from others
• Ri – Separate
– People expand the mold and create their own ways of
doing things
19

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Bonus: Standards at Portfolio/Program, Not Team
• Self Organizing, each team
adopts it own way of working
• At team level, teams
determine process
• Standards at
program/portfolio level to
support cross team
planning/reporting
• Servant Leadership

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Current State
• 5 Tracks Established w/ Backlogs
• 1 Agile Product Line/Release Train
stood up
• 1 Agile Product Line/Release Train
in Progress
• Starting with 2 product lines at a
time in July
• RTC/RRC adopted for all pilot
teams and any new projects
• SCM just finishing company-wide
migration
• Adjusting reporting, creating rollup
dashboards
21

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So What?
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• Reduced Waste
• Increased Automation
• Increased
Traceability/Transparency
• Reduced tool
administration
• Enabled collaboration,
especially for teams not
co-located
22

23. Questions?

24. Thank You!
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