KentW Limited

This post is an extension of the overview – read this first: Agile ERP Implementations

In this post we will focus on the implementation team.

The standard Scrum method has an organisational structure as follows:

• Scrum Team – Everybody on the project
  • Product Owner – Project Manager
    • Development Team – Individual Sprint team
      • Scrum Master – Team leader and facilitator
      • Team Member – Professional developer

In addition to this an ERP implementation project may need cross-departmental and multi-project coordination:

• Steering Committee – Cross-departmental coordination
• Programme Manager – Cross-project coordination

Organisation Chart:

Scrum Team

The Scrum Team is a self-organising cross-functional project team responsible for delivering a product.

With an ERP implementation the product would be a working implementation live in production.

As with any normal business you may have several parallel on-going projects however these would have their own Scrum Teams. Coordination between projects may require a programme manager or similar.

As ERP implementation projects mostly are cross-departmental the scope of the Scrum should be controlled by a Steering Committee. This is not stated as part of the Scrum methodology but the Scrum methodology is made for product development where most products are developed within one department – hence no need for this kind of coordination.

Product Owner

The Product Owner is responsible for delivery of the product on time and budget. The product owner owns and maintains the product backlog. In an ERP Implementation the product owner may have to answer to a steering committee to ensure cross-departmental interests are met.

The Product Owner will also manage any agreed change to the product backlog and may maintain a project wide issue log.

The Product Owner has the power to cancel a Sprint if it is overrunning or hitting unexpected difficulties.

Development Team

The Development Team is responsible for delivering a Sprint producing a working product or a new feature.

The Development Team is tailored to the individual Sprint and is not static throughout the whole Scrum project.

Multiple Development Teams can work in parallel – each producing a Sprint. However care must be taken to ensure features are not dependent between parallel Sprints.

Each Development Team should be kept to a minimum ideally less than 8 people.

A typical development team for a basic General Ledger setup Sprint could be:

• Scrum Master
• Client Accountant
• Client Chief Accountant
• External General Ledger Consultant
• External Developer

This may vary based on module and project size but if the team becomes too big for a Sprint – it is better to split the Sprint into smaller pieces.

Smaller teams are more efficient and communicate better which is the basic idea behind the Scrum methodology.

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is the development team leader responsible for facilitating and monitoring the Sprint.

The Scrum Master will ensure the Scrum methodology is followed by all development team members.

The Scrum Master owns and maintains the Sprint backlog and reports progress back to the Product Owner.

Any issues or impediments are resolved within the Development Team or escalated to the Product Owner.

Team Member

The Team Member is a professional responsible for developing the product with the help of the other team members.

All team members are equal and are all developers with the sole focus of producing the product or feature in accordance to the Sprint backlog.

Any issues identified are reported to the Scrum Master.

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