Agile Committee

Mission

This joint industry and government committee focuses on the application of program performance management practices in an agile development environment. The committee provides a forum to exchange views and information as well as provide guidance and direction for projects that have adopted the agile development methodology.

Agile has emerged as a leading industry software development methodology and has seen growing adoption across the DoD and other federal agencies. The demand for responsiveness and efficiency extends to all aspects of system development and delivery, starting with negotiation of the contract, applicable Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRLs), and effective implementation of Earned Value Management (EVM).    To remain an effective management tool, performance management processes, including EVM, must support these changing demands while enabling cost and schedule performance measurement against the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB).

The committee has authored an Industry practice guide for Agile on Earned Value Management Programs. The guide provides practices drawn from lessons learned by multiple aerospace and defense firms and their software development activities. It discusses a recommended approach for the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) content, Control Accounts (CA), Work Packages (WP), and Planning Packages (PP) to be used on an Agile development program. It also discusses program performance measurement in an Agile iterative development framework along with baseline change control.

Download the current guide: Industry Practice Guide for Agile on Earned Value Management Programs. 

The committee has also developed overview training that covers the guidebook content as well as an overview of the Agile Framework. 

NDIA IPMD Agile Framework Overview. The Agile Input Overview is a training package geared towards education on the Agile Mind-Set and how to shift thinking when moving into an Agile framework. The training package ends with a check list required out of the agile framework before EVM planning and scheduling should begin, as the EVM implementation should be established around the goals of the agile framework.  The content is meant to stand alone with teacher notes on each slide.  This course content should be understood prior to the NDIA IPMD Agile and EVM Training.

An Industry Practice Guide for Agile on Earned Value Management Programs. (Version 1.2 Fall 2018) This training package mirrors the NDIA IPMD Industry Practice Guide for Agile on EVM Industry Practice Guide, Version 1.2 in an outlined, bulleted format, offering a condensed “cliff note” version of the formal guide.  Each slide contains “teaching points” to ensure the training package stands alone. The slide deck and teaching points work in tandem for a condensed version of the critical messaging further explained in the full version of the guide.

• Download the Training Package: NDIA IPMD Agile Framework Overview
  
  
• Download the Training Package: An Industry Practice Guide for Agile on Earned Value Management Program

• Download the Informational Webinar Package: NDIA IPMD Applying Agile Dev and Execution on DoD Projects – This NDIA briefing was the last session in a 3 part webinar conducted on 15 March 2021.  The briefing gives situational insight to the IPMD Agile Committee activities and conversation early in 2021.  It documents the pitfalls, a maturity model and key resources to reference for an agile and EVM implementation
  
  
• Links to articles and white papers authored or endorsed by agile committee members
  
  
  • Hardware & Software Agile Techniques - https://radicallybetteragile.com/articles - This NDIA supplementary white paper provides Agile techniques for hardware and software development including team member cross-functionality, crafting vertical slices of product, developing products incrementally, and Scaling.
    

To participate in the Agile Committee please contact Andrea Nibert.