Agile Software Requirements: Lean Requirements Practices for Teams, Programs, and the Enterprise

Agile Software Development Series

by Dean Leffingwell

“We need better approaches to understanding and managing software requirements, and Dean provides them in this book. He draws ideas from three very useful intellectual classical management practices, Agile methods, and lean product development. By combining the strengths of these three approaches, he has produced something that works better than any one in isolation.” –From the Foreword by Don Reinertsen, President of Reinertsen & Associates; author of Managing the Design Factory ; and leading expert on rapid product development Effective requirements discovery and analysis is a critical best practice for serious application development. Until now, however, requirements and Agile methods have rarely coexisted peacefully. For many enterprises considering Agile approaches, the absence of effective and scalable Agile requirements processes has been a showstopper for Agile adoption. In Agile Software Requirements, Dean Leffingwell shows exactly how to create effective requirements in Agile environments. This book will help you leverage the benefits of Agile without sacrificing the value of effective requirements discovery and analysis. You’ll find proven solutions you can apply right now–whether you’re a software developer or tester, executive, project/program manager, architect, or team leader.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Software, Programming, Management, Technology, Computer Science

518 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2010

Reviews

[Henri Hämäläinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I think the book title sucks. Dean Leffingwell's book is named Agile Software Requirements, but it is all about the Enterprise Agile model called Scaled Agile Framework (a.k.a. SAFe). I don't understand why that couldn't have been the title of the book also.

I have hands on experience about SAFe model, when it was invented (at least partly) at Nokia. I was heavily involved in taking it in to use in Multimedia area. I don't want to talk too much about SAFe model this time, I try to concentrate more on the book side. I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the SAFe model, but it does make many good points and definitely adds value to certain kind of organizations.

The book as such was a disappointment. It does have some good insights in many of the different chapters, but it is way too long. Everything about the book could have been said in around 200 pages. There is lot of repeating the same basic things in many different chapters.

Maybe it's just me getting bored, but I'm not sure if all Agile books need to repeat the how Scrum works and all the other basic things. I guess we could get over that part on the future books. I do realize those are easy to skip, but I don't easily skip chapters, because authors have wanted those to be there.

What I liked about the book was that it shows that software development affects to so many different parts of organization. There needs to be well planned mechanism to have proper amount of guidance to write the actual code.

For those who have no idea how to scale Agile software development to larger scale organizations, this might be a good book to read. It gives one view how scaling can be done, but it is too strict for my taste. I don't believe there to be one size fits all solution. I think I've heard Leffingwell to say the same thing, but the book forgets to tell about the other possibilities.

I'm not sure if I would actually recommend the book to anyone. Scaled Agile Framework is definitely worth of checking at, but you can get almost the same level understanding from the SAFe webpage. It didn't raise to be any of my favorite Agile books.

This review was originally published in my blog here

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of how Agile fits into a very large enterprise. Other agile books I read seemed only written for small teams. This one scales it up all the way through the organization and gives a framework. Gave a book club at work on this one.

[Robert Merrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sat on my "to read" shelf for a long time, even though I am a practicing Business (Requirements) Analyst, and I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got around to it. It explains a lot of the thinking behind (I think) the popular Scaled Agile Framework, or SAFe. I really liked the way Dean takes the reader through the material three times, first with a very quick overview, then a slightly deeper dive, then down among the fish and clams. It gave me the ability to understand what the people who argue about ways of scaling agile were arguing about. I haven't read a lot on the topic, so there is probably something better out there, but "Agile Software Requirements" served me well.

[Torben Rasmussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected a book on agile requirements, but this is not just about requirements. Instead Dean has compiled the most comprehensive work on agile to date.
The book covers agile at team, programme and enterprise level expertly laying out practices and principles at all levels to guide an enterprise.
He provides an easy adaptable and lightweight blueprint of how to organise an agile enterprise from ideation and strategy down to daily operations in teams. An amazing accomplishment.
This is a must read for anyone contemplating agile in any enterprise.

[Uriel Vidal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro muy amplio sobre SAFe en que describe a partir de como funcionan los requerimientos como funciona cada parte de ese marco de referencia. Es un libro exhaustivo y en ciertas partes toma un modo académico, por lo que puede resultar a ser cansado si no se está acostumbrado a este tipo de lecturas.
Es muy recomendable este libro si estás en una empresa que está adoptado SAFe o eres nuevo y no conoces nada de ello, incluso si no se sabe nada de métodos ágiles. No sé si pudiera ser referencia para alguna certificación, pero sí para conocer a fondo la forma de trabajo.

[Piotr Gregorczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not only about requirements but also about Agile per se. It's rather long and detailed book and if you are familiar with SAFe some parts might be boring. However, some parts of the book are truly inspiring including Product Owner role(s) in a large enterprise and what are Agile pitfalls. Personally, my favorite chapters are about scaling the agile to a portfolio and how to set up large projects.

[Milan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book title is a bit misleading, as this book covers not only requirements part of the agile, but all aspects of agile in software development at various levels of enterprise companies (from investment themes, to epics / features / stories). It has nearly 500 pages and lot of stuff is well known, but there are some goodies.

[Tanushree Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone wanting to learn and understand SAFe this is the book for you. I absolutely loved it. I was able to grasp and implement most of the things.

[Jeff Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only give this book 4 stars rather than 5 because most of the knowledge is ingrained in Agile culture and lore. This book serves as a great reminder of why it is so important.

[David Jellison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This handbook provides a SAFe framework for scaling the product road map across many agile teams that supports both independent and coordinated release cycles. It introduces an hierarchy of Epic/(Sub-epic)/Feature/Story/Task order, where Epics are managed by a cross-functional project management body and Features are owned by team leadership. It supports many of the better agile practices today, including the practices spelled out in the Martin Fowler and Mike Cohen book series. Both "Agile Testing" and "Continuous Delivery" books are explored, as well as the author's prior work on requirements management. As we adopt these concepts at Constant Contact, using JIRA/AGILE as our record of reference, we had to add the Structure plugin and other cross-project capability to manage within this SAFe framework. Atlassian acknowledged that they are working on features that will support the SAFe framework in the future.

[Andrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been told by agile practitioners that this is on the best books on the subject. Being an agile enthusiast myself, I found it to be a real mind opener. I loved how it explained the roles in agile on both team and program level. I also loved how they suggested transition paths from traditional project managers to agile project managers. Although it is a software methodology book, I would say it is and easy to moderate read. The explanations are clear, lots tips and tricks that you can immediately apply in your organisation and the pictures are very well supporting the text. I would recommend this book to newbies who might get a very nice overview of what Agile is, as well as more experienced agilists who can always build a broader view.

[Kim Leandersson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, but not particularly on requirement handling in an agile world, but on how to adopt agile in a large scale.

Sure, the book goes into the usual agile for dummies for one team, but it also covers every part of the agile process with clear examples for both team, program and enterprise.

It so far the only book I've found that deals with the added complexity of running agile on a large scale (with releases, architecture, NFR, different cadence etc). Truly recommended for anyone with an interest in agile on a larger scale.

[Mikael Svahnberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

When reading other books about agile/lean, it has always chafed me that they focus exclusicely on the development team level, and assume that stories "magically" appear in the backlog. Instead, this book focus on what goes on in a large enteprise to put the stories into the backlog. As such it is one of the few books I've seen that shows how to scale agile/lean methodologies.

It is a bit wordy, but there are plenty of explaining pictures (some of which are gratuitous) so you can read it quite selectively if you are thus inclined.

[June Ding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically a book on SAFe framework, on how to scale Agile. A must read if you think about doing large scale Agile projects. The idea on team level, program level and portfolio level is spot on and can be a great tool. It maybe considered a bit prescriptive but I think everyone can customize and adopt what works for your organisation. What is lacking for me is that it is such a big book on requirement but it mentions nothing about business process reengineering or story maps.

[Francois D’Agostini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for structuring Agile into the enterprise level. However, better take this as one of the many possibilities rather than applying it by the book.
Agile is really about decentralization and an empowerment mindset. So having a book to "organize" agile seems a bit outdated

But the concepts of programs are good. I'm using it in my company

[Lyndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sceptical about SAFe but found the book really pragmatic. lots of practical approaches to the real challenges you face with agile in larger environments. In a perfect world you should not have to use some of these and could apply a "purer" agile approach but in many environments these may help you get benefit when you are not able to overcome resistance with other approaches.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Agile Software Requirements read like an advertisement for the Agile development method -- it's more of a **how** guide, rather than something which gives justifications or substance as to **why**. Consider it a good resource if you're looking to implement a full agile process to your business, but not if you're looking for research into the value of agile development as a practice.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should be required reading for anyone helping a company through an agile transformation. I read it cover to cover and marked up many of the pages. Quite a useful desk reference, at least until the next methodology comes along...

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was marketed as being useful for managing multiple agile teams within a portfolio. Instead, it was primarily (~80%) a rehash of how to do Agile, which plenty of other books have already addressed.

[Scott Brown]

Good textbook on lean software requirements. It was instrumental in shaping a program level presentation on the performance and reliability of our systems. Most agile books focus on the team and Leffingwell focuses on a broader audience; teams, programs and enterprises.

[MrSnow76 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview about working with Software Requirements. Not only good for POs but also Scrum Masters and Management to learn about how to deal with requirements beyond the team level (features, epics, themes).
This book is the foundation of the later SAFe framework.

[Chad Holdorf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for your next level of agility.

[Collin Rogowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently the best book on enterprise/scaled Scrum

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

my agile bible ...

[Steen Sørensen]

A very good journey through the trade of defining and managing requirements in an agile context. A must read book.

[Shawn Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry

[Kaspars Koo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
Could be shorter, but in general is a good overview of agile practices for large enterprises.

[Andrii Karabak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't about agile requirements, but about SAFe (see http://www.scaledagileframework.com/). You won't find a lot of not obvious things about requirements in the book. So make decision carefully, as you can waste a time reading the whole chapter about using Use Case approach in agile development, but as a result you just recap simple concepts such as Actor, Main Flow, Pre-Conditions etc.
On the other hand, you can find some useful information about approaching agile in entreprise business.

[Sudharshan]

want to read

[Delhi Irc]

Location: GG7 IRC
Accession No: DL030696