SYNGO TFS Program InfoTeam Keynote

Page 1 March 15, 2011 Siemens Healthcare SYNGO InfoTeam TechTalk, Bubenreuth

© Siemens AG 2011. All rights reserved.

MS Team Foundation Server (TFS) Program @ SYNGO

Author(s): Arnold Rudorfer, Gerold Herold

Revision: 1.0 Date: March 15, 2011

Contributions: Siemens Healthcare SYNGO TFS Program Team (T. Baer, T. Dasch, A. Gerhäußer, S. Gruber, P. Kiesel, K. Moritzen, C. Schmitt, C. Schu),

Experiences and Lessons Learned …

Prepared for InfoTeam TFS Workshop



Table of Contents

Contents Goals for this talk

Who is SYNGO?

Rationale, evolution of SE technologies

TFS business case, program setup

Initial experiences: Project- & Change MT

Pro’s and Con’s of Using TFS

Further information



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



What are we going to cover today …

Goals of this Talk

Provide you with an overview on SYNGO’s TFS Program Report about our journey

towards using TFS in a large development project syngo.via Review pro‘s and con‘s

engaging in ALM to drive efficiency and cost optimization



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



Who is SYNGO? Our business is to enable clinical workflows

Immunodiagnostics Clinical Chemistry Nucleid Acid Testing

Hematology Lab Automation Urin Analysis

Near Patient Testing

in-vitro diagnostics (laboratory systems)

X-Ray Computed Tomography

Magnetic Resonance

Molecular Imaging

Ultrasound

in-vivo diagnostics (imaging)

syngo.via

Oncology



Efficient image creation, usage, archiving, and sharing

syngo The Central Image Hub In Healthcare Workflows

syngo. It’s all about you.

More patient exams in less time*

Smooth and fast collaboration

Sound diagnoses in less time*

*Results may vary. Data on file.



Preferred layout applied Automated lesion segmentation Automatic loading of prior

exams, etc.

Example: syngo.mCT Oncology Workflow Tumor Detection, Staging and Monitoring

Multi-Modality Access Disease-Oriented Reading Automated Case Preparation

Image fusion for CT, PET, and MR images, etc.

Automated bone and blood pool removal

Automated sorting of images, etc.



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



Rationale for TFS Program Most burning issues @ SYNGO

Secure product quality in large, distributed teams Configuration-, integration- and

build-management highly complex No consistent approach for project

management across development sites & product lines Reporting from many different

sources Tool chain distributed in many

distinct tools: Project management, source control, bug tracking, build and test lab

Pain Points



Evolution of Software Engineering Technologies There is no way out to remain competitive …

Editor

Compiler Build Test

Source Control Time

Integrated Development Environment

(IDE)

Team Development

Tools

2000+

Application life-cycle tools

Process customization, integration & orchestration Process measurement Mining Continuous drive to optimization

Global development Software as driver for innovation Product-lines Lack of tool integration Agility, concurrent engineering

Transparency Specialization of development roles Usability Open-source & world-wide-web

Object orientation Emergence software maturity models of Metrics

Tren

ds &

Cha

lleng

es



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



TFS Overview Next generation software engineering environment

(1) Source: Adapted from Microsoft Corporation, http://www.microsoft.com

Definition: TFS is the next generation syngo.via development environment that combines team portal, version control, work-item tracking, build management, process guidance, and business intelligence into a unified server (1).



TFS Corner Stones Higher automation and throughput

Performant development activities supporting syngo.via

Central Data Repository

Optimizing how people work together

Collaboration

Efficiency by integrating workflows

Automation

Improve by measuring progress real-time

Reporting

Application Lifecycle

Management



syngo.via Product Best managed using ALM tools …

Overview

syngo.via: Next generation imaging software covering the entire reading process

> 5,000 single product

requirements Several million lines of code

C++/C# Several hundred developers in

many locations Clinical applications for

Radiology, PACS, X-Ray, CT, MI, Oncology, Particle Therapy, MR

Context:



TFS Program Goals, Business Case Min. 10% higher throughput and ~10% less cost

TFS: Is proposed to be the next generation syngo.via development environment that combines team portal, version control, work- item tracking, build management, process guidance, and business intelligence into a unified server.

Goal: Optimize cost for syngo.via development

environment by 10% Achieve developers‘ productivity increase by

>> 10%

Implementation scope: Project & Change Management Configuration-, Integration and Build Management Software- and System Test

TFS introduction

Cost of initiative: ~ xxxx € ~ xxxx € license costs for TFS ~ xxxx € for customization, internal training

and external contracts over 5 year period

Recurring costs: ~ xxxx € for maintenance, operations

Quantified benefits potential : Min. business value: ~ xxxx € Min. ROI > 1:6

Qualitative benefits (not yet quantified): Better product quality Quicker communication between

development teams Increase in developer satisfaction

Cost-/ Benefit Analysis (over 5 years)



TFS Program Organization Chart

Lean focused team of highly motivated and visionary experts



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



Software Development Initiatives @ SYNGO

Overview about Process Improvements

Agile Transition

Optimized Requirements Engineering Approach

(OREA)

Microsoft Team Foundation Server

(TFS)

Agile Project Management

with TFS



Roles involved in Backlog Management

Backlog

Project Manager

Product Manager

Architect

Team

Content Definition Ranking

Technical Work Items Estimations Technical

Dependencies

Other Work Items

Grooming Realization

Product Owner

Content Slicing

The backlog is the central planning tool @ SYNGO



Best Practice

Introduction



Definition

TFS Process Templates

A process template is a collection of files that together define various process elements of a team project in Team Foundation Server.

A template defines data types processes workflows services reports



Available TFS Process Templates

CMMI Template supports traditional development processes

Agile Template supports generic iterative development processes

Scrum Template matches the standard Scrum terminology

Templates



Our Template Needs

Business Needs

Agile development processes (~Scrum) Large amount (>25) of

distributed teams Platform development

Regulated environment

(healthcare business)

Consequences

Neither of the existing templates fulfills our business needs We need to adapt

the TFS process template to our business needs



Best Practice

Usability



User Interface Design

Challenge

Smart usage by teams Acceptance by users

Avoid user errors

Reduce training efforts



Solution

„Same“ User Interface for all Items

Every attribute is always at the same place Every attribute has always

the same name Maybe parts are dimmed,

not visible or just not used Also a 90%-fit

is more efficient than specific user interfaces

(Source: Android screenshots)



Solution

Two Column Approach

Two column approach

Left: Definition

Right: Planning & Acceptance

Avoid switches between tab cards Focus on information

you need together For planning tasks:

definition and planning data For acceptance tasks:

definition and acceptance data



Small Header

Solution

Reduce header to an absolute minimum Most screen area

is available for the tabs Avoid usage of the scroll bar,

which is disturbing Support of small screens,

e.g. beamer, notebooks

Small Header



Tab Cards

Solution

Reduce the number of tab cards Define clear content Avoid redundancies

Example: „All Link“ tab card

is sufficient Types of links are grouped

Many tab cards contain links: BreakDown, Tasks, Defects and All Links

„All Links” tab card

Groups



Usability

Take-Away-Message

Excellent usability is a pre-requisite for acceptance by the users



Best Practice

Hierarchy



Work Item Hierarchy

Challenge

Support of work items with different granularity needed Large work items require

multiple break downs (slices) Small work items can be

processed directly



Different Views on Backlog

Challenge

Overall product manager focuses on top-level items only („scope items“) Development team

focuses on (sliced) leaf items only („work to do“)



Top-level and Leaf Item Queries

Workaround

Definition of queries using TFS basics is possible ... .. but difficult

to understand and often error-prone

Work Item and Direct Links Query



isTop & isLeaf Attributes

isTop = true

isLeaf = true

Solution

New attributes „isTop“ and „isLeaf“ Automation service

updates values if parent or child links are modified Queries are simple

Can be used in reports as well



Aggregation of Efforts / Story Points

Solution

Automation service aggregates efforts from child items Aggregated efforts

on leaf items are more precise than the initial ones on the top-level Improve estimations by

comparing initial and accounted efforts

Aggregation

$



Propagation of Status Information

Solution

Request to propagate the status of leaf items to the top-level automatically Refused ...

... because often

additional checks are necessary, e.g. integration of parts

Propagation

√

STOP



Hierachy

Take-Away-Message

Automation services are powerful tools, but do not automate everything



Best Practice

Single Backlog Item



TFS as Overall Planning Tool

Challenge

One single tool for all planning issues Requirements Defects Product changes Process improvements .. and further work items



First Approach

Definition of an optimal state diagram for each work item type

Local Optimization

Goal

Achievement

Defect Requirement Issue



Problem

A query selecting all work items which are not finished The implementation

The Query Problem

... and further more for other work item types

All available status values



Problem

How to generate a combined (overall) report?

The Reporting Problem

Work item with two states

Work item with three states



Solution

One State Diagram for „All“ Work Item Types

Created Initial state

Committed Committed for an iteration

In Work Implementation has started

Implemented Ready for acceptance & doneness check

Done Item finished

Doneness Checklist completely achieved

Terminated No longer relevant

Ready Ready for planning

Readiness Checklist completely achieved



Solution

Simple Queries and Simple Reporting

A query selecting all work items which are not finished The implementation

Same report for each scope (for all or some work items types only)



Single Backlog Item

Final Solution

Best practice: same state diagram Best practice from usability:

align user interface One work item that fits all:

Single Backlog Item



Single Backlog Item

Take-Away-Message

From a business perspective, a global optimum is more useful than many local ones



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



Pro‘s and Con‘s of Using TFS

What you need to know when getting engaged in customization and roll-out …

Advantages & benefits Disadvantages

Lessons learned

TFS feature gaps



Advantage & Benefits

What does it bring to your engineering efficiency

Integrated platform for core engineering workflows Reduction of TCO by phase out of

proprietary development tools Flexibility through customization

to domain-specific needs (e.g. medical devices) Address developers‘ principal pain

points



Disadvantages

Challenges that have to be mastered

High effort to customize work item templates; domain agnostic Degrees of freedom for customization

bare risk for over-engineering Development of target reporting

highly laborious Investment into TFS infrastructure

capital-intense Only few very knowledgeable TFS

experts available



Lessons Learned

A few of our learnings ...

TFS implementation needs a business case to provide focus & management support Involve workers‘ council early and

engage in highlighting benefits for staff TFS is a living eco-system Platform for continuous

optimization of engineering workflows New productivity tools constantly

emerge Proactive roll-out approach and

grooming of TFS champions



TFS Feature Gaps

What TFS still needs to work on to become even more accepted

Requirements Engineering is a big gap Modeling of requirements Requirements Management:

Baselining Split/ merge of requirements Versioning

Variant- and version management of

requirements and test cases Role- and state-specific views on work

items



Key Take-Aways

TFS is a very powerful development platform with proven potential to drive development efficiency. Any TFS implementation needs a highly talented, motivated team to

learn to use the technology. Benchmark your TFS implementation approach with similar

organizations Roll-out of a new engineering environment needs structured change

management. Usability is a key driver for quick acceptance by engineers. To effectively use TFS, abstain from re-implementing existing

development process.

What you need to consider when engaging with TFS in your journey ...



Table of Contents


Who is SYNGO?





Further information



Contact Details

Arnold Rudorfer Director Software Initiative and Process Improvement Siemens Healthcare Imaging & Therapy Phone: +49 9131 – 84 2299 Mobile: +49 174 1537825 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]�



Contact Details

Gerold Herold Process Manager “Project Management” Siemens Healthcare Imaging & Therapy SYNGO Phone: +49 9131 – 84 5991 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]�

SYNGO TFS Program InfoTeam Keynote

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