Introduction
atWare, Inc. has been a long-term partner of KDDI Agile Development Center Corporation since KDDI Corporation started in-house agile development in 2014.
In 2016, Nam, a recent graduate of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in Vietnam with limited Japanese language skills, was given the opportunity to participate in KAG's service development project as an engineer. He experienced agile development together with Japanese engineers, and gradually achieved success with the support of everyone around him, his own efforts, and his original mindset and potential.
Nam experienced for about 4 years, and upon his return to Vietnam, we established atWare Vietnam Co., Ltd. in July 2020.
Currently (2023/1), the number of members has gradually increased and we continue to participate in agile development projects.
Project and Development Language and Environment
Development and maintenance of web portal site for corporate clients
- Frontend（JavaScript, Angular,Typescript）
- Backend（Java, Spring,Typescript, NodeJs）
- Github action
- AWS
We work with our clients to solve their problems
This is our most important point and our strength.
When a customer does not know how to solve a problem or what product to create, the development process will proceed through trial and error based on the value of agile software development. Even if the challenge is something we have never experienced before, we will find a solution to overcome that problem. In fact, we have actually overcome many challenges with KAG to find, learn, and apply new techniques.
This is different from simply providing development capabilities in traditional offshore development
Case 1: Agile Development Improvement Efforts
We worked closely with KAG's Scrum Master, Mr. Takekawa, to improve the Scrum team. As a result, we succeeded in achieving high velocity and shortening the release cycle without a large additional budget, mainly with existing members.
For example,
- Subdivision into smaller Scrum teams
- Adapting an agile mindset
- Supporting product owners
Many of us have taken training courses from Scrum Inc. Japan, and we strive to improve daily based on agile development best practices to find the best solution for our client's current situation.
Mr. Takekawa has been proactive negotiating not only within the development team, but also with stakeholders, including the project sponsor, and has been able to resolve difficult issues such as team structure in a short period of time.
Case 2: Growth into a self-organized team
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Nam has a great agile mindset in addition to his high technical skills. Jack and Tien have grown tremendously in addition to their original potential. Thanks in part to their efforts, they are now a key member of the development team
We have a cycle that produces engineers with not only high technical skills, but also a high agile mindset.
Mr. Takekawa has been proactive in providing an environment where developers can grow. For example, even our interns are given the opportunity to join projects and present at Scrum sprint reviews.
We believe that in the future there will be a second and third Nam, Jack, and Tien. (pictured below)
Case 3: Toward a New Approach ("Proxy Product Owner")
When offshore development, a Bridge SE, who was not previously in the Scrum development role, was assigned. However, if the Bridge SE did not understand the value of the product and its features deeply, it was difficult for the development team to provide optimal solutions on their own. In addition, close communication among team members, which is an very important factor of Agile, tended to be through the Bridge SE. Therefore, by assigning a Proxy Product Owner(PPO) instead of a Bridge SE, we are working to more clearly communicate value from the Product Owner to the development team through the PPO.
We propose solutions from the development team to solve our clients' problems.
Mr. Takekawa supported our system of PPOs, we called “Modern offshore”. Following the principles of Agile, the development team has been able to work in a good atmosphere, as they proceed with the stance that there is nothing to be gained without experience, and if there is a problem, it can be improved upon.
In conclusion
While we work hard every day to achieve the product goals with KAG, we always keep in mind that it is our clients who will actually use our products. Our biggest mission is to make our clients happy. This is the same for all of our clients. We will continue to apply Agile to more and more clients and strive to grow into a company that empowers them!
