If you need to setup an Agile Software Factory, OutSystems can aid you in this task by means of dedicated services that will reproduce an OutSystems factory inside your organization. This service component is named Agile Acceleration, and includes one resource fully trained on the Agile Platform and Methodology, which is specialized in coaching client teams on:

• OutSystems Agile Methodology
• OutSystems Best practices
• Agile Platform advanced usage
• New features of OutSystems’ upgrades
• Existing samples and components
• Solutions and experience with other business developments with the Agile Platform
• OutSystems’ existing tools

These services will therefore deliver targeted training and coaching for your development organization, bring in OutSystems’ specialized knowledge to setup an Agile Software Factory.

In an ISV scenario, the ISV can choose to support the development in its own servers, having only to deploy the production server at the customer site. There is also the option to deploy de production server at the ISV, shall he chooses to also provide hosting services.

When the application is somehow critical and the stakeholders want to conduct acceptance tests before releasing its first version to all end-users, there is usually a small group of key end-users who are granted with access privileges to the application before it goes live to all the other end-users. During this phase, those key end-users test the application and use the Agile Platform’s built-in Embedded Change Technology to submit feedback directly to the delivery team. This contained scenario is usually only followed for the first go-live of critical applications.

In all other go-lives, that is, after the application is already in production and new versions are to be released (which usually occurs every week in Software Factories), the key end-users are granted access to the new application version in a QA or pre-production environment. After incorporating the end-users’ feedback and tuning the new application version as needed, it is finally staged into production where all end-users can access it, depending on their privileges. In this scenario, if a new functionality is only to be released to a particular group, that requirement is fulfilled by taking advantage of the Agile Platform’s built-in access control capabilities, which allows configuring exactly which users can access which application functionality. This allows a staged go-live of new functionality in a fast-paced Software Factory.
There are more service components that may be handy to setup an Agile Software Factory, such as the Training & Certification, the Sizing Consulting, the SOA Enablement, the Expert Consulting, the Software Installation & Upgrade, and the Audit & Tuning, among others.
OutSystems provides best-practices and tools for each stage of the Software Factory. Examples include:

• Setting up a team of Agile Professionals – OutSystems Training & Certification is available and can be used to create a training Academy for the customer. Training existing professionals or assisting in hiring new ones is an effective and standard process of some software factories.
• Sizing your projects – OutSystems sizing tool allows a detailed requirement elicitation for sizing and quoting a project. The project feature list can be use to validate the scope with the business and bootstrap a project if it is to be implemented.
• Managing your Projects – OutSystems Agile Project Management tool provides a centralized management console for all the projects in the factory. Engagement managers can manage multiple projects at the same time, delivery managers can assign features and detail each team needs, developers can fill in their tasks and work hours, and the business can track the project evolution, transparently.
• Auditing & Tuning – For large software factories, OutSystems implements a process of quality assurance and auditing of the factory. Tools such as OutDocumenter assist in identifying applications best practices and expert support services audit the applications infrastructures.

For the full list of available service components and their value proposition, please consult your partner or account manager.