Auditing Agile Development: Ensuring Quality And Value In Agile Projects

Introduction:

Agile development methodologies have become increasingly popular, requiring auditors to adapt their traditional approaches to effectively assess and provide assurance over agile projects. This comprehensive training course on Auditing Agile Development equips participants with the specialized knowledge and skills to navigate the unique characteristics of agile environments. Participants will learn how to adapt audit methodologies, evaluate agile controls, assess risk, and provide valuable insights to agile teams, ensuring quality, value delivery, and compliance in agile projects. This course bridges the gap between traditional audit practices and agile principles, empowering participants to become valuable partners in the agile development process.

Target Audience:

This course is designed for audit professionals who need to audit or provide assurance over agile development projects, including:

• Internal Auditors
• IT Auditors
• Software Development Auditors
• Agile Team Members (seeking audit perspective)
• Anyone involved in overseeing or evaluating agile projects

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this Auditing Agile Development training course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the principles and practices of agile development methodologies (Scrum, Kanban).
• Adapt traditional audit methodologies to agile project environments.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of agile controls and processes.
• Assess risk in agile projects and identify key audit areas.

• Perform audits of agile sprints, releases, and overall project delivery.
• Understand the role of the auditor in an agile team.
• Provide valuable insights and recommendations to agile teams.
• Ensure quality, value delivery, and compliance in agile projects.
• Effectively communicate audit findings and recommendations to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with agile teams to improve processes and controls.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in agile auditing.
• Contribute to the success of agile development initiatives within their organizations.
• Enhance their understanding of agile risk management.
• Become a more valuable and sought-after agile audit professional.
• Understand how to audit different agile frameworks.

DURATION

5 Days

COURSE CONTENT

Module 1: Introduction to Agile Development and its Principles

• Understanding the Agile Manifesto and its core values.
• Exploring different Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, XP).
• Key Agile concepts: Sprints, User Stories, Product Backlog, Daily Stand-ups, Retrospectives.
• The benefits and challenges of Agile development.
• How Agile differs from traditional waterfall development.

Module 2: Adapting Audit Methodologies to Agile Environments

• The need for adapting audit approaches to Agile projects.
• Shifting from a waterfall audit mindset to an Agile audit mindset.
• Key principles of Agile auditing: continuous audit, iterative audit, value-driven audit.
• Integrating audit activities into the Agile development lifecycle.
• Building relationships and trust with Agile teams.

Module 3: Risk Assessment in Agile Projects

• Identifying and assessing risks specific to Agile development.
• Understanding the dynamic nature of risk in Agile projects.
• Risk prioritization and mitigation strategies in Agile.
• Integrating risk assessment into sprint planning and retrospectives.
• Using risk burndown charts and other visual tools for risk management.

Module 4: Auditing Agile Sprints and Releases

• Auditing sprint planning and backlog refinement.
• Evaluating sprint execution and progress.
• Assessing the quality of deliverables at the end of each sprint.
• Auditing sprint reviews and retrospectives.
• Auditing release planning and execution.

Module 5: Auditing Agile Controls and Processes

• Identifying key controls in Agile development processes.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of Agile controls (e.g., automated testing, continuous integration).
• Auditing code quality and security.
• Assessing the effectiveness of change management in Agile.
• Auditing user story acceptance criteria and testing.

Module 6: The Role of the Auditor in an Agile Team

• The auditor as a collaborative partner in Agile development.
• Providing real-time feedback and guidance to Agile teams.
• Participating in sprint reviews and retrospectives.
• Building trust and rapport with Agile team members.
• Balancing independence with collaboration.

Module 7: Agile Metrics and Reporting

• Identifying key metrics for measuring Agile project success.
• Using Agile metrics to provide insights to stakeholders.
• Developing Agile audit reports and dashboards.
• Communicating audit findings effectively to different audiences.
• Using data visualization techniques to present audit results.

Module 8: Auditing Different Agile Frameworks

• Auditing Scrum projects: roles, ceremonies, artifacts.
• Auditing Kanban projects: flow, WIP limits, continuous delivery.
• Auditing other Agile frameworks (e.g., XP, Lean).
• Adapting audit approaches to different Agile methodologies.
• Understanding the nuances of each framework from an audit perspective.

Module 9: Best Practices and Future Trends in Agile Auditing

• Continuous improvement in Agile auditing practices.
• Automating audit tasks using Agile tools and technologies.
• Integrating Agile auditing with DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.
• Emerging trends in Agile development and their impact on auditing.
• The future of Agile auditing and its role in ensuring quality and value.

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Training Venue

The training will be held at our Skills for Africa Training Institute Training Centre. We also offer training for a group at requested location all over the world. The course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, and buffet lunch.

Visa application, travel expenses, airport transfers, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Skills for Africa Training Institute certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Terms of Payment: Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 5 working days before commencement of the training.