Trojan Project

Problem/Context

Many enterprise organizations have so much technical and architecture debt and a funding policy which effectively prevent them from moving in any direction.

Solution

Define a project which seems to deliver essential business value, but which has an internal Trojan which removes key debt preventing agile strategies and frequent releases. Balance the size and features with the amount of Trojan work estimated to be delivered and ensure high attention to the project to recruit the right Trojan people.

Strengths

• Efficient way to pay technical and architectural debt
• Can isolate the best resources to solve the key challenges

Weaknesses

• Must not be caught in the act
• Need a very concise communication with project stakeholders

Related patterns

This pattern is somewhat similar to Skunkwork Project.

Examples