How to convince management that CI & Test is a good thing?

Resistance

Here is a list of arguments we hear from management, if we try to introduce CI and/or Test.

• CI is out of scope, so why do you create this?
• The build is not the problem, only the environment (e.g. DB, LDAP,...), and you can't test this.
• Why should we build continuous, we have a build every night.
• If we change the current process, we introduce new unknown risk to the project.
• What is the value in knowing early that the build is broken?
• We don't need that, because our developers don't create these errors / brake the build.
• We don't have a problem now, why should we change something?

What to do

Some suggestions.

• Just do it.
• Test infect your team (back door approach).
• Educate management what agile, CI, automated Tests, ... is about.
• Do not let management decide how we are developing. The contract should have a measurable end functionality.
• CI can maybe be bundled with automated test / TDD
• You can't sell this without trust.
• Management will only be willing to change something, if there is a crisis (so your goal could be to create the crisis!?)
• You can't sell this, if there is no measurement about the current development process.

Why

I guess the value of CI and Test is clearer in some of the other sessions, but here is a small list.

• Faster, predictable product.
• No milestones, but continuous information.
• Increase speed to change code, i.e. time to market is shorter.