HKSM

To keep a product or service viable, organizations must adopt new or updated industry standards. The necessary work should be captured as user stories and placed in the program and/or portfolio backlog, then prioritized alongside other initiatives.

Key Points

• Changes to industry standards drive mandatory work to stay competitive and compliant.
• Translate each standard update into clear user stories with acceptance criteria.
• Add these items to the program or portfolio backlog and prioritize by value, risk, and deadlines.
• Reflect standards in Definition of Done and plan dependencies, audits, and release timing.

Example

A payment platform must align with a new PCI DSS requirement. The product manager creates user stories for stronger encryption and enhanced logging, adds them to the portfolio backlog, and prioritizes them ahead of the next major release to ensure continued market viability and compliance.

PMP Example Question

A standards body issues a new version of an industry standard that affects your product. What should the agile program do first?

1. Wait until teams have capacity in a future iteration to address it.
2. Create related user stories and place them in the program/portfolio backlog for prioritization.
3. Treat the update as optional stretch goals for the next sprint.
4. Ask teams to implement changes immediately without backlog impact.

Correct Answer: B — Create user stories and prioritize them in the program/portfolio backlog

Explanation: Industry standard updates must be captured as backlog items and prioritized at the appropriate level to maintain product viability and manage risk and timing.