Conference Schedule

Software development is hard― keeping developers, testers, designers, product managers and other stakeholders in sync and working on the right things at the right time. Building the systems that customers care about and delivering high-quality code fast are challenges every development team faces. Just being agile isn’t enough; we need to actively think about how we can improve software development processes and techniques. Sven details Atlassian’s coding practices and team dynamics, which include: collaborating fast to develop ideas, helping QA with testing, avoiding meetings to get...Read more

Developing medical devices that are subject to FDA approval has traditionally followed the waterfall methodology, largely due to the structure of the regulations that govern development practices. But we know from myriad case studies in different industries that agile methodologies are far superior in providing the highest value to customers in the shortest time to market. Neal Herman shares how one developer of complex medical devices embraced agile software development practices and proved that it could not only develop software faster with higher quality but also meet all regulatory...Read more

Software development is a process of continuous discovery. When writing software, we create ideas, we try them in code, we learn what works and what doesn’t—and that steers us to a better solution. And sometimes we do this all day long! Woody Zuill says that this same process of continuous discovery works for making improvements for our teams, and in our workplaces and organizations. With continuous discovery we do numerous micro experiments that guide us along the path to a better future. If we follow the values and principles expressed in the Agile Manifesto, which provides us a powerful...Read more

Have you experienced difficulties eliciting “what would you like the system to do” from customers and SMEs? Have you then delivered the system only to find that the users don’t like it, even though it meets their stated requirements exactly? Cathy Sargent shares a technique for using mockups early in the development process to help overcome the challenges of gathering complete functional and business requirements, and establishing a mutual understanding of what a system should do. Put a visual representation of the application in the hands of your SMEs, testers, trainers, and development...Read more

As technology moves from being a cost-center to a revenue generator in nearly every business, technologists are expected to deliver more with fewer resources. DevOps enables this efficiency through improved collaboration between product management, development, release management, quality assurance, information security, and operations. However, Aater Suleman says that the challenge of incorporating DevOps into a business is no small task. Improving this collaboration requires cross-functional technologies that benefit all departments. By this definition, Docker may well be the most...Read more

Agile practitioners are constantly striving to improve their processes and delivery to gain a competitive edge. To become a cross-functional T-shaped rock star, you have to be open to learning from other disciplines and adapting quickly. Tania Katan knows a little about crossing disciplines and adapting at a breakneck pace. She is a playwright by training who recently made the audacious leap into software. Tania helps you find your inner “T” so you will have the breadth and depth to take on the unpredictability of software development with the imagination and insights of a playwright....Read more

In recent years the idea of Mob Programming has begun to attract the attention of those looking for new ways to take advantage of the genius that can be found in a focused, cross-functional, and unified agile team. But how, in practice, do these teams actually work? Paul Wynia, a Lego® Serious Play® facilitator and agile coach, worked closely with the originators of Mob Programming to develop a fun and simple Lego® game that incorporates the basic concepts, approaches, and roles found in an effective Mob Programming team. Using a test-driven development framework, each Mob team tests,...Read more

Are you creating clean, high performing code? Are you following the right development practices, but still don’t feel you are getting the recognition or success you deserve? The truth is that working harder and improving your programming skills are not enough. Great developers must demonstrate the human skills—developer practices—necessary to have a strong impact on their organizations. Through conversation and examples, Raul Suarez focuses on behaviors that can help you reach your full potential. He discusses ways to optimize communication, provide and handle feedback, adapt to change,...Read more

It seems impossible for a DevOps team to even attempt planning its work. The team deals with customers’ never-ending requests and constantly-changing priorities. And don’t forget those unfriendly infrastructure errors that always seem to show up at the worst possible time. Best to live day-by-day and try to keep our heads above water, right? Maybe not. Through a case study of a department that helps make great Electronic Arts games, Ben Vining illustrates how a metrics-driven DevOps team can become reliable, responsive, and predictable—with happy staff and delighted customers. Ben details...Read more

More and more large organizations are adopting agile methods. As they do, many are adding more process than needed and are not stopping to work out what level of process will actually help their products or projects. David Hussman discusses the use of agile methods on large programs and small teams at large organizations like Disney, Target, Siemens, and others. David uses real-world experiences as examples for teaching concrete ideas about when scale is needed and not, as well as how to generally spread lasting agility that is based on concrete measures of success. Be warned: You will be...Read more

Scrum is a project management framework and does not specify a set of how-tos or checklists that some other development processes define. Since Scrum can be implemented in various ways, it is easy—and often common—to misinterpret Scrum’s guidelines and make mistakes while implementing it. A new team, in their eagerness to “go agile” and adopt Scrum, often succumb to common pitfalls. Being aware of these mistakes is the first step toward avoiding or resolving them. Sumedha Ganjoo discusses and shares examples of some common mistakes that she notices new teams making. Examples include shared...Read more

You are understaffed, overworked, and behind on your commitments. Your go-to person just quit, leaving an unbelievable void of knowledge. If the old-school ways of attracting talent—advertising on job boards, filtering résumés, interviewing candidates are not working, then this session is for you. Catherine Louis says the tables have turned. The balance of power has shifted from the employer doing the hiring to candidates operating more as free agents and selecting the job. Leaders must learn how to build teams that engage employees as sensitive, passionate, creative contributors. A shift...Read more

Test automation should be an activity that involves the entire project team—not just the testing group. Test automation is a technical testing task, and the test team benefits from the assistance of others in the organization. Jim Trentadue outlines the various testing activities with the corresponding contributions and benefits of each team member. Project managers can coordinate the effort and schedule. Business analysts can manage technical test requirements. User acceptance testers can provide proper steps and screenshots for IT personnel. Developers can write code with testability in...Read more

How do you successfully transform 700 people working on one product? The answer: Give them ownership. Value people over process. This requires that leaders learn how and when to step back—and when to step up. In the past eight years, the Veritas NetBackup organization had tried three agile transformations: two unsuccessful and one showing promise. The key difference has been the transformation of the leaders, helping teams take ownership rather than focusing only on artifacts and ceremonies. What did the leaders learn—and how? Julie Urban and Jeff Byron describe NetBackup’s transformation...Read more

Scrum is a simple framework allowing a single team, working from a single backlog, to maximize the value it delivers to its stakeholders. Unfortunately, your organization probably has more than one team and more than one backlog—but you still need to maximize the value to your stakeholders. You need Scrum, but how do you scale it for your organization? Dan Rawsthorne proposes Scale Scrum with Scrum™; tie your organization’s development scrum teams together with Leadership Teams and Coordination Teams. These are scrum teams that assure that each development team has a backlog, that the...Read more

In today's competitive market, employers increasingly depend on business analysts to act as change agents. This puts BAs in the powerful position of influencers—providing the analysis and evidence needed to support an organization’s strategic direction and decision-making. In their book, Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner provide a blueprint for critical thinking, offering to “retrain our brains” toward a new approach to problem-solving. Faye Thompson explores this framework and how the popular economists have used it to analyze complex economic problems. Faye then...Read more

What is the most challenging aspect of running automation tests? Anshul Sharma believes it is covering multiple browsers and cross-device testing combined with faster execution of tests. One way to do this is parallel execution of tests concurrently over a Selenium Grid, but that comes with a substantial burden of managing and maintaining the platforms and browsers. Now that cloud-computing resources are available and affordable, an alternative is leveraging the cloud. Moving to the cloud makes tests easier and faster to run for several reasons. First, no installing/upgrading the browser...Read more

The Internet of Things—what many are calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution—is shaping up to be a game-changing marvel as great as the Internet itself. With more than 10 billion connected devices and thousands more coming online by the minute, we are undoubtedly more connected than ever before. From your dishwasher to your toothbrush to your dog’s collar, electronic devices everywhere are connected. This phenomenon is drastically increasing demands on APIs, data, security, and software quality, pushing every industry sector to step up its game to stay relevant in the new era of...Read more