From Concept to Reality: A Modern Approach to Large-Scale Scrum in Government
The US Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) was chosen as the software development agent for a brand-new, multimillion-dollar acquisition program with an aggressive timeline. To meet this timeline, program development will utilize agile, DevOps, and user-centered design best practices. This effort requires adaptation of government business practices, plus a shift in culture. To maximize the likelihood of success, a new organization was established to pilot necessary changes. This session describes that organization's creation and how it is designed to embrace change through an agile mindset. We'll talk about the construction of a large-scale agile development process, integration of cybersecurity, continuous authority to operate (ATO), the digital transformation to DevOps, and proactive incorporation of lessons learned along the way. You'll learn how other government organizations can use these experiences to deliver modern, secure, interoperable, and reliable software.
Jonathan Graham is a graduate from George Mason University with a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and has been working in the development field for over 13 years. Starting off with smaller projects in a waterfall based world, Jonathan quickly became an advocate for agile development after hearing about it from a co-worker in 2009. He became a countinous development and integration manager, helping to bring what is now DevSecOps into their culture while also advocating for Scrum and pushing for projects to adopt and work within an agile world. Currently he is working as a Scrum Master Facilitator for 7 teams in a large-scale agile development effort, working as a Scrum Master for one of those teams directly and helping to continue push the move to a more agile development culture.
Kaylee Wichert graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 2012 with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science. Upon graduation she went to work for the Department of the Navy (DoN). Her first project was working with a team of developers that successfully piloted the first Scrum process in a program that had been using Waterfall since its inception, winning an honorable award for her efforts. From there she became an Agile Champion for the DoN. She is a member on the Board of Directors for an Agile Working Group (AWG) that focuses on helping programs adopt agile. Her efforts include establishing Scrum processes for both Single-Team Scrum and Scaled Scrum, developing and teaching training courses at all levels of leadership, ScrumMastering different Scrum teams, and coaching teams using Scrum.