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Better Software Conference & EXPO 2006 Concurrent Sessions

Go To:  Agile Development  |  Managing Projects and Teams  |  Measurement  |  Outsourcing  |  Plan-Driven Development  |  
Process Improvement  |  Quality Assurance  |  Security  |  Special Topics  |  System Requirements  |  Testing


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 Agile Development
W3
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:30 AM
Risk Management on an Agile Project
Michele Sliger, Rally Software Development

Plan-driven software project management is very specific on how to identify and manage risks. When moving to Agile software development practices, what happens to all the risk management activities that project managers used to oversee? Contrary to what many expect, there are Agile risk management practices that reduce risk by providing opportunities for the team to identify, monitor, and control risk events. For each of the traditional risk management areas—identification, analysis, response planning, and monitoring and controlling—you will learn the corresponding Agile approach. In keeping with Agile's strengths, team involvement and collaboration are key inputs into the risk management process. Michele Sliger explains how and when to involve the team in identifying risks, analyzing the opportunities and threats, mitigating as appropriate, and monitoring these risks throughout the lifetime of the Agile project.

• The differences between risk management in traditional and Agile environments
• Typical risk management activities in an Agile project
• The project manager’s role in Agile risk management
W9
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 1:45 PM
Fishing for Requirements in an Agile Project
Jennitta Andrea, Clearstream Consulting, Inc.

When you go fishing, you want to use the right lures, catch lots of fish, and avoid falling out of the boat. Developing requirements for an Agile project is similar—you need to use the right process, get the requirements you need with minimum effort, and introduce minimal risk and rework. Because every Agile project has different needs, goals, and constraints, a “one size fits all” requirements process does not work in every Agile project. In this interactive session, Jennitta Andrea shows you how to fine tune the requirements process based on a unique set of project characteristics. Learn to visualize the distinctive characteristics of a project to determine what work products to produce, how much detail to include, and which tools will provide a payback to the project.

• Strategies for shaping your Agile requirements process
• How much documentation you really need
• Ways to recognize and eliminate hidden waste
W15
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 3:00 PM
Leadership—The Forgotten Element of Agile Development
Michael Portwood, Spectra Intelligent Marketing, Inc

We often hear about the difficulties and failures surrounding Agile methodologies. Articles describe everything from team and execution issues to the inadequacy of Agile methods on large projects and failures in large organizations. The root cause of these issues is often not a flaw in Agile methodologies but rather a lack of Agile leadership. A commonly held belief is that Agile teams are self-motivated and that leadership is almost evil. Quite the opposite is true. To succeed, Agile methodologies demand greater leadership skills at all levels. Learn from Michael Portwood about the differences between traditional and Agile leadership skills. Take away an Agile leadership model for team members, managers, and executives and proven techniques to foster and grow leadership skills development in your Agile organization.

• Why leadership and management are diametrically opposed
• The leadership skills needed by all Agile team members
• Ways to learn and practice leadership skills
T3
Thursday, June 29, 2006 9:45 AM
Agile Development and Its Impact on Productivity
David Garmus, The David Consulting Group

Agile development projects are different. Sure, they still have high-level business requirements, but they usually lack system descriptions, technical design documents, and system architectures. The projects tend to be smaller than those employing more traditional methods, and much of the testing occurs concurrently with development. The teams tend to be very small and often in one room, more like a group of friends than a typical development team. How do these and other differences affect productivity and the resulting products? Based on his research and personal experiences, David Garmus discusses the differences between Agile and traditional methodologies and offers specific ways to measure these differences to help you decide: Is Agile development right for your next project?

• The quantitative and qualitative differences between Agile and more traditional projects
• Performance data on some recent Agile development projects
• When to choose Agile development practices for a project
T9
Thursday, June 29, 2006 11:15 AM
Even the Best Get Stuck: Transitioning to Agile Development
Alex Pukinskis, Rally Software Development

For some organizations Agile methodologies like XP, Scrum, and Crystal work well off-the-shelf. However, many companies struggle with these practices and find that lightweight methodologies leave them without support for key aspects of their business. Most end up adopting a hybrid of multiple methodologies mixed in with some old practices. This is risky business. Cherry-picking your favorite parts of Agile methodologies can leave you without enough process and in danger of a code-and-fix mentality that relies on heroics to ship software. Alex Pukinskis looks at different paths taken by organizations as they transition to Agile. He discusses key "process smells" that indicate that a project has gone past agility and is slipping into chaos. Alex offers suggestions to get your foundering Agile transition back on track.

• Patterns for adopting Agile practices
• What happens when the transition to Agile practices gets stuck
• How to customize Agile techniques to fit your context



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