Thursday, April 21, 2011

Agile Software Development - What Next ?


Agile Software Development - What Next ?  This is a frequently asked question.  Agile Manifesto was announced during Feb-2001.  Agile became very popular in the next few years.  

Looking back, Agile adoption has never been a cakewalk.  Immense challenges and struggles in transitioning from 'waterfall' to 'Agile' mindset were not uncommon.  Interestingly, something that happened along with Agile evolution was the growth of internet.

The growth of internet enabled computer users in collaborating on the net using collaboration tools as well as social and business networking forums.  The exchange of opinions, ideas, and best practices became easier on the internet.  Probably, I think, this is one of the key factors that propelled Agile.  Eventually, Agile could spread faster than any other methodology. 

On the 10th anniversary of Agile Manifesto, the founders had a gathering to discuss the past, present and the future of Agile Software Development

Couple of weeks ago, I was interacting with Michael Hugos on my thoughts on his blog 'Ten Years of Agile - What the Agile Community Must Do Now'.  

Our interactions were engaging.  The end result of our interactions was another blog 'Reflections on Four Recommendations for Agile Developers' by Michael.

When you read all these one by one, you will understand the recent happenings in Agile Software Development.   Also you will notice the power of collaboration over social and business networking forums.

Note: Every blog that I write carries a picture and this blog is not an exception. I took this picture while flying from Mumbai to Bangalore.  It is the picture of an apple offered to me by the cabin crew. 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Inventive Problem Solving for Customer Value Creation


SPIN (Software and Systems Process Improvement Network) founded by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnige Mellon University (CMU) has over 130 chapters worldwide.  In India there are 13 chapters.   SPIN Chennai's annual conference SPICON 2001 is happening on 29th and 30th of April 2011. The theme of the conference is "Innovation in IT Processes - The Engine for Growth".

I am speaking at SPICON 2011 on "Inventive Problem Solving for Customer Value Creation."

Indian IT industry has matured over the past few decades.  The maturity of our industry has helped us encounter several challenges successfully.  However, new challenges continue to challenge us.  One such challenge is managing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and retaining skilled engineers in projects when the work involved is technically complex but monotonous.  This session is about a case study on how we solved this problem by applying 'Inventive Problem Solving' and created value to stakeholders.

I will keep posting some interesting facts and questions here and provide my writing or a presentation on this topic to readers.