Abstract: Off-shoring of software development, maintenance and support activities is an established means of driving down costs and improving a company’s competitive position in the market. However, many off-shoring efforts fail to fulfill the promise of low costs and high quality, due to unexpectedly high setup and operational costs, massive rework and low quality.

Off-shoring poses all the familiar challenges of building a new software development organization – challenges which, despite significant research, decades of experience and countless papers, are still causing many companies grave problems. In the case of off-shoring, all these challenges are amplified by geography, cultural differences, infrastructure complications…

As with many other challenges, there could be multiple keys for off-shoring success. This presentation explores a number of them:

• Defining your needs and criteria for success: why do you need off-shoring? Is the major goal cost reduction? Improving time to market? What are the criteria for success?
• Off-shoring model selection: will a group of developers out there be an integral part of your organization or a separate organizational entity? Which one is better for your company? What are the criteria for making the right decision?
• Planning for off-shoring: how to prepare? What do you need to change in your organization to make off-shoring successful? What processes should be changed/ developed to make off-shoring successful?
• Solution Development: how do you translate the plans into action? and specifically:
• Selecting an off-shore entity
• Streamlining your existing software life cycle
• Tracking progress and quality by process and product metrics
• Defining and implementing management controls
• Creating efficient quality assurance mechanisms

Bio: Michael Yudanin’s area of expertise is software processes assurance. Translated into practice, it means creating life cycle models that fit organizations’ needs and constraints, establishing verification and validation activities throughout the software life cycle, off-shoring process and product assurance, logo certification testing, test automation, organizing and managing testing efforts for new development and implementation, designing software processes to fit CMMI® and ISO requirements, as well as other applications of quality in information technology.

Michael is a founder of Conflair – an IT Solutioning Company. IT Solutioning is an operational philosophy that emphasizes development and implementation of custom client-centric solutions rather than provision of a number of well-defined services certain company knows how to do well. Throughout his career Michael worked with a large number of companies, among them: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Parcel Service, Sage Accounting, Ceridian, Comverse, Georgia Department of Transportation, Tennessee Valley Authority. Michael Yudanin is a Certified Software Quality Engineer by the American Society for Quality since 1999.

Check the Atlanta SPIN web site for the latest details and directions. Come out for some great networking with some of Atlanta’s top software development professionals. The free pizza is a bonus!

See you there!

Cheers.

Abstract: This presentation will include an introductory explanation on the theory and history of Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and an overview of its major underlying components, including an initial discussion on the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to establish a baseline understanding for the audience. We will highlight the various stages of an MDA approach and will emphasize the impact MDA can have on the software development lifecycle. Specifically, in regard to an organizations ability to deliver high-quality, reusable software within a repeatable process while significantly reducing project risk and increasing return on investment.

We will follow this discussion with a practical demonstration of MDA techniques to illustrate these principles and concepts. We will discuss the pros and cons of MDA, the state-of-the-art, and the steps required to leverage MDA in your existing business environment. We will end the presentation with a brief question and answer session.

Speaker Bio: Robert Lario is a principal and co-founder of INHERIT, LLC. He has over 20 years of software development experience designing, developing, and deploying enterprise solutions using Object-Oriented techniques. He has a Masters in System Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MDA from the Wharton Business School. Based on years of practical experience, Mr. Lario began development on Inherit Express MDA tool in 1998. He has been the primary architect and the driving force behind the development of each release, including the most recent version Express Templates. With his work on INHERIT Express, Mr. Lario is leading the evolution of the state-of-the-art of MDA

If you are in the Atlanta area, the meeting will be held in the Oracle office at Northpark Town Center (building 500, suite 1120). Check the Atlanta SPIN web site for the latest details and directions. Come out for some great networking with some of Atlanta’s top software development professionals. The free pizza is a bonus!
http://www.atlantaspin.org

See you there!

Cheers.

Abstract: All organizations measure some aspect of their performance, with the goal of managing and improving their processes and products. Unfortunately many organizations get bogged down in the measurement process – developing too many measures (or too few), overly complex implementations, failing to use metrics for improvement initiatives, or failing to link metrics with top-level strategies or actual work processes of the employees. This session will provide you with real strategies and implementation insights necessary to set up and sustain a measurement system for monitoring and improving your IT organization. Key to any measurement program is the ability to view progress in real-time. Thought leaders in the industry are turning to management dashboards as a way to gain clear visibility of project status, processes and metrics across the enterprise. While most organizations possess many sets of metrics, a re-evaluation and re-examination of what exactly is being measured and how it is being reported and used is key.

Specific topic areas will include:

• Collecting data that is linked to the business objectives of your organization
• Engaging all levels of your application development and IT functions to participate
• Setting up a management dashboard and relevant reports
• Using data and metrics proactively for continuous improvement

Speaker Bio: Mark Schadt has over 23 years of experience in Application Lifecycle Management processes and solutions. His areas of expertise are process/workflow assessment, design and management, as well as the implementation of management systems for version control, software configurations, build and deployment, requirements, and geographically distributed development. Prior to joining MKS, Mark worked for IBM Rational, Apple Computer and Texas Instruments, and as an independent software change management consultant he advised companies such as AT&T, Time Warner, TRW, and Lockheed Martin. Mark has a Masters degree in Computer Science.

If you are in the Atlanta area, the meeting will be held in the Oracle office at Northpark Town Center (building 500, suite 1120). Check the Atlanta SPIN web site for the latest details and directions. Come out for some great networking with some of Atlanta’s top software development professionals. The free pizza is a bonus!
http://www.atlantaspin.org

See you there!

Cheers.

The topic will be “Still Searching For the Silver Bullet: Pitfalls of RAD, Agile/XP and Other Forms of Iterative Development”

Abstract: In our never-ending search for faster, as well foolproof, ways of doing development, we continue to chase after promises that often fall short of expectations. Come hear Lois Zells give a brand new presentation about the project management pros and cons of RAD (Rapid Application Development,) Agile/XP, Evolutionary Development, Iterative Development, and Prototyping. Hear the latest on why these types of projects are still failing and how to avoid the pitfalls. Have a common sense discussion of how to manage realistic expectations before projects go awry. This session is apropos for all levels of the IS organization from analyst/programmer to CIO, from business unit user to business unit project participant, from project lead to program manager, albeit technical or non-technical..

Bio: Lois Zells is an international author, lecturer, and business consultant, specializing in software engineering consulting. A popular speaker at European and United States conferences, she has spoken at the American Society for Quality Control, The Quality Assurance Institute, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Cap Gemini Institute, the Association for Systems Management, the Berlin COMPAS Expo, ComputerWorld Germany Software Forum For Europe, PC Expo, Cap Gemini London, Technology Transfer Institute America, Technology Transfer Italy, IBM’s Users Groups: Guide and Share, the Data Processing Financial Management Association, the Canadian Information Processing Society, the Project Management Institute, the Data Processing Management Association, the Federal Computer Conference, the Structured Development Forum, the Structured Techniques Association, the National Computer Conference, the AFIPS Office Automation Conference, the Year 2000 Conference & Expo, and Brainstorm Group’s Y2k Conference.

Ms. Zells is the Co-founder and Past Executive Advisory Chair for the 20,000-member Information Systems Specific Interest Group of the Project Management Institute, a worldwide organization of 80,000 plus members. She was honored as a PMI woman of the Year in 1993; and is co-honoree of the PMI Wilson/Zells Scholarship Fund.

Because of her acknowledged expertise in software engineering and project management, Ms. Zells frequently serves as an expert witness in multi-million dollar software litigations. She has also served as an examiner for the Arizona Statewide Baldridge Award and served for several years on the review committee for the revision of ISO 9000-3 (International Standard ISO/IEC 12207.)

Ms. Zells was also on the Advisory Board for PC Expo, one of the two largest PC conferences in the world. She has also served on the Board of Governors of the Brainstorm Group. Ms. Zells is the author of (and consultant in) several popular management workshops in strategic planning, project management, total quality management, strategic systems planning, process maturity assessments, systems development methodologies and techniques, business process re-engineering, and systems maintenance.

She has authored the best seller, “Managing Software Projects” and has published many articles in the major periodicals of the industry. For several years, Ms. Zells was a contributing editor for “Application Development Trends.” She is also the developer of the Total Quality Management seminar series “Software Excellence Through Total Quality Management.” Her most popular seminar series is the totally-integrated, three-tier learning program on software engineering project management called “Successful Projects: The Common Sense Approach.” Ms. Zells has written the introductory chapter for “Total Quality Management for Software,” published by Van Nostrand Reinhold and the information systems chapter for the AMA’s “Program and Project Handbook.” She is now also working on her second book: “The Practical Guide To Successful Projects.”

Ms. Zells has been a significant contributor and participant in a long-range strategic planning innovation search—sponsored by the Advanced Systems Concepts Office of the U.S. Army Information Systems Command and jointly managed by SRI International and Mandex, Inc.

Ms. Zells’ other clients range from the Fortune 100 firms to new start-up ventures and are spread across a broad array of industries. She has worked with a large international computer manufacturer, a major international steel manufacturer, several large nationwide insurance companies, an international telecommunications company, a major food processor, a large health-care provider, a major aerospace manufacturer, and two international electronics firms—in helping them to turn around and improve their software engineering processes, by defining their requirements for achieving software maturity and creating an environment conducive to successful high-quality projects, by also developing their software engineering and project management programs and seminars, and by consulting on several significant projects.

Highly specialized in Structured Analysis, Structured Design, and Structured Programming, she taught these subjects for five years at Phoenix College as well as for three and a half years with Yourdon, Inc. (an international seminars/consulting firm), where she also developed their popular project management curriculum, the Project Planning and Control Workshop. During this time, she was personally trained as a disciple of Ed Yourdon, Tom DeMarco, and Tim Lister: the leaders in the field. She has also used the structured techniques and various CASE tools on many projects that she either participated in, consulted on, or managed.

Ms. Zells graduated Summa Cum Laude in Data Processing Management from the University of Baltimore and did her master’s studies in Computer Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and Arizona State University.

Having served as consultant, department manager, project manager, systems analyst, operating systems programmer, and applications programmer/analyst, Ms. Zells has over twenty-five years in data processing. With many years of job-related experience in hospital applications, manufacturing applications, banking and finance, and with also 17 and 1/2 years in systems management consulting for the banking, insurance, and manufacturing industries as well as the government, she has managed the implementation of an in-house end-user time sharing company, office automation, strategic systems planning, business process re-engineering, a multimillion dollar client/server processing system, an interactive project control system, an automated teller machine network, a 100 station local and remote distributed customer information and network switching system for charge card data entry and authorizations, entree into charge card duality for MasterCard and Visa, and a patient billing system.

Ms. Zells has also managed the development of standards in project management, programming, documentation, change management, planning, prioritizing, and quality control. She has developed project estimates of time, resources, and dollars for small projects with a few hundred tasks to large projects with many thousands of tasks. Ms. Zells has worked extensively with a telecommunications company in helping them to turn around their declining business position by guiding them through an innovative strategic planning process and then repositioning their product distribution channels.

Ms. Zells has presented seminars in systems management for the personnel department of a large state agency, so that they could rewrite their existing job descriptions. She has also served on a federal government committee that was established for the purpose of evaluating job classifications as well as to aid in enlisting and keeping exceptional workers in government.

Publications

Ms. Zells is the author of (and consultant in) several popular management workshops in strategic planning, project management, contingency planning, litigation planning, total quality management and quality assurance, MIS planning for the corporate executive, software process maturity assessments, product development, business process re-engineering, selecting and implementing systems development methodologies and techniques, managing client-server development, managing emerging technologies, and systems maintenance.

Her most recent efforts include the new Managing Emerging Technologies and the Total Quality Management seminar series Excellence Through Performance and Excellence Through Total Quality Management. She has also authored the popular, totally-integrated, three-tier learning program on software engineering project management called Successful Projects: The Common Sense Approach.

She has authored the best seller, Managing Software Projects: Selecting And Using PC-Based Project Management Systems published by QED Information Sciences. Ms. Zells has written the introductory chapter for Total Quality Management for Software, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold and has contributed a chapter on Information Systems Project Management to The Program and Project Handbook, published by the American Management Association.

She has contributed to and published many articles in the major periodicals and proceedings of the industry such as Investor’s Business Daily, ComputerWorld, the National Computer Society Proceedings, the PMI National Symposia, PMI’s PMNet Journal, The Structured Techniques Association, ProjExpo, ACR’s Managing System Development, IEEE’s Software Process Improvement Conference Proceedings, The Federal Systems Journal, and Application Development Trends.

http://www.atlantaspin.org

See you there!

Cheers.

Abstract: The last few years have seen an explosion in the number of reference models an organization might use as the basis for improving its performance. Notwithstanding the Software Engineering Institute’s efforts to consolidate reference models in the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), the number of models has continued to grow. An organization wishing to use best practices to establish “world class” or “best in class” performance faces a bewildering array of choices. IT shops may consider not only the CMMI, but also be thinking about COBIT, ISO 90003:2004, ITIL, and PMI’s Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3), to name several of the more widely used models. Faced with such an array of choices, many are left wondering if these models integrate synergistically. Alternatively, do they represent a huge effort to implement individually, with little relationship to one another. Assuming the latter is true, many face difficult choices, in an environment in which allocation of limited resource is fiercely competitive. This presentation describes an integrated approach to improving organization performance based on process architecture and detailed model mappings.

Bio: Mr. Brotbeck is an Information Technology consultant with over 35 years experience in the areas of business and information technology planning, business process reengineering, software engineering, software process improvement, and complex information systems development. He has expertise in object-oriented technology, software quality assurance (QA), seminar and workshop development and delivery, and management responsibilities ranging from project management to “C-Level” senior line management. Mr. Brotbeck is a Certified Software Quality Engineer, a Six Sigma Green Belt, and an authorized Instructor for Practical Software and System Measurement (PSM). He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Mathematics. He is currently an SEI Candidate Instructor for the Introduction to CMMI class, and an SEI Candidate Lead Appraiser.

If you are in the Atlanta area, the meeting will be held in the Oracle office at Northpark Town Center (building 500, suite 1120). Check the Atlanta SPIN web site for the latest details and directions.

http://www.atlantaspin.org

See you there!

Cheers.

Abstract: If loyal customers are the essence of what makes companies successful, why is it that so many organizations fail to involve their customers when developing software products? Depending on which analysts’ reports you read, between 60% and 90% of all new product rollouts fail. More importantly, the number one reason for this failure is lack of customer involvement. When we don’t involve our customers throughout the planning and development process we are at high risk of incurring:

• Cost overruns
• Missed opportunities and expectations
• Lost customers
• Failed products and lost revenue
• Since we are aware of these risks, why do so many companies continue to ignore the needs of their customers when it comes to developing and maintaining market-driven products?

What You’ll Learn – Larry Boldt will share with you the importance of having an effective Customer Feedback Management process to ensure that customer’s have a voice in product planning and development. In addition to an effective process, the people and technology aspects will also be discussed ensuring that the process can be implemented successfully.

The Take-Away – Seven habits or behaviors of an effective customer feedback process are provided as a checkpoint for attendees to measure the effectiveness of their customer feedback process.

Speaker Bio: Larry Boldt is an accomplished software engineering manager and developer with over 30 years of experience in managing and providing business process improvement products and services to Global 1500 companies. Larry’s areas of functional expertise include: product management, requirements management, process management, change management, software quality management, and system implementation. As the VP of Customer Management for Orasi Software, he is responsible for product strategy and initiatives supporting customer satisfaction and loyalty. Larry holds a Masters of Science degree in Organizational Management from Maryville University.

If you are in the Atlanta area, the meeting will be held in the Oracle (not Orasi!) office at Northpark Town Center (building 500, suite 1120). Check the Atlanta SPIN web site for the latest details and directions.

http://www.atlantaspin.org

See you there!

Cheers.

In summary, the talk served as a high-level tutorial on the PMBoK approach to project management while providing insight into how it can be pragmatically applied to a typical development environment.

I never cease to be amazed at the quality of the speakers at our SPIN meetings. Ron Wojick is no exception.

Ron Wojcik has worked software development for over thirty years, primarily in the telecommunications industry. Ron joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1977 where he performed and then led real-time software development and systems engineering efforts. In 1991, Ron joined BellSouth Telecommunications as a Research Director for systems engineering. In 1996, Ron assumed the role of Executive Director/Network Vice President for systems development in support of emerging technologies being deployed into the BellSouth network. In 2002, Ron retired from BellSouth and established Pragmatic! Solutions, a telecommunications consulting company.

Ron is currently Executive Director for TTI Telecom, where he has technical account management and system development/delivery responsibilities.

Ron’s academic accomplishments include a B.S. in Math from Illinois Institute of Technology; a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Brown University; and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Ron is also a certified Project Management Professional.

At the next SPIN meeting, Larry Boldt, the VP of Customer Management at Orasi Software, will be delivering a presentation entitled “Customer Feedback Management – 7 Habits of Highly Effective Customer Feedback Process.”

Abstract: If loyal customers are the essence of what makes companies successful, why is it that so many organizations fail to involve their customers when developing software products? Depending on which analysts’ reports you read, between 60% and 90% of all new product rollouts fail. More importantly, the number one reason for this failure is lack of customer involvement. When we don’t involve our customers throughout the planning and development process we are at high risk of incurring:

• Cost overruns
• Missed opportunities and expectations
• Lost customers
• Failed products and lost revenue

Since we are aware of these risks, why do so many companies continue to ignore the needs of their customers when it comes to developing and maintaining market-driven products?

www.atlantaspin.org

Cheers.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with SPIN, it is a great organization co-sponsored by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) out of Carnegie Mellon University. They aim to provide value around improving the “process” of software development for its member organizations and sponsors. Monthly meetings offer a featured presentation on such topics as CMM/CMMI, ISO, PMI/PMBOK, Six Sigma, and other quality frameworks. Good stuff.

Meetings are open to all individuals, companies, universities, and government organizations who have an interest in software quality, maturity, and process improvement.

Our goal is to enhance our membership’s knowledge and skills through an active program of networking, publication, local and national speakers, recognition of excellence, and mutual support.

If you are in the Altanta area, meetings are held once a month, generally at the offices of one of our sponsors (Oracle, Microsoft, etc.). Check the Atlanta SPIN web site for the latest details.

http://www.atlantaspin.org

I am planning on publishing informative updates after each SPIN meeting, so stay tuned!

I welcome this opportunity to serve, and look forward to helping build a quality process improvement organization for the region.

Cheers.