PROFES2010 / Tutorials

lero — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:12:06 GMT

There are 2 confirmed tutorials:

Six Sigma for Agile Software Product Development
Implementing And Managing Globally Distributed Software Projects

Six Sigma for Agile Software Product Development

Dr. Thomas Fehlmann
Euro Project Office AG
Member of IT Quality Group
Zeltweg 50
CH-8032 Zürich
Phone +41 44 253 1306
Mobile +41 79 332 7056
Skype thfehlmann
E-mail Thomas.Fehlmann@e-p-o.com
Web www.e-p-o.com

Tutorial Objective

Participants shall become able to provide meaningful performance reports and KPI's for project status to higher management when using Agile Software Development Methodologies.
Non-Objective is to teach SCRUM, or any other specific agile methodology, and participants will become neither Function Point specialists nor QFD Moderators.

Abstract - Tutorial Concept

This tutorial teaches Six Sigma best practices in measurement-driven agile software development to non-Six Sigma professionals. Participants learn how to use Functional Size Measurement and Quality Function Deployment in the context of agile SW development methodology. Tools are provided to participants, as functional spreadsheets and graphical counting tools as well as a paper tools for the pin walls.
The tutorial is executed in three parts:

Functional Sizing and Quality Function Deployment for agile teams
as a role play covering several iterations
metrics analysis using personal laptops

We won't teach theory; we focus on the practical aspects how to assess User Stories, determine their Functional Size using a pin wall, and create iteration plans using insights from Quality Function Deployment pin walls.
Participants are expected to be proficient enough to play the roles of software developers, or software users (sponsors), in an agile software development setting. They participate in the planning poker, the JIT analysis and the iteration planning, using the Six Sigma tools such as Functional Sizing and Quality Function Deployment. At the daily Stand-Up meetings, they actually learn using the Six Sigma metrics to make decisions for the iterations. Participants are not required to have previous exposure neither to Six Sigma, QFD or Functional Sizing nor to SCRUM or any other agile development method, although such exposure would be beneficial for all participants.
For the role play, participants receive a project scenario that they are expected to prepare in advance. Participants are encouraged to exchange roles during the play; or "develop" the same feature twice, in order to compare approaches. Thus enrolment must be closed a few days in advance.
For the analysis part, we provide evaluation tools in Excel and PowerPoint. Participants are expected to bring their laptops with an installation of Office 2003 or higher to the tutorial. They will learn how to use these analysis tools; however, studying the mathematical theory behind the analysis tools, or do certified functional size counting, is not within the scope of this tutorial.
For the tutorial to be effective, we need a minimum of three participants and a maximum of ten. If more than ten participants are interested, we'll need a second hand for moderating the role play.

Biography

Dr. Thomas Fehlmann obtained in 1981 a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Federal Technical Institute in Zurich (ETH-Z). He became a "Black Belt" for Six Sigma for Software implementation in 1991. He led Six Sigma improvement projects and made various contributions to the development of quality management and techniques.
In 1999, he started Euro Project Office to support customers with Six Sigma techniques and projects. In 2001, he received the renowned Akao price for his contributions to the development of Quality Function Deployment. Combinatory Metrics for SW were first published 2004 in the Emerald Journal for Reliability Management. Since 2003, he is SW Metrics expert in SwissICT, the largest organiza-tion of Swiss ICT professionals, and Swiss delegate to ISBSG and MAIN. He is QFD Architect since 2005 according the criteria of the German QFD Institute. He is a frequent writer, facilitator, teacher, and counsels customers in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
In 2005 he published his well-known textbook in German on "Developing Software with Six Sigma" (Vieweg Verlag, Wiesbaden, DE). He is co-author of the /ch/open - Process for SW development, of the Swiss government HERMES PowerUser Eclipse plug-in for Project Management, Monitoring and Control on CMMI Level 2, and Six Sigma Black Belt for GMC Software Technology, a small but rap-idly growing Swiss-based global company in the area of personalized customer communications that uses agile approaches for its customer projects with CMMI Level 3.

Implementing And Managing Globally Distributed Software Projects

Dr. Valentine Casey
Regulated Software Group
Department of Computing & Mathematics
Dundalk Institute of Technology
Ireland
val.casey@dkit.ie

Session format: 3.5 hours (half day)

Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Target Groups

Senior Managers, Software Quality Managers, Project Managers, Team Leaders, Software Quality Professionals, Software Engineers or anyone interested in or involved in implementing a globally distributed software development strategy. It will also be of interest to academics currently undertaking or those considering carrying out research in this area.

Abstract

Global Software Development (GSD) is a key strategy for the software industry today. As a result the number of multinational and indigenous organisations who are outsourcing or offshoring software development continues to increase. In many cases the rationale for implementing this strategy are as a cost saving exercise and / or to utilise the opportunity of leveraging a "follow the sun" development approach. The savings which are anticipated in monetary and temporal terms are often based on unrealistic expectations and limited knowledge. In these circumstances it is not surprising that GSD rarely provides the expected returns. While GSD is not without its successes, the reality is for many organisations it has provided mediocre and in some instances disastrous results. In this context while GSD offers potential advantages, organisations need to be aware of the full implications of selecting a distributed software development strategy. These include the potential problems and risks which are inherent to its implementation. Alternative outsourcing and offshoring strategies also need to be considered and evaluated in the light of the requirements of each organisation. The focus of this tutorial is to present an overview which outlines and addresses the specific issues which need to be considered and leveraged when implementing and managing an effective GSD strategy.

An important factor which will be discussed is that globally distributed software projects are inherently different to collocated projects. These differences arise due to the collaborative nature of software development and the impact distance introduces. Distance in its many forms which include geographical, temporal, cultural and linguistic difference each have the potential to negatively impact on coordination, visibility, communication and cooperation in the GSD setting. In these circumstances the management and organisation of GSD projects must be carried out in a different manner to that of those undertaken in a single-site location. Each of these topics will be considered in the context of real life examples based on the results from four independent studies undertaken by the presenter over the last eleven years.
A structured model which addresses the key aspects of implementing a GSD strategy will also be presented and discussed.

Throughout the tutorial the objective will be to ensure that participants have ample opportunity to discuss the issues that are highlighted and their relevance to their own circumstances and organisations. This presentation will incorporate up to date findings and will be based on ongoing research and practical experience.

Tutorial Objectives are to present the following

Overview of Global Software Development
GSD based approaches
Outsourcing verses Offshoring
Formulating a GSD strategy
Virtual teams verses remote teams
'Follow the Sun' Development
A structured approach to implementing a successful GSD strategy
Project Management and process in a GSD environment
Partitioning of work
Geographical and temporal distance
Communication issues and how to overcome them
Culture and its impact on GSD
Team motivation and Fear
Cooperation and trust
Coordination and Visibility

Biography

Dr. Val Casey is a Senior Researcher in the Regulated Software Group in Dundalk Institute of Technology. His previous role was Senior Lecturer in Software Quality and Testing and GSD Research Area Leader in Bournemouth University. He has published widely in the areas of globally distributed software development, virtual team operation and software process improvement. He is a programme committee member for a number of international conferences and a reviewer for various international Software Engineering journals. He spent three years as a researcher with Lero - The Irish Software Engineering Research Centre at the University of Limerick where he also lectured. He has over 20 years industrial experience in software development. He is a Software Engineering Institute (SEI) trained CMM assessor and holds a MSc. in Software Re-Engineering and a BSc. in Economics and Management. His last role in industry was that of Quality Manager in an organisation which employed a number of different distributed development strategies including virtual team based software development. He has also provided consultancy services focusing on distributed software development, software process improvement, and testing to the financial and telecom sectors. The focus of his work is practical and industry based while leveraging the wider areas of academic research which includes Global Software Development, Virtual Team Operation, Software Process Improvement, Organizational Theory and Project Management.

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PROFES2010 / Tutorials

Six Sigma for Agile Software Product Development

Tutorial Objective

Abstract - Tutorial Concept

Biography

Implementing And Managing Globally Distributed Software Projects

Target Groups

Abstract

Biography