CAI and the IT Metrics & Productivity Institute are proud to present

The 2008
Software Best Practices
Webinar Series

2008 Program

Coaching Distributed Teams

May 14th, 2008
9:30 am - 11:00 am Eastern Time

Teams are evolving from centrally located, single culture to globally distributed, multinational groups. The management of distributed teams is often geographically dispersed. Team members from different organizations have different priorities and company objectives. Trends such as mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing of IT functions and off-shoring of IT functions have introduced new challenges for team members and team leaders alike. In this webinar, Marilyn Edelson and David Herron will discuss how team coaching, using a structured method with clearly defined, measurable results, offers an effective way to improve performance, create alignment, foster better communication and help team leaders hold accountability for their teams.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain understanding of the challenges to organizations presented by distributed teams and ways to address those challenges
• Learn how group coaching can be used to build cohesion, increase motivation and lead to improved performance
• Be introduced to a specific tool that has been proven particularly effective in aligning teams to achieve their goals and improve their overall performance.

Intended Audience:

• Middle and upper management
• Corporate executives
• Technology industry entrepreneurs
• Human Resource and Training managers

Click Here to Register!

Function Points: Sizing, Estimating, and More

May 15th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

Function Points have been used for decades to reliably size software products. Most organizations that use Function Point have progressed to using them for estimation and planning. However Function Points can also be used early in the planning and analysis of a project to approximate product size and project resourcing. Function Points are an international standard for functional software sizing (ISO/IEC 20926:2003). The International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) is the administering body for Function Points offering classes, certifications, and the Counting Practices Manual.

In this webinar session, Joe Schofield will review the nature of Function Points, provide examples, and demonstrate how Function Points are used to estimate and manage development and support efforts. He will describe the use of Function Points for measuring requirements volatility and applying thresholds for re-planning. Relationships from the CMMI Process Areas MA, REQM, QPM, PP, PMC, and IPM, as well as a number of Generic Practices will be suggested.

Learning Objectives:

• Why Should I Care?  What are Function Points?
• What problem(s) am I solving with Function Points?
• What are some useful Function Point metrics?
• How can Function Points be used before I have a stable set of requirements?
• How can Function Points enable me to better track project progress?
• What threads through the CMMI exist for Function Points?
• Are cost and schedule really the most likely constraints to impair project success?

Intended Audience:

• Software project managers
• Software developers
• Anyone who interfaces with software teams
• Software product stakeholders
• Measurement gurus (self-proclaimed or real)

Click Here to Register!

ITIL Service Management for Application Support

May 20th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

ITIL V3 service management provides an industry recognized set of standards for bringing process consistency and dramatic improvements to your IT Application Maintenance and Support services. A well defined and implemented service management strategy can demonstrate that IT support services provide business value by measuring performance against agreed service commitments.

It the world of IT Service Management, ignorance is not bliss; it can be disastrous!

The ITIL service management framework has been developed and refined by IT service professionals around the world since the 1980"s. The ITIL framework provides practical process guidance for implementing an IT Service Management Strategy that aligns your IT service and business objectives. Having a well defined and field proven service management framework for your Application Maintenance and Support service is much easier and less risky than trying to make up one on your own.

Learning Objectives:

• The ITIL V3 Service Management Lifecycle and how it is used for implementing new services and improving existing services
• Why ITIL is relevant to Application Maintenance and Support?
• What is ITIL's value to Application Maintenance and Support?
• How do you apply ITIL to Application Maintenance and Support?

Intended Audience:

• IT Executives
• Application Maintenance and Support Managers
• Application Maintenance and Support Practitioners

Click Here to Register!

Measuring and Managing New and Legacy Software

May 21st, 2008
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern Time

Most organizations tend to apply the greatest measurement rigor in the early states of software development and deployment. Software innovation is interesting and exciting, and awareness of cost, schedule, and resource risks is high. In fact, management should focus on measurement during software development and deployment. But measuring and addressing software performance is equally critical – if not as glamorous – once software has become established and entrenched in an organization. While legacy software doesn’t wear out like a car tire, it can degrade over time with the accumulation of numerous patches, system and configuration changes, provisioning and re-provisioning, integrations, and ongoing software development. Over time, this accumulation of changes can lead to software instability and a significant increase in the cost of maintaining legacy systems – up to four times the cost of initial software development according to some estimates. The fact is that pro-active measurement and management (software “well care”) is critical throughout the software lifecycle and can significantly decrease total cost of ownership. In this webinar, Dan Galorath will discuss the art and science of information-based performance measurement throughout the software lifecycle, including design for maintainability, development of measurement criteria, collection of metrics, and industry standards, guidelines, and best practice options.

Click Here to Register!

A Cost Effective Approach to Enterprise Wide Software Process Improvement

May 22nd, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

Corporate acquisitions and organic growth have resulted in the proliferation of organizations that are geographically, operationally and culturally diverse. In such an environment, the needs of so many diverse units can overwhelm centralized process improvement efforts. How then do we advance process maturity without spending a fortune and without creating an enforcement environment that stifles productivity?

This webinar by Tom Cagley (President of IFPUG and Vice President, David Consulting Group) will discuss how to blend an enterprise wide approach to global process improvement with an agile approach to local software process improvement in such a way that large, multinational organizations can derive benefit.

Learning Objectives:

• Review lessons learned from process improvement failures and their root causes
• Understand the elements of an Enterprise SPI model, including limits and risks
• Recognize the profile of an organization that can benefit from this type of model
• Understand potential ROI for this type of model
• Discover how to start small and verify this approach for your organization

Intended Audience:

• CEOs, CIOs and their reports
• Government Agency Executives, Program Managers
• Business Managers
• Project Management Office leaders and managers

Click Here to Register!

Would You Survive A Function Point Audit?

May 27th, 2008
8:30 am - 10:00 am Eastern Time

Contractual disputes can arise in outsourcing contracts when clients bring in external Function Point Counters to audit the performance metrics of the supplier. Often, this is done without consultation regarding the activities of the audit or without agreement on dispute resolution processes. This webinar by Pam Morris will discuss the ‘Terms-of-Reference’ that need to be in place before a Function Point audit begins so that, in the end, the client gets what they pay for and the supplier is not unfairly assessed.

Intended Audience:

• IT Managers
• Project Managers
• Business Managers
• Metrics Managers responsible for the accuracy of the Functional Sizing measurements that underpin their performance metrics.

Click Here to Register!

10 Things You Need to Know about Earned Value Management

May 28th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Earned Value Management (EVM) techniques have been around since the early 70’s but have more recently been mandated for practically all US government contracted projects. The techniques and criteria are arguably the best way to truly integrate cost and schedule project control techniques.

In this webinar by Keith Custer, you will be introduced to the basic concepts and terms of EVM, learn how to make the critical calculations, see how to effectively integrate cost and schedule data, how to generate performance reports, how to calculate variances, and how to predict future project performance. Mr. Custer will also discuss Earned Value Management Systems and introduce the ANSI/EIA compliance criteria.

Mr. Custer draws on over 30 years of experience in project management and control in projects ranging from large scale nuclear power construction projects to small scale application development projects. He will share with you successful strategies that he has learned and uses in wide variety of information technology and construction projects. These critical success factors are not available in any other reference. His content rich style is sure to provide many “ah-hah” moments that you can use for years to come in all of your future projects. He will give you specific, actionable recommendations that you can start using immediately to implement EVM.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand Earned Value Management
• Learn where Earned Value Management came from and why it is mandated
• Find out how EVM applies to Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and
  Organizational Breakdown
• Learn the different methods for calculating 'earned'
• Learn how to calculate EVM variances and performance indices and
  how to produce integrated performance reports
• Learn how to use EVM to predict future project performance

Intended Audience:

• Procurement Managers
• Technology Managers
• Engineering Managers
• Construction Managers
• C-level managers who may be contemplating government supply contracts
  that require EVM methods and need to understand these techniques and how
  they can be implemented.
• Subjects addressed will benefit any Project Manager trying to use the
  best possible methods to analyze project performance and accurately
  predict project outcomes.

Click Here to Register!

Objective-Driven Software Process Improvement

May 29th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

In order to get necessary buy-in, management support and budget, CMMI-based process improvement must be managed as a project with tangible short-term results. This webinar will underline how to set up and drive a process improvement program with business goals and concrete development challenges and how to opportunistically use the continuous representation to deliver incremental value. Despite an increasing body of knowledge on how to successfully manage change in order to deliver value and business benefit, many organisations still struggle in practice. Cost focus and demands on resources, time and quality create a challenging environment. The webinar is hands-on and allows participants to raise their own respective needs and challenges. Presenter Dr. Christof Ebert, managing director at Vector Consulting and previously the lead for Alcatel's world-wide process improvement program, brings broad experiences from objective-driven process improvement programs in different industries.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn how to position and plan their own improvement program towards fast and focused ROI.
• How to focus on what matters business-wise and how to set SMART objectives
• How to set up and drive a process improvement program with business goals and concrete development challenges
• How to opportunistically use the CMMI continuous representation to deliver incremental value
• How to mitigate risks and problems that frequently undermine successful process improvement

Intended Audience:

• Process improvement (EPG) leaders and teams
• IT and engineering management
• Quality engineers and management

Click Here to Register!

Optimizing Software Maintenance and Enhancements

June 3rd, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Software maintenance and enhancement work often consists of making a great many fairly small changes to a few very large software applications. The tasks of “maintenance” or fixing defects and “enhancements” or adding new features sometimes get in each other’s way. Because small updates cannot be measured using standard function point measurements, there is a paucity of solid data about maintenance and enhancement productivity and quality levels. This webinar by Capers Jones is based on analysis of the maintenance and enhancement methods that have successfully been used by industry leaders. Some of the topics included are: optimal organization structures for maintenance and enhancement; assignment scopes for maintenance teams; maintenance and enhancement productivity and quality levels; the tools available for assisting maintenance and enhancement tasks; and the role of outsourcing in maintenance and enhancement environments. The webinar will also introduce “micro function points” as a new method of measuring maintenance and enhancement productivity and quality levels.

Learning Objectives:

• Define and illustrate “micro function points” for maintenance projects
• Show the latest ranges of maintenance productivity and quality
• Discuss the latest technologies for improving maintenance projects
• Discuss critical maintenance issues (e.g., reverse engineering to extract business rules, reengineering, bad-fix injections, removal of error-prone modules, restructuring and refactoring, impact of ITIL on maintenance operations)

Intended Audience:

• Software executives
• CIOs
• Software maintenance managers
• Software maintenance personnel
• Software quality assurance.

Click Here to Register!

Schedule Games: Recognizing and Avoiding the Games We Play

June 4th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Are your schedules off as soon as you create them? Does your management expect you to meet impossible deadlines? Have you ever been surprised by how long tasks took to complete? If you answer yes to any of these questions, chances are someone in your organization is playing schedule games. There are many different schedule games, but they all have similar results: the project team is behind the eight ball. In this webinar with Johanna Rothman, we will look at how to recognize the signs of schedule games, how to address the underlying problems, and how to change the rules.

Learning Objectives:

• Indications of schedule games
• Root causes of schedule games
• Strategies to solve schedule games

Intended Audience:

• Project managers
• Technical leads on projects
• Managers who manage the project portfolio
• Anyone who works on a project

Click Here to Register!

Do’s and Don’ts of Process Improvement

June 5th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

This highly engaging webinar session with Pat O’Toole provides practical advice that will help attendees re-invigorate their process improvement programs. Blending real world examples, practical advice, and humorous analogies, participants will learn to think more robustly about their approach to process improvement, and apply proven approaches that they can implement immediately upon their return.

Learning Objectives:

• Evolve senior management’s role from passive sponsorship to proactive leadership
• Generate business-oriented improvement goals that provide organization motivation and focus
• Enhance the integrity of their process-related data
• Avoid many of the common mistakes that de-rail process improvement programs

Intended Audience:

• Level 1 organizations that are just starting out on their SPI journey or are encountering difficulty in making significant progress
• Senior managers who sponsor SPI initiatives
• Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG)
• Process Action Team members
• Project managers

Click Here to Register!

Planning for Outsourcing - Getting it Right from the Start

June 6th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Leaders of organizations follow the trends that "follow the money." Using outsourcing as an approach to meeting business needs is commonly done to minimize cost. But... is that always the right move? Is saving money the only reason? How can an organization decide what sourcing strategy is best for their business situation? In this webinar with Joyce Statz and Debbie Yedlin we will discuss the basics of identifying a strategy for sourcing to meet business needs(in-house or externally) and how to make a cogent argument for that strategy. That's key to setting the foundation for successful outsourcing (or not).

Click Here to Register!

Minimizing Risk When Investing in Technology-Based Initiatives

June 12th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Investing in technology companies can bring high rewards as well as dismal losses. Predicting future performance based on past achievements and financial performance helps but can be misleading. DBase III+, developed by Ashton-Tate, was among the best-selling software titles in the late 80's. Yet, dBase IV, its successor, was a disaster, and Ashton-Tate lost most of its market share to competitors. Other examples abound.

Alternatively, opportunities offering the potential of high returns can be missed because past performance results are not available or are incomplete, which forces investors to turn them down or to take a gamble.

This Webinar by Louis Poulin explains how risk inherent to initiatives calling on engineering and technical development is analyzed, and how such analyses can go a long way in helping investors take advantage of promising opportunities, while providing early detection and warning of decreased performance.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the challenges associated with assessing risk
• Review the basis on which technology risk ratings rely
• Gain insight into how technology risk ratings are conducted and the
  parameters at play
• Appreciate the benefits of technology risk ratings and the information
  they provide to investors or to enterprises seeking investment
• Review some technology risk rating case studies

Click Here to Register!

The Journey Towards Effective Portfolio Management

June 17th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

This webinar by Beth Layman will cover the basics of effective portfolio management for IT – deciding which initiatives to invest in and then managing those initiatives through deployment and benefit realization. Whether you are interested primarily in technology/IT investments, or, more broadly, in business processes, people, and technology improvements, you will benefit from Beth Layman’s practical approaches for integrating portfolio management into organizations of varied maturity. In addition to basics, Beth will share lessons learned, red flags and a dose of reality to help guide your company in this journey, which can often take years of trial and incremental refinement.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how portfolio management helps a company focus
• Learn how to “seed” and develop proposals and business cases
• Install a workable selection process integrated with strategic and financial planning
• Leverage a project office to help monitor and manage the selected projects
• Assess your organization’s readiness for portfolio management
• Tailor the journey’s “route plan” based on organizational maturity

Intended Audience:

• CIOs and other C-level executives looking for a way to align internal investments/improvements with corporate strategic objectives
• Strategic or Financial Planning groups responsible for investment decisions
• Program Management Offices looking for a way to better handle the never-ending pipeline of proposals, requests, and resulting projects

Click Here to Register!

Effective Process through Light Process

June 18th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Many organizations embark on process program initiatives and soon discover they have become bogged down in heavy, cumbersome policies and procedures. What many organizations fail to appreciate is that popular standards like CMMI, ISO 9001:2000, and ITIL can all be implemented using light, flexible processes. In this webinar by James Persse, James will explore how these kinds of light programs not only tend to 'stick' easier in organizations but they also provide for full compliance with the model of choice.

Learning Objectives:

• Appreciate the value of light process over heavy process
• Understand how full compliance with popular models can be achieved using a light approach
• Appreciate the spirit of interpretation that most models promote

Intended Audience:

• Process Managers
• Process Practitioners
• Team Members working in a process environment

Click Here to Register!

Project Management Isn’t Enough: Essentials of Effective Sponsorship

June 19th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Project management folklore (and PM product vendors) assures us that abundant spending on project management training and tools guarantees project success. Real world results often disagree.

While most organizations recognize a return on past investments in project management, many remain frustrated by projects that exceed schedule or resource goals, don’t deliver promised functionality or acceptable quality products, or fail outright.

Was the whole “PM thing” more hype than substance? Has the ROI peaked? Will the next tool, method, process, or class solve the problem?

During this webinar, Payson Hall will argue that: 1) Some projects cannot succeed as defined no matter how well they are managed; and 2) Effective project management is necessary, but insufficient for supporting informed executive decision-making

Payson asserts that there are limits to what project management practices can do for an organization without effective sponsorship. Sponsors establish project goals and organizational priorities, setting a context for project management. Sponsorship is essential for project success - yet poorly understood in some quarters and often difficult to secure.

Learning Objectives:

• Defining the Sponsor’s role and why it is essential
• Explaining how to request and encourage good sponsorship
• Exploring how effective sponsorship encourages more realistic expectations and better business decisions

Intended Audience:

• Project Managers
• Sponsoring Executives

Click Here to Register!

ITIL Service Management for Application Support

August 12th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

ITIL V3 service management provides an industry recognized set of standards for bringing process consistency and dramatic improvements to your IT Application Maintenance and Support services. A well defined and implemented service management strategy can demonstrate that IT support services provide business value by measuring performance against agreed service commitments.

It the world of IT Service Management, ignorance is not bliss; it can be disastrous!

The ITIL service management framework has been developed and refined by IT service professionals around the world since the 1980"s. The ITIL framework provides practical process guidance for implementing an IT Service Management Strategy that aligns your IT service and business objectives. Having a well defined and field proven service management framework for your Application Maintenance and Support service is much easier and less risky than trying to make up one on your own.

Learning Objectives:

• The ITIL V3 Service Management Lifecycle and how it is used for implementing new services and improving existing services
• Why ITIL is relevant to Application Maintenance and Support?
• What is ITIL's value to Application Maintenance and Support?
• How do you apply ITIL to Application Maintenance and Support?

Intended Audience:

• IT Executives
• Application Maintenance and Support Managers
• Application Maintenance and Support Practitioners

Click Here to Register!

Root Cause Analysis: What Is It And How Do I Do It?

August 13th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

When done correctly, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) focused on defect prevention can significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. RCA has different meanings to different organizations, and is often used to mean problem resolution rather than identifying how and why faults get into our requirements, design, code, and test products. In this webinar with Ed Weller, we will look at RCA as part of defect prevention and address why defects get into our work, how to identify the underlying causes of these defects, and how to create a process for doing cause-effect analysis. The enablers and barriers to effective RCA will be identified and organizations will be positioned to evaluate their readiness for implementing RCA.

Learning Objectives:

• What is Root Cause Analysis?
• What are the enablers and barriers for Root Cause Analysis?
• How do we do Cause-Effect analysis?
• Implementing solutions – the key activity in RCA

Intended Audience:

• Developers/Testers who do Root Cause Analysis
• Managers of people doing Root Cause Analysis
• Quality Assurance and process group members who facilitate RCA sessions

Click Here to Register!

Essential Measurements for Software Projects

August 14th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Measurement is essential to effective management of software projects – it is the means by which teams determine where they are relative to objectives and steer themselves toward their goals. Yet not all measurements are created equal. Measuring the wrong things is a distraction at best and may lead a team in the wrong direction. This webinar by Kurt Bittner will present a set of 4 simple measures to assess project health and help to steer the project in the right direction.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the goals of measurement
• To understand what to measure, and how
• To understand how to use the results of measurement to guide the project

Intended Audience:

• People managing or leading software projects
• Members of software teams who need to measure project results or help develop estimates
• Managers who oversee a number of software projects

Click Here to Register!

ITIL Early Adoptors: Initial Results

August 19th , 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

In 2006 ITIL got everyone’s attention. As 2007 progressed, ITIL early adopters began implementations with earnestness and high hopes. At this point, the results are in for many of these projects and there is both good news and not so good news. In this webinar, you will find out how ITIL early adopters fared and how their experiences can help you in your current or pending ITIL implementation.

Click Here to Register!

IT Silver Bullets: Tools and Techniques

August 20th, 2008
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Eastern Time

Over the years a number of software tools and techniques have been hailed by the IT industry as “Silver Bullets,” the fast way to dramatically improved productivity or speed of delivery. But are there really any silver bullets? The ISBSG has researched Release 10 of its software project data repository of 4,150 projects to analyse the impact of a number of types of tools and techniques. In this webinar Peter Hill, the CEO of the ISBSG, will present the findings of that research and look at what works and what doesn’t.

Learning Objectives:

• The tools & techniques that have been used on projects in the ISBSG repository
• The impact that these tools & techniques appear to have on the projects
• The extent of the use of tools and techniques
• What works and what doesn’t

Intended Audience:

• CIOs
• IT Managers
• Project Managers
• IT Developers

Click Here to Register!

Top 10 Pitfalls in Agile Software Development

August 21st, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Over the last few years, the adoption of agile methods has rapidly spread and agile methods are now state-of-the-art. Many teams, projects and even organizations around the world are using Scrum, XP, Crystal Methodologies, or other well-known or self-made agile methods. However, not every organization and project is succeeding in making agile work.

What makes an agile project successful? And how can we recognize common pitfalls or "smells" that prevent or limit success with agile?

With her experience in helping projects all over Europe establish the agile value system, Jutta Eckstein will use this webinar to highlight recurring common pitfalls that teams often fall into when applying an agile approach.

Learning Objectives:

• How to make failure transparent,
• How to recognize typical pitfalls
• How to prevent failure,
• How to set up teams for success
• Concrete proto-patterns for success

Intended Audience:

• Project Managers
• Change agents and promoters of agile methods such as coaches, ScrumMasters, consultants
• Project managers, product managers, development team managers
• Executives
• All participants should be experienced in applying agile methods.

Click Here to Register!

Best Practices for Determining Project Requirements

August 26th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

When industry studies are done on reasons for project failures, scope creep and poor understanding of requirements are always at the top of the list. This webinar with Hans Jonasson will explore the reasons behind these issues and look at best practices for improving your approach to gathering project requirements. We will explore evolving industry standards, look at a formalized approach to requirements gathering and documentation and talk about the increasingly important role of the business analyst. There will be a deeper review of the use of facilitated sessions to capture requirements and how modeling fits into the requirements gathering process.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain an understanding of different levels of requirements and how to create traceable requirements
• Review common requirements gathering approaches and when they should be used
• Understand how to set up and run a facilitated requirements session

Intended Audience:

• Project Managers
• Customers of IT applications
• Business Analysts

Click Here to Register!

How to Effectively Lead an Offshore Team

August 27th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Over the past several years global delivery of IT application services has become commonplace. To deliver these services successfully, however, firms need to implement consistent methodologies and processes that have been adapted to handle geographically dispersed teams. While these defined approaches and disciplines help manage work between diverse locations, the best firms also have strong leadership principles to guide them through the challenges of a multi-cultural team.

In this Webinar, David Broderick, Director of Offshore Delivery for CAI, will share some facts, experiences, and insights on how to lead IT teams dispersed across different countries.

Click Here to Register!

Lean-Agile Software Development: Where To Start

September 2nd, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

You know that your organization needs to be transformed by using Lean-Agile software development principles and practices, but how do you actually get started down the Lean-Agile path? This webinar with Alan Shalloway will help attendees understand that it is not a question to be avoided, but one that needs to be answered. The session will give some tactics based on real-world experience that will be helpful for anyone that needs to answer the question of "how and where do we start?" This webinar is for those people who already have a general understanding of Lean and Agile principles, but need assistance on where to begin, or assurance that they've started in the right manner.

Learning Objectives:

• Lean-Agile as fast-flexible-flow
• Lean-Agile across the enterprise
• Quick wins
• Assessing metrics

Intended Audience:

• IT Program Managers
• Software project managers
• Software engineers
• Process improvement groups

Click Here to Register!

Project Patterns: Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies

September 3rd, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

There are many commonly recognized best practices for good health: eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, getting plenty of rest. There are also many recognized worst practices: smoking, overeating, heavy drinking. So why don’t we all arduously work on all the best practices and dutifully avoid all the worst? It’s the same with IT. Over time we fall into project patterns; some are healthy and some are destructive.

In this webinar with Tim Lister, Tim will present some behavior patterns from his new book with the Atlantic Systems Guild, "Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior." He will supply a starter kit for you and your colleagues to discuss what you do, and don’t do, and most important of all – why. You will learn how to recognize when your projects are locked in a pattern and whether that pattern is healthy or destructive.

Click Here to Register!

Making Process Improvement Work: A Concise Action Guide

September 4th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Many organizations try to improve their software quality and productivity by establishing a company-wide process improvement program. These programs often result in large amounts of process documentation which eventually become a burden or are ignored completely. In many cases, the organization is left with very little benefit to show for its efforts. This webinar by Neil Potter offers a straightforward, systematic approach to planning, implementing, and monitoring a process improvement program. Business goals, project problems and improvement frameworks are tied together to create a compelling improvement program.

Learning Objectives:

• Scope and develop an improvement plan
• Direct all improvement towards achieving business goals and solving the organization's problems
• Use improvement models or standards (e.g., CMMI, ITIL, Six Sigma) to address goals and problems
• Stay focused on running the business, not procedures and paperwork
• Derive metrics that accurately measure progress toward business goals

Intended Audience:

• Senior Managers leading an improvement effort
• Process improvement and quality staff coaching an improvement program
• Project managers and team members being asked to improve

Click Here to Register!

The Impact of Web 2.0 on Software Development, Project Management, and Process Improvement

September 9th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

The paradigm of Web 2.0 is that of “content” being created by customers and the entire Internet community, as well as corporations and the “mainstream” media. Sometimes this grass-roots content is aggregated and distributed by the traditional publishers; but often it exists as tiny, stand-alone creations on the Internet – such as the millions of blogs, photographs, and video clips that have sprung into existence in the past few years.

But most of all, Web 2.0 is a “strategic” issue: it requires senior corporate executives – including the CIO, senior IT managers, and managers of business units – to rethink basic assumptions about their business, their customers, their suppliers, their work-force, their revenue models, and the day-to-day processes by which they carry out their business. As these strategic issues are discussed and debated in the coming years, we may possibly see some of the same exaggeration and “hype” that occurred during the early years of Web 1.0; but when the dust settles ten years from now, we will certainly see some new “winners” who have achieved the same kind of success that Amazon and Yahoo did back in 1995.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain an understanding of what Web 2.0 is, and what it is not.
• Learn which Web 2.0 applications make sense for their business (and which do not)
• Learn how those applications should be built with new tools and development environments, as well as existing components, systems, and tools.
• Gain an understanding of the tools, products, and technology plans of several major vendors.
• Understand the current trends of Web 2.0, and how it will evolve into Web 3.0
  

Intended Audience:

• Senior IT executives
• Corporate planners
• IT project managers
• Software architects and engineers
• Business managers responsible for using the Internet to grow their business.

Click Here to Register!

Is the World Really Flat?

September 10th, 2008
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm Eastern Time

In “The World Is Flat,” author Thomas Friedman describes how a “connected” world has made it possible to do almost anything collaboratively with people around the planet. This globalization has driven companies to not only to distribute low-wage manufacturing around the world, but also high-end design and knowledge work as well, like software development.

But is the world really flat when it comes to creating and designing software? Labor rates are but one dimension of outsourcing. What does a worldwide database of actual completed projects show compared to what people expect? Do apparent cost savings reflect similar outcomes for time-to-market and quality? Are companies satisfied with their ability to achieve all of their outsourcing goals? Do companies that have already outsourced intend to stay the course or switch? What are some of the implications of Agile development and outsourcing?

This webinar with Michael Mah will answer these and other important issues that senior executives need to consider when evaluating their options, using benchmark statistics compiled by recent research of several hundred companies that have made outsourcing a part of their global development strategy.

Click Here to Register!

True North Metrics

September 11th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

In the everyday hurly-burly bustle of business-as-usual it is all too easy for individuals to narrow their focus so they see only their immediate, urgent tasks. Dysfunction sets in, so that managers and staff lose sight of their organisation's strategic objectives, often optimising local processes at the expense of the customer's experience with the end-to-end service. Furthermore, when asked, few individuals can reliably state their organisation's strategic objectives. Nor can they explain how their own activities contribute to achievement of those objectives.

In this webinar, Grant Rule will illustrate a simple method that enables company management to define and communicate the organisation's 'True North' direction with respect to the nature of the selected customer base. Participants will learn how to construct a strategy focused on delivering the value expected by the organisation's customers. The presentation will show how plans for implementing strategy are linked, through executive-level Implementation Managers, to operations and improvement projects. The method makes it easy for all members of staff, and indeed suppliers, to align their behaviours and deliverables to achieve quantified progress in the desired direction. Operationalising the strategy makes it straightforward for all to see how their projects and activities contribute value, which results in reduced risk, higher staff morale, and engaged teams committed to continuously removing waste to maximise the value added by their processes.

Intended Audience:

• CXO-level executives, including the CIO and their peers
• Programme Managers
• Departmental Managers
• Project Managers
• Managers of performance improvement programmes and organisational change programmes
• Process and performance coaches and mentors

Click Here to Register!

Organizational Change: 5 Roadblocks And How To Overcome Them

September 16th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

How many dedicated improvement program leaders have pushed the proverbial boulder up the hill only to watch it roll back down, sometimes flattening the change agents and even the executive sponsor in the process? Why do we focus on the management of change (e.g., the models, processes, methods, plans and tactics) and fail to acknowledge and address the importance of cultural barriers and change leadership? In this webinar, Beth Layman will talk about five roadblocks to successful change: lack of alignment, siloed thinking, decision dysfunction, execution and endurance problems, and missing measurements – and what to do about them.

Intended Audience:

• Understand the difference between managing and leading change efforts
• Discuss the symptoms of barriers to change, the root causes, and how to address them
• Learn how to perform a critical assessment of “change readiness” and use the findings to plan for the change
• Learn how to tailor your improvement plans based on organizational readiness and maturity
  

Click Here to Register!

Mastering Service Based Project Leadership

September 17th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Your project management services compete on a global basis. Your services are becoming, if not already, a commodity for organizations to purchase when and where they want it.

As practitioners we must ensure our services are distinguishable and provide unique value. This is a challenge in an industry that is being commoditized by the conversion of individually-held tacit knowledge into organizational knowledge, by increased standardization of terminology and processes, by globalization and by the availability of highly-educated low cost workers.

This webinar by Jack Ferraro will define a bold new type of practitioner — the service-based program leader. Their role is to lead and sustain transformation by creating experiences that initiate the transformation of people — starting with themselves — then the transformation of systems and ultimately, of the organization.

The qualities that make them unique are efficiency (ability to focus on high value work); customization (tailoring methods and tools to meet stakeholder’s needs); foresight (leading as opposed to reacting); and finally, connectedness (the ability to work together with project team members, stakeholders and customers).

Click Here to Register!

Balanced Scorecards for Software Development

September 18th , 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Application of the Balanced Scorecard to software development processes allows alignment of organizational objectives and goals with the software development life cycle. The balanced scorecard assumes causal relationships between measures of organizational learning and growth, internal business processes, customer perspective and financial measures. Each area is represented by Key Process Indicators. The identification and definition of those KPI’s becomes an important step if the software development organization wants to deliver product within cost, schedule, and good quality.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the connection between balanced scorecards and software development
• Learn how to align software development strategy with organizational goals
• Discover how you can obtain important feedback for developing a process improvement strategy

Click Here to Register!

The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility

September 23rd, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

This webinar with Michele Sliger is specifically aimed at traditionally trained software project managers who are new to Agile, and who would like to be able to relate the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) best practices to their equivalent practices in Agile. As a result of being able to associate many of these new Agile ideas to things that are already familiar, the listener can begin their Agile journey with a new shared lexicon and knowledge of general Agile concepts. In addition to the mapping of the PMBOK Guide® knowledge areas to Agile practices, there is also focus on how the job of the traditional project manager is re-defined into a new—and often more important—role in the Agile development process.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about Agile by relating Agile concepts to project management concepts you are already familiar with
• Understand how your role as a traditional project manager will change in an Agile environment

Intended Audience:

• Traditional software and IT project managers PMO managers and executives
• Any software professional who would like to learn more about Agile practices and how they compare to traditional practices

Click Here to Register!

Using Measurements for System Testing Success

September 24th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

To achieve success in system testing—efficiently preventing important defects from reaching users —technical excellence is necessary but is not sufficient in itself. Even more important are the skills to influence the project team attitudes and behavior in a manner that prevents defects from even reaching the system test phase in the first place. In this webinar, Nathan Petschenik shares his experience and insights into the technical aspects of collecting and interpreting measurements for system test. In addition, he explains how system test leaders can and must use measurements to drive certain types of Software Process Improvement in order to impact the quality of the software that reaches the system test team. Among other recommendations, Nathan explains how to use “accountability studies” based on user problems reported to get both testers and developers to get better at their jobs. By nurturing front-loaded quality—quality designed in and built in, not tested in at the end—system testers can multiply their efforts and help ensure that users receive high quality software. The material for this Webinar is drawn from Nathan’s book “System Testing with an Attitude” (Dorset House 2005).

Learning Objectives:

• Specific needs that measurements fulfill in system testing
• The measurements that should be collected by system test team
• How each of these measurements address the specific needs of system testing
• How measurements can be used to nurture front-loaded quality as an integral part of achieving system test success
• How to use measurements as a basis for identifying and harnessing key learnings for continuous process improvement

Intended Audience:

• System Testers System Test ManagersProject Managers
• Software Process Improvement/Quality Assurance specialists

Click Here to Register!

5 Core Metrics to Guide your Software Endgames

September 25th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

By its very nature, the Endgame of software projects is a hostile environment. Typical dynamics include tremendous release pressure, continuous bug & requirement discovery, exhausted development teams, frenzied project managers and “crunch mode” – a PC term for overtime. In this webinar by Bob Galen, you’ll learn how Project Managers can focus the entire team on a few key performance metrics to improve the overall endgame experience and increase the probability of delivering on-time. And yes, to also survive yet another Endgame.

Learning Objectives:

• How to provide effective traffic direction for the incoming defect “stream”
• Why keywords are a great way to focus project releases
• Highlighting defect repair performance characteristics without alienating development
• How to provide powerful Pareto guidance into project risk areas
• Why developing a set of Metrics Analysis Questions (MAQ’s) can help your analysis.

Intended Audience:

• Attendees from functional management, project management, software engineering and software testing will benefit by learning a set of techniques and heuristics for successfully reading, influencing, and interpreting their application defect metrics to guide their focus within their project endgames. You should have at least 3 years of experience contributing within technology product development teams.

Click Here to Register!

Requirements Engineering is MAD

October 1st, 2008
9:00 am - 10:30 am Eastern Time

There are two distinct processes within the discipline of Requirements Engineering; namely, Requirements Management and Requirements Development. These two processes generally run in parallel, have quite different objectives and often an unclear interaction. Drawing upon his extensive experience using the CMMI framework, Dr. Simon Wright will fully describe these two processes in this webinar, and will place particular emphasis on the relationship between them.

Learning Objectives:

• To provide an understanding of the process of Requirements Development
• To provide an understanding of the process of Requirements Management
• To provide an understanding of the interface between Requirements Development and Requirements Management
• To provide an understanding of the interface between Planning and Performing the processes

Intended Audience:

• Executive who define organizational policy for processes
• Project managers who plan the requirements engineering activities
• Stakeholders who have to write or fulfill requirements
• Developers who have to analyze or change requirements

Click Here to Register!

The Economics of Thin Clients

October 2nd, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

The last 25 years of computing technology can be characterized by the rising dominance of “client computing”. In this era Microsoft provided increasingly elaborate software that supported a complexity that previously could be delivered only by means of mainframe computers. Personal computers have now became devices that require megabytes of memory and gigabytes of disk space to support individual computing.

Offsetting such rising powers are the rapidly rising operating maintenance costs and the increasing vulnerability to attacks on the hundreds of millions of lines of software code residing within Microsoft operating systems. Though firewalls and virus protection countermeasures have been installed to protect computing, hard to contain human errors remain the causes of most security compromises.

With improvements in communications it is now possible to support personal computing by means of “thin clients” that depend on the processing power of central servers to deliver application services. Instead of protecting each of the millions of personal computers against information attacks at a huge cost, it is now feasible to concentrate defenses into thousands of high-performance servers where protective measures are more affordable and manageable.

The objective of this webinar with Paul Strassmann, former CIO for the US Dept. of Defense, is to describe the current implementation of “thin client” configuration by a number of vendors, to demonstrate the economic advantages of centrally managed computing and to explain how “thin computing” offers safeguards against security compromises.

Learning Objectives:

• How to evaluate the placement of "thin clients" on a corporate network in comparison with other available options.

Click Here to Register!

Project Outcomes And Their Causes

October 7th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

Much has been said about successes and failures in software-intensive system projects. In this webinar, Dr. Colin Tully - Professor Emeritus of Software Practice at Middlesex University, London, UK - will critically review the available project evidence to date and will formulate a basis for evidence-based policies that can lead to better project outcomes in terms of business value, process capability, sound project decisions, and user satisfaction.

Intended Audience:

• CEOs CIOs and IT managers
• Program and project managers
• Systems and software engineers
• Process and quality specialists

Click Here to Register!

General Principles of Cost Estimation

October 8th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

Estimating the number of people and the amount of time it will take to develop software is an integral piece of effective project planning. This webinar presentation with Dr. Brad Clark discusses approaches to estimation, from the simple to the complex, with examples. Brad then delves into the Achilles’ heel of any estimation method: sizing the work to be done. Finally they will discuss the impact that speeding up a project has on staffing requirements. By the end of the webinar, you will understand all of the challenges in creating a credible estimate.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the three approaches to software project cost estimation
• Discuss the impact that product quality has on estimation
• Discuss analyzing the feasibility of the estimation results
• Discuss approaches to sizing the work to be done (the most challenging task!)
• Explain the impact of compressing a project’s schedule.

Intended Audience:

• IT Program Managers
• Software project managers
• Software engineers
• Process improvement groups

Click Here to Register!

Lines of Code – Statistically Unreliable for Software Sizing?

October 14th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

Software projects are notorious for costing too much, arriving too late, and not meeting customer needs. Under funding and tight schedules are often portrayed as the culprits when any post mortem or lessons learned is conducted. Software functionality, expressed in lines of code is seldom a leading suspect of estimation error. Often times software engineers express their product size in the context of lines of code as if, more implies more functionality and value for the customer.

Measures recorded from PSP courses developed by the Software Engineering Institute provide an insightful if not shocking potential for investigating an overlooked root cause of variation in estimates. Please join webinar presenter Joe Schofield as he explores what the data is screaming to tell us.

Learning Objectives:

• Is there a relationship between the number of lines of code and the functionality / features of a software product? Are some languages better than others in correlating to delivered functionality? How reliable is “backfiring”; that is, comparing lines of code (LOC) to Function Points? Why don’t we have more data to illustrate the integrity (or lack thereof) of LOCs? What makes the PSP environment such a reliable source of measurement data?
• Is there evidence that one software engineer likely outperforms others?

Intended Audience:

• Software project managers Software developers
• Anyone who uses a software services group that talks in LOC-speak
• Anyone who uses lines of code as a basis for estimation
• Anyone who uses lines of code to measure progress for project status

Click Here to Register!

Agile Legacy Reengineering

October 15th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Many organizations depend upon legacy software systems that were designed and implemented in the 1970s or earlier. These systems have operational procedures, critical business rules and workflow embedded which are difficult to replicate and are typically not recorded anywhere else within the organization. This webinar by Dr. Tom Love describes an innovative process for reengineering these applications using state of the art software technology and agile methods. The approach outlined allows such reengineering to be largely financed with the savings derived from more efficiently managing legacy systems.

Intended Audience:

• CIOs
• CFOs
• Technical IT Staff involved in the support of legacy applications

Click Here to Register!

Project Management Methodology: 6 Activities for Successful Introduction and Use

October 16th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

Methodology implementation represents the introduction of a standard and repeatable process for conducting project management in the organization. An effective methodology solution will distinctly increase project management capability and even improve business performance when properly implemented. In order to achieve the full range of benefits from methodology use, it is important to ensure that essential actions are performed in conjunction with project management methodology selection, development, and implementation. This webinar with Gerard M. Hill, PMP, will provide participants with an examination of 6 prominent activities that will influence the success of methodology introduction and use within the organization: Methodology Team Formation, Methodology Selection, Methodology Development or Adaptation for Use, Methodology Transition Planning, Methodology Implementation, Methodology Maintenance.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify fundamental steps that can be used to guide methodology selection, development, and rollout in their organization
• Plan methodology implementation with more realistic timelines that account for the accomplishment of essential activities
• Gain insight to the key steps for planning and conducting the transition of projects and people from current methods to a new project management methodology
• Examine a checklist of preparation activities that need to be accomplished when introducing a new project management methodology to users across the organization

Intended Audience:

• Program and PMO managers who need to gain a quick understanding about the complexities of planning and conducting methodology implementation
• Individuals who need additional insight to performing preliminary methodology selection and platform development activities
• Managers having responsibility or otherwise involved in methodology process rollouts
• Managers at any level who have responsibility for formulating an organizational strategy for centralized project management oversight, control, and support  

Click Here to Register!

Large Scale Adoption of Agile Development: Lessons Learned

October 21st, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

Agile practitioners are aware of the business benefits that can be derived from faster and more effective software delivery. At the same time, companies in many industries are facing increasing regulatory compliance issues. How do you apply agile practices that treat documentation as "barely sufficient" and "just enough" and rely on tacit communication in an audited, regulated industry? Compliance audits are fundamentally documentation reviews. How do you put more value on an undocumented process with good interaction of people on the team over a documented process but with perhaps hostile interactions?

Since November 2005 presenter Eugene Levin has been involved in the definition and rollout of Citi's Disciplined Agility process. This process has been piloted on almost 30 completed and 115 active projects. In his presentation Eugene describes the challenges related to using a light-weight agile methodology in a regulated industry, the experience of defining Citi's Disciplined Agility process, and the lessons learned from the large-scale rollout of agile development.

Learning Objectives:

• Challenges of Developing Software in a Regulated Environment
• Defining Agile Development
• Overview of Citi's Disciplined Agility Framework
• Citi's Agile Rollout Approach
• Pilot Projects Selection Criteria
• Lessons Learned

Click Here to Register!

Organizational Politics for People Who Hate Politics

October 22nd, 2008
10:30 am - 12:00 pm Eastern Time

Have you ever felt powerless to implement an important new idea? Have you ever been “blind sided” at a meeting? Have you lost two good employees because you could find no way to keep them from attacking each other? These are some of the issues of organizational politics. Many of us have from time to time become enmeshed in politics. But we’ve also known some people who seem to be able to engage and prosper. How is that done? In this webinar, Rick Brenner will present some lessons learned from his own experience and the experience of many clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Challenges of Developing Software in a Regulated Environment
• Recognize that workplace politics is not a game
• Understand how politics and games are different
• Increase your awareness of politics and its role in day-to-day interactions
• Ten devious political tactics and how to deal with them
• How to make person-to-person and email communication more effective
• Ten failure modes for meetings, and where to sit in a conference room

Intended Audience:

• Managers and project managers who participate in resource allocation decisions
• Team members who want to contribute more effectively to team decisions
• Leaders who want to make their organizations’ political culture more constructive
• People who want to learn defensive tactics for toxic political environments

Click Here to Register!

Scope Management for Adults - a 12 Step Recovery Concept for IT Programs

October 23rd, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

ICT projects are an especially troublesome lot: over 2/3 are either cancelled, over budget, or delivered late according to current research. Combine that with 60-99% of software defects attributable to poor requirements and 40% of project time spent on rework - there has to be a better way. This webinar with Carol Dekkers introduces scope management for adults - a proven 12-step program for ICT projects that is customer centric, fair to suppliers, and creates a cohesive project management environment. Building on the success of two acclaimed concepts: southernSCOPE at the Victorian Government in Australia, and northernSCOPE from the Finnish Software Measurement Association (FiSMA), this webinar session presents lessons learned and introduces the 12-step scope management program for ICT projects.

Click Here to Register!

Planning & Tracking a Software Project at the “Right” Level

October 28th, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Eastern Time

This webinar by Bob Galen speaks to techniques and approaches to plan and track software projects successfully. It will examine the anti-pattern of too fine granularity planning which includes:

• Planning at too low a level (small tasks, mini milestones, too much time & detail)
• Tracking at too fine a level – daily updates & milestones
• Impacts to the team (micromanagement, impacts to leveraging “their” abilities, morale)
• Missing what is truly important – above the minutia (risk, key requirements, overall quality proposition, release criteria)

The webinar will also explore the converse anti-pattern of too high level planning, which includes:

• Having too high a level plan (large tasks, broad milestones, too little detail and no “substance”)
• Tracking at too high a level – weekly+ updates and infrequent and meaningless milestones
• Impacts to team (macromanagement, not assisting and guiding the team, perceived indifference or lack of importance)
• Missing the important details – below the big picture (detailed risks, team dynamics, building on success)

In the end, Bob will outline a set of planning heuristics for good planning within a software development effort.

Learning Objectives:

• Anti-pattern attributes of over planning & under planning
• Tracking work completion by Earned Value
• To look to Agile Methods (XP and SCRUM) for approaches for tracking progress and gathering status
• How to effectively leverage your team in your planning efforts
• What are the key deliverables to maintain the “right” planning level and focus

Click Here to Register!

Are Agilists the Bonobos of Software Development?

October 29th, 2008
10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time

The chimpanzees and the bonobos are the animals whose genetic make-up is closest to that of human beings, but their “cultures” (and, yes, these animals definitely have well-defined cultures) are very different. The chimpanzees are aggressive, and operate in a strict, alpha-male-dominated hierarchy, while the bonobos are gentle and promiscuous! In this webinar with Linda Rising, Linda discusses the tie-in that this may have for those of us who favor agile development over plan-driven development.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the impacts of chimpanzee culture on organizations
• Learn how bonobo culture can improve organizational practice
• Discover how to be more effective when you operate in sync with your hardwiring
• Hear h