Agile Cincinnati

Abstract

So I got my wish.  I proposed doing the organization’s first agile project and management said yes.  Now what?  I read the books, attended webinars, but have never led an agile project.  The organization is very waterfall centric, documentation happy, and ingrained in their ways.  Did I really think this through?

Please join me as we review a real-life case study of how I introduced agile into a waterfall world.  Learn from our mad, sad, & glad steps (and missteps) of introducing agile at the tactical level of those who are needed to deliver it — the developers, QA, PM, Operations, product owners, related mgmt, environment support teams, and more.

Not to spoil the ending but there is a happy ending.  After two years, we continue down the agile path, continuing to mature our processes, continuing to mature our understanding, continuing to deliver value.

Quick Bio

Presenter – Troy Bitter

http://www.linkedin.com/in/troybitterky

Troy has been in IT for over 16 years.  He calls it a “career of evolution.”  He started in deployments (building servers and configuring software).  He showed good analysis skills and moved into QA testing.  Continuing to succeed, he become lead QA tester, systems analyst, and project manager.  The last 2 years have been focused in the agile space.

Across 10 years in project mgmt, Troy has been focused in sectors of manufacturing & distribution, document imaging, and check processing.  He has a thirst for learning, sharing, and continual improvement for himself, organization, process, and others. It’s a good fit for agile.

He holds accreditations of CSTE (Certified Software Test Engineer), Toastmaster ATM-B, MBA, PMP, and Six Sigma green belt.  He has taught project mgmt at the graduate level and is a trainer for the 2010 PMI accreditation season (PMP, CAPM, PgMP).  He lives in northern Ky with his wife Kelly, son Micah, and Baby B due 10/1.

Favorite business book: “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There” by Marshall Goldsmith.  Some of the behaviors that enable people to become successful can inhibit their ultimate rise to the top.