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by Alan Bustamante

February Meeting Epilogue: The Evolving Role of the Agile BA

February 12, 2012 in Event Summary, Monthly Meetings

Thanks to all who came out to our meeting last week!  We had over 50 registered for the meeting and about 42 show up, both records, so thank you!.  We also saw plenty of new faces and added over 25 new members.  Lastly, this month was the first month we started charging a few dollars for the pizza.  Previously we had been providing it free of charge.  Thanks for working with us during this transition.  The money we save will be used to provide even better programming for you by allowing us to bring in more speakers from out of town. Stay tuned!

Like every meeting we kicked off the night with networking.  We hope those attending got to make some long lasting connections.

NetworkingMore Networking

 At the beginning of the meeting, we announced Rally Software as our newest Silver sponsor.  Thank you Rally Software!

Rally SoftwareAlston kicked off the meeting by taking a quick survey of how our member’s use Business Analysts (if at all) and what has happened during transitions to Agile development.

Alston Taking QuestionsThen Alston turned to a history of Business Analysts in the corporate world and contrasted with the core responsibilities of the Product Owner on an Agile project.

The History of the BA

Alston highlighted the four (4) traditional BA techniques that become even more important with Agile projects.  They include:

  1. Liaison between Business and IT
  2. Detailed Requirements Gathering/Definition
  3. Stakeholder Analysis
  4. Constant process re-engineering

Alston led us through a case study from one of his previous consulting engagements which gave the members some context.

Case Study

Finally Alston wrapped up with some “misuses” of the Agile BA (ABA) role and some recommendations for becoming a great ABA.

ABA anti-patterns include:

  1. The un-empowered BA serving as Proxy PO: Lack power to make decisions
  2. The un-supported BA serving as Proxy PO: Lack experience with complex projects
  3. The un-trained BA: Lack Agile training and/or experience

Recommendations for becoming a great ABA:

  1. Focus on delivering maximum business value
  2. Business knowledge (of course)
  3. Facilitation skills
  4. Business Analyst skills: Story Mapping, Personas, Business Modeling, Detail-oriented

Lots of great questions from the audience helped close out a great session!

Alston Takes QuestionsMembers Ask Questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly Adams took home Agile Product Management with Scrum (the book recommended by Alston) and Jeanette Rosing took home an Atlassian Tshirt from our door prize drawing. Thanks Pearson and Atlassian for your contributions to Agile Cincinnati success!

Jeanette Rosing

Congrats Jeanette!

Kelly Adams

Congrats Kelly!

 

 

 

 

 

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

February Meeting: The Evolving Role of the Agile BA

January 22, 2012 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Alston will lead us in a discussion of the evolving role of the business analyst and how it has changed with the introduction of Agile.  He will share how different clients have utilized them successfully (and not so successfully) in the past few years, and what the future possibly holds for this important role. We will review highlights from the recent Agile extension to the BA Body of Knowledge Guide, scheduled to be published later this year.

AlstonAlston is the enterprise Agile Coach for Humana in Louisville, KY.  He is a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) with over 10 years of Agile experience as a Scrum Coach, ScrumMaster, Product Owner and Agile Project Manager.  During his career Alston has worked with over 20 companies at varying levels of Agile maturity.  He enjoys sharing stories of success and challenges in implementing Agile techniques and approaches.

 

When: February 9, 2012  (Second Thursday).
Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm.
Program: 6-7:30pm.
Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

Register through Eventbrite: http://agilecincinnati20120209.eventbrite.com

 Gold Sponsors:

MaxTrain

Silver Sponsor:

Cohesion

Bronze Sponsors:

Strategic Data SystemsInfoTrust

Door Prize Sponsors:

Pearson

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Avatar of juthika

by juthika

*UPDATE – NEW TOPIC* November Meeting: Understanding the PMI-ACP exam

October 26, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Note: We apologize for the late update. Unfortunately, Brian will not be able to be with us due to his business needs next week. If you pre-registered for Brian’s topic and will not be able to make the meeting please let us know by emailing us at info@agilecincinnati.com.

Abstract:

Last year the Project Management Institute (PMI) created a buzz among Agilists everywhere when it announced it was releasing an Agile certification.  Since then, PMI has released more details about what it is calling the Agile Certified Practitioner or PMI-ACP exam, including reference materials and a road map for successfully passing the exam.  In October of this year, a pilot group was given the exam with the intent of further refining the exam and issuing the first certifications in December 2011.

So, what are the pre-requisites for the exam? What exactly does the exam cover?  How is it different from other certifications on the market?  What value does having the certification provide? Does it replace the PMP (project management professional) certification or is it a complement to the PMP?   Come prepared with these questions and more!  Sean Heuer has sat for the PMI-ACP exam as part of the original pilot group.  Alan Bustamante was on the exam writing team that generated the questions for the exam and is part of the standards committee which will determine the passing points for the exam.

We plan to have around 30 minutes of lecture and use the remaing time for Q&A, where Sean and Alan will take questions from the audience.

Bios:

Sean HeuerSean Heuer, CSM, CSP is currently a Senior Consultant with Sogeti.  Previously he was an Agile Coach/Evangelist for the Kroger Co., at its technical center in Blue Ash, Ohio where he helped lead the company’s Agile adoption and community of Agile practitioners.

 

 

Alan Bustamante

Alan Bustamante, PMP, CSP, leads Seapine Software’s Agile Services practice. Alan has worked with software development teams for more than 11 years in tester, software engineer, business analyst, and project manager roles. He has worked on projects in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, and in multiple industries, including energy, insurance, IT, manufacturing, non-profit, and telecom. Alan has spent the last four years leading Agile teams, and is passionate about promoting Agile values through his involvement in the Agile community.

 

When: November 10 (Second Thursday).

Networking: 5:30-6pm.

Program: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

 Gold Sponsors:

MaxTrain

Silver Sponsor:

Want to sponsor AC? Put your name here!

Bronze Sponsors:

 InfoTrust

Food and Door Prize Sponsors:

 

Pearson

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

July Meeting – Risk-based compliance: Negotiating Pathways to Innovation

June 25, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Note: In keeping with the Agile Cincinnati mission, to provide Lean/Agile topics for all areas of the organization, July’s topic will focus on lean principles applied outside of software development.

Abstract:

Connectedness of global markets, constrained healthcare resources, aging populations, chronic diseases, and the economics of healthcare puts healthcare systems in a crisis of affordability.  But who pays?

For a medtech company the market grows more complex.  Incremental innovation (making a better product) at higher prices will not sustain in the current market.  The medtech industry will see pressures like never before.  New consumers and patients are participating in healthcare choices and decisions like never before.  The non-clinical stakeholders like payers and materials managers, even the C-suite of the hospital are driving price transparency and economic pressures onto industry.  The healthcare stakeholders are shifting the acceptable levels of risk (legal, financial, clinical) and evidence-based medicine is driving market adoption dynamics. Comparative effectiveness studies, solutions beyond the medical job, growth of HTA’s, and longer regulatory approval times & increased hurdles contribute to the increased complexity. The capability to accelerate speed to key data is critical.

The paradox is that innovative technology can change healthcare delivery and put an end to the crisis.  Basic research breakthroughs are plentiful and innovation is necessary for business vitality.  New technology will drive above average growth in this market but buying the technology is expensive.  As L&A targets are increasing in cost, companies will turn to organic growth.

How will companies speed to data and technology innovation to reduce risks for patients, physicians, providers, and payers while complying with regulatory requirements and the pressures on their own business to be profitable and lean?

Bio:

Teresa OsheaTeresa serves as Director of Strategy Execution reporting to the Company Group Chairman of the Board for Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson company) in Cincinnati, OH.  In this position, Teresa is responsible for creating integrated business processes and programs to enable new strategic capabilities targeted at realization of the long term strategic plan of the company.

In Teresa’s prior position(s) she worked in the front-end pipeline processes with key physicians and inventors to bring first to market innovations from concept to clinical.  As Director of Quality Systems, Regulatory Affairs, and Short Run Manufacturing, she designed and implemented a risk-based quality system for outsourcing medical design and manufacture.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson in March 2001, Teresa held various positions for Global Compliance at Bausch & Lomb, Inc. and for Quality Systems and Regulatory Affairs at Mallinckrodt, Inc. Teresa has more than 20 years of experience in the medical device industry in quality, regulatory, compliance, and clinical affairs over multiple specialty areas spanning global operations, new product development, and worldwide commercial enterprise.

Teresa holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and applied mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

When: July 14 (Second Thursday of July).  Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm. Program: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

Food sponsor: Seapine Software. Thank you!Seapine Softare

This event qualifies for 1 PDU. Attendees must pre-register through Eventbrite and sign in at the door to qualify.

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Avatar of juthika

by juthika

June Meeting: Experience Report: Agile in Transition

June 9, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Abstract:

Ever wonder what it’s like to go through an Agile transformation?  What challenges have other’s faced? What are the pitfalls?  What does it take to succeed?  Who should be involved in the effort?  How do we maintain the momentum?

This experience report begins with us picking up the pieces after an eighteen month long failed project. Fail last. The current software development practices failed to deliver so the company was looking for a new way to write software. Like many companies out there, they got a consultant…me. We’ll cover what happened to the project after working on it for 18 months using fail fast approach and faster feedback loop. You’ll learn what happened when a team grew from 6 members to 18 and from managing one product to three products.  Every project has a story, come learn from mine.

Bio:

Nilanjan Raychaudhuri is an Agile coach for Pillar Technology Inc. (http://pillartechnology.com/) and prior to that, was a senior developer with ThoughtWorks Inc. (www.thoughtWorks.com).  Over the past 12 years he has held both management and contributor roles on software projects, and specialized in integrated multi-tiered web and server applications. Nilanjan is passionate about the elimination of design, code, data, and effort duplication; and believes in the value of high-discipline agile methodologies, customer focus, and continuous improvement.   He is currently working on scala-webmachine (restful resource framework) and in the past, has worked on other open source projects such as Panopticode, scala-inline and autotest4j. In his spare time, Nilanjan likes to play with functional programming and DSL; as well as, work on his upcoming book “Scala in Action” from Manning publication.

When: June 9 (Second Thursday of June).  Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm. Presentation: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

Food sponsor: Information Control Corporation. Thank you!

ICC

This event qualifies for 1 PDU. Attendees must pre-register through Eventbrite and sign in at the door to qualify.

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

May Meeting: How to Optimize Your Agile Work Environment

April 26, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Title:

How to Optimize Your Agile Work Environment

Abstract:

One rarely mentioned component of building a high performing Agile team, is optimizing their work environment.  For a collocated team, what is the best possible physical environment we can create to help the team reach the next level.  Is it bigger tables?  Is it better lighting?  Is it more whiteboard space?  Is it all of these?  Also, how much of a difference does a team’s physical surroundings make?  I was recently given the opportunity to find out.  In this talk, I will walk through the typical physical environment many teams deal with and provide insight into how to go about improving that space.  I will not offer a one-size-fits-all solution.  Instead, I will help you identify the variables in your environment and provide tools for you to use to optimize your own space.

Bio:

Sean HeuerSean Heuer (CSM, CSP) began his technical career as a Java developer, but after discoveringScrum, he became a Certified ScrumMaster and has never looked back.  Sean’s experience includes, acting as an Agile Coach/Evangelist on multiple projects for the Kroger Co., at its technical center in Blue Ash, Ohio, leading the Agile Community within Kroger Co., and co-leading the Agile Adoption Initiative at Kroger Co.  Sean has coached several project teams through their transition to Scrum and constantly challenges all stakeholders to continuously improve through Agile.  He is now a Senior Consultant with Sogeti, where he is continuing his mission to help others improve, while diversifying his experience and growing as an Agile Coach.

When: May 12 (Second Thursday in May).  Networking and dinner: 5:30-6pm. Presentation: 6-7:30pm.

Where: Max Training. 4900 Parkway Drive Suite 160 , Mason (Cincinnati), OH 45040

This event qualifies for 1 PDU. Attendees must pre-register through Eventbrite and sign in at the door to qualify.

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Avatar of Alan Bustamante

by Alan Bustamante

April Meeting Epilogue:Code as Design for Agile projects

April 23, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

Mark Haskamp

Mark Haskamp - Don't confuse Darth Maul with Jar Jar Binks

“Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.” – Martin Golding

Thanks to  Mark Haskamp for giving us this great quote and many others to help describe the how Agile development practices provide a way for development teams make sure they are building quality systems.  We saw how adopting the “code as design” mentality can help software engineers think from a systems perspective, which means they think just as much about the upstream and downstream affects of their code; as they do about the feature their working on.

 

 

Good Questions from the Audience

Good Questions from the Audience

We had great audience participation, so thanks for the many good questions and comments!  Again, this month we had a few new faces which made it extra special. Thanks to the many of you who are making Agile Cincinnati a leading organization for all things Agile in the Cincinnati area!

New this month, based on member recommendation from the April meeting, we will be adding Ohio area training and conference events to the “Training Events” part of the website.  Stay tuned to this part of our website for information on upcoming Agile related training and conference events in the Ohio Indiana, and Kentucky areas.

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Avatar of juthika

by juthika

March meeting: Workshop – Estimating, Planning, Building and Reviewing Agile delivery cycle plans

March 4, 2011 in Events, Monthly Meetings

This month Mark Windholtz is conducting a workshop. This session will be a hand-ons simulation of estimating, planning, building and reviewing.  We will conduct multiple iterations and learn about the entire Agile delivery cycle. Participants will experience both the customer and developer roles (no programming skills required).

Things you will learn:- How to deliver maximum business value.

- How to sequence requirements.

- How to make an iteration plan.

- How to assess the progress of the plan.

Bio:  Mark Windholtz has been an Agile coach and developer since 1999, and has worked at scales from a solo agile developer to coaching a $6 million project.  Mark has been active in growing the ScrumAlliance as the first ScrumAlliance programmer, and more recently as Product Owner.Mark is a CSM and CSPO.

As always dinner is on us and registration is free.Please RSVP to our Eventbrite  invitation at http://agilecincimarch.eventbrite.com/ so we can get an accurate headcount for dinner.

See you there.
Juthika Pal, PMP
Program Manager at Cardinal Solutions Group
Director of Public Relations, SWOC PMIBoard member, Agile Cincinnati

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