Agile Development Conference & Better Software Conference East 2011

PRESENTATIONS

Eight Principles for Better Unit Testing

Unit testing is a core component of agile development methodologies. Teams that perform comprehensive unit testing are perceived to be more reliable, professional, and advanced. Yet, many developers find starting unit testing is difficult. They test the wrong things, often with fragile tests that must be rewritten. Many give up even before realizing the value that unit testing brings. It doesn’t have to be that way!
Gil Zilberfeld, Typemock
Enterprise DevOps: Breaking Down the Barriers between Development and IT Operations

Agile processes were originally designed to break down the barriers among users, programmers, and testers. Now, DevOps-an emerging set of principles and practices for communication, collaboration, and integration between development and IT operations-seeks to break down the development/operations barriers. By applying agile principles to operations and re-architecting the interfaces between these groups, DevOps empowers organizations to deliver high-value software faster and with fewer errors.
Jez Humble, ThoughtWorks Inc
Focus on Value First: An Agile Transformation Competency Framework

Organizational transformation is difficult work. Many agile transformation efforts begin with lofty goals only to be sabotaged by unrealistic expectations about the depth and complexity of the changes required. Often, resistance to change is ingrained in an organization’s value system and difficult to overcome. Tamara Runyon presents an overview of a new Agile Transformation Competency Framework-a strategic tool for evaluating and guiding your transformation efforts.
Tamara Runyon, CollabNet
From Problem to Solution : The Continuum Between Requirements and Design

By learning the best mechanics for getting from problem-business needs and requirements-to solution-architecture and design-your team can turbo-charge its development process to generate the most creative and innovative solutions. Christopher Brandt explores how the top architects and design teams challenge apparent constraints, brainstorm solutions with stakeholders, ask the right questions, and ultimately determine the best design approach for the product.
Christopher Brandt, Moneris Solutions
Get It All Done: A Story of Personal Productivity

You procrastinate. You worry that you may be making the wrong choice. You spend time on the irrelevant. You don't select the most important tasks from your many "to do's." You can't get things done on time. Join James Martin as he shares his experience with analysis paralysis, procrastination, and failure to deliver what others expect.
James Martin, RiverGlide
Improving Software Quality Through Static Analysis

You've implemented unit testing, pair programming, and code inspection in your development process, but defects still escape despite your best efforts. Furthermore, you discover latent defects in previously error-free software as you make changes. The problem isn't your quality efforts-it's your approach. Michael Portwood shows how practical static code analysis techniques can complement your traditional testing approaches by addressing nagging quality and design defects.
Michael Portwood, The Nielsen Company
INVEST: Agile Requirements that Tell a Story

Unlike traditional requirements-formal specification documents produced mostly up front-agile requirements are elicited and recorded in smaller units-called stories or user stories that are generated quickly with a just-in-time approach. Through the INVEST approach-Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable-Ken Pugh shows agile teams how to produce stories that offer the most value with the least effort.
Ken Pugh, Net Objectives
Kata: Discover the Art of Practice to Master New Practices

Kata is a Japanese word describing detailed, choreographed patterns of movements one masters through practice. Unfortunately, in software development we use the term "practice" very loosely. Tom Perry shares the latest research into how performing deliberate practice-actually practicing a new skill to become proficient-works. As a representative example, Tom explores the techniques you can use to practice and hone your agile team leadership skills.
Tom Perry, Visa Inc.
Lean Framework, Agile Principles, and CMMI®

Many large software development organizations, which have discovered that they must become more agile to compete, frequently ask Dan Rawsthorne, "What does 'big' scrum look like?" Because no two organizations are alike, this simple question does not have a simple answer. There are, however, some common patterns that emerge in organizations that have implemented "big" scrum. Dan Rawsthorne presents the Product Owner Team pattern that allows the organization to handle agility up and down its hierarchy.
Dustin Potts, Nationwide Insurance
Leaping into "The Cloud": Rewards, Risks, and Mitigations

The cloud has rapidly gone from "that thing I should know something about" to the "centerpiece of our corporate IT five-year strategy." However, cloud computing is still in its infancy. Sure, the marketing materials presented by cloud providers tout huge cost savings and service level improvements-but they gloss over the many risks such as data loss, security leaks, gaps in availability, and application migration costs.
Ken Johnston, Microsoft Corporation

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