First steps in transitioning to Agile Methods from Traditional methods

First steps in transitioning to Agile Methods from Traditional methods




(Guest blog by Ram Ramanathan)

1. Study the culture of the team and strategize based on whether the team falls under the Innovator or Early adopter or Followers categories. 
2. Bring Agile Project management concepts step by step. All the Agile concepts can not be implemented in one day, it would only cause failure. 
3. Elucidate the benefits of Agile and how that could help win a customer or retain a customer. Here are some advantages of Agile Methodologies:

• Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software *Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)

• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication

• Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers

• Working software is the principal measure of progress

• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design

• Simplicity

• Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

• Self-organizing teams

• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted

• Even late changes in requirements are welcomed (this does not mean just more coding. Instead removing an existing feature or moving a deadline forward to accommodate late/unplanned feature requests.

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4. Tailor the Agile Methods or Scrum to fit the needs of your organization.
5. YAGNI – Remember the acronym YAGNI (You Aint Gonna Need It – Unless Business conditions require it). 
6. Trust your team members and empower them.
7. Agile may not work well if the majority of your team members are just beginning their career as it requires a high level of commitment from your team members.

Ram is a Senior Technical Program Manager that has led ASIC product development and engineering program management teams at Intel. Ram was able to successfully guide the adoption of Agile and Scrum methodologies within the Intel organization.


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Blog : http://inceptionizer.wordpress.com

In IT, When You're Old, You're Old, Right?

Guest Post by Perry N.*

In IT, "old" is yesterday. So, let's just say, then, that I'm really "old". What I mean by that is that I've been around long enough to experience a few migrations, either in a hands-on role or in a management capacity....all things that I thought would make me more "experienced" and therefore more "valued".

However, as I sit here trying to decide whether (at 45....so old, I know) I should take the plunge and enter into this insane job market, I have been faced with the realization that not all employers might see my experience as cutting-edge enough, never mind that I have all the certs (updated and in good order) and degrees and other sorts of credentials that I would need for my background.

It makes me wonder how I ended up choosing a field where at 45, I would be an old-timer and where having too much experience might be considered a bad thing! 

At my current employer, I spend most of my time justifying my department's very existence (I'm the IT manager) and trying to fend off the notion that my people are merely "techie janitors" here to fix everyone's BYODs. It's not exactly what I had in mind 20 years ago when I started out in my first role, thinking I would never have to explain why an IT department exists and what we do.

After I worked up into an enterprise architect role with my last employer, I thought I was really set. After all, I had co-led the design and implementation of the backbone of our company! But, not so. So I ended up leaving that to move on to my current position with a smaller shop where I thought I could bridge the gap and migrate them into newer solutions.

Somehow along the way, however, either I really did get old, or there was a significant culture shift that I missed. Either way, it puts me right back to wondering just how 20 years of experience in IT equates in this market.

*As part of a new series of posts here at ITtechExec, we have asked some clients to share issues that they are facing as part of their technical job search or comments they have on emerging technology trends.*