Programme for the Agile ALM Conference

Conference Programme

Published 04/06/2014

Combined Plenary with DevOps and Next Gen Testing:
Loose coupling: An ecological approach to systems design & integration
Dave Snowden,Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd

Lets talk about Agile Application Lifecycle Management
David Piper, Lamri
Agile Application Lifecycle Management – is that Application Lifecycle Management applied to Agile Projects or an Agile approach applied to Application Lifecycle Management?
Of course, one does not preclude the other, but if we are going to truly BE agile (and not just shout about it), we should consider how we apply the principles of agile to all our work – not just development projects. What types of activity do we need to plan and perform to be effective in ALM? How can we take the principles of BEING agile and apply them to those types of tasks?
This presentation considers how we think about all of the aspects of ALM and how we can apply the principles of agile to make the whole organization agile and responsive.

13 Great Ways to Make Your Agile Project Fail
Julian Howison, Founder and Exec-Chairman, Arrk Group
In the late 1990's Arrk Group developed its award winning distributed software delivery model which blends the best of both UK and Indian software engineering capabilities. In the early 2000's Arrk further developed this model to encompass emerging Agile methods. Overtime this developed into 'agile@arrk', now a well established, proven methodology that blends the software engineering efficacy of Agile techniques and dev-ops with pragmatic metrics-driven governance and best practice in distributed software delivery. 75% plus of all the work that Arrk now undertakes is based on agile@arrk.

The development and execution of this methodology across 10,000's of man-days and 1000's of sprints in numerous different organisational, project and industry contexts has created a wealth of experience in what makes Agile software practise work in real life. This humorous and accessible talk distills down thirteen common pitfalls that must be avoided if your agile project is to be successful. It leans heavily on practical examples and case studies gleaned from Arrk's rich experience and expertise in what makes agile work - and what doesn't !

Agile Software Development and ALM at ASOS.com
Bob Strudwick, Head of ALM Programme, ASOS
ASOS.com is supported by 25 software engineering teams in four locations, executing 250 software builds and 125 deployments per day, across 90 individual development and test environments, resulting in 140 production releases in 2013. So ALM processes and tooling have to scale. The ASOS.com case study outlines the journey from inception to present day

Background

Application Lifecycle Management defined (briefly)
ASOS context – scale, architectural legacy, cultural considerations
Initial problem assessment and pain points

Getting off the ground

Creating an automated build/deployment framework – the solution design process (buy vs. build) & the solution itself
How we prioritized objectives and phased implementation

Transition to steady state

Difficulties of balancing need to drive change and bring everyone with us
Supporting and collaborating with software engineering teams once we went live
Dealing with refusniks and other lessons learnt

The future – from Continuous Integration to Continuous Deployment

Manage change through communication, collaboration and cultural awareness
Bradley Honnor, Founder, Global Eloquence

Discover cultural agility in working with difference
Facilitating collaboration cross culturally
Make difference work for you
Break through assumptions
Enjoy understanding the client and client culture.
Embrace 7 Billion languages and more to bridge the gap

Agile + Application Lifecycle Management: A dish best served hot?
Anthony Kesterton, IT Specialist, IBM UK Ltd
Adding Agile to Application Lifecycle Management sounds like a recipe for disaster. Applying agility in a disciplined and managed environment tums out to be exactly what is needed to drive continuous delivery from concept to production. This session looks at the processes, tools and environments needed to implement agile application lifecycle management.

Start with what we mean by agile application lifecycle management, sprinkle in some typical objections, and bring to the boil with all the vested interests. Simmer…slowly. There are ways to rescue this stew of complexity and anxiety, so we will look at the how to use agile application lifecycle management to deliver the finished dish to the customer at regular, frequent intervals. Join us for this tastefully prepared session on how to use agile application lifecycle management to your advantage.

Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools
Pete George, Agile Quality Specialist and Trainer, George Training & Development

The value of ALM processes and tools, and the tension with agility
Valuing effective teamwork and collaboration more
Good teams do not just form, they are made.
Using tools such as Belbin Team Roles theory to proactively create effective teamwork throughout the lifecycle