The rising popularity of ubiquitous computing and social networking has changed the way people and businesses use technology. Across all platforms, the differentiator between widely adopted applications and those that are discarded is successfully meeting user needs through a positive experience. User-Centered design techniques provide the tools needed to create that engaging and usable application. Usability testing is needed to find what will trip up your users and stand in the way of your product meeting its goals. Learn how to quickly gather the information you need about the where, when, why, how, and by whom the application will be used as well as the techniques to apply that information to an interface design. Once that design is complete, understand effective ways to organize and execute a usability study to ensure the integrity of the interface design.

User stories are crucial for collaboration in an agile effort. They not only express "requirements" as "intent" but are also "social objects" around which the whole team collaborates. This presentation will explore the use of user stories to foster collaboration and energize work groups.

Project management in the changing world of a recession is especially challenging work. Just when you are feeling most pressured and vulnerable, you need to be strongest and most generous in mind and spirit. Indeed, as HBR author John Kotternotes, "More change always requires more leadership." What makes a great project leader? This presentation begins to answer this question by presenting a project management relevant five-rule framework to apply in real life (adapted from the Harvard Business Press book “The Leadership Code” and detailed in a recent series of Cutter Consortium Executive Updates co-authored by the speaker). 

Beginning with the ultimate rule of leadership, personal proficiency, the speaker will discuss seven principles that guide effective project leaders. The speaker will then explore the short-term orientation of leadership, with examples for day-to-day action, about how the great project manager must be a talent manager and be an executor. Finally, the speaker will discuss the long-term orientation of leadership, how the great project manager must also be a human capital developer and a strategist. Some front line project managers may have skills as executors and end even talent managers in order to get things done. However, as a project manager reaches more senior levels in the organization, they must become proficient in all of the areas. 

Attendees will learn how we:

• Apply leadership rules to enable disciplined actions that accomplish desired project outcomes that drive business results.
• Avoid the trap of emphasizing one element of leadership over the others.
• Crack the leadership code — and take your project leadership to the next level.

What testing challenges do you encounter when developing software to run on mobile devices?  How does your company's strategy in picking a mobile device(s) impact your testing plans?   Are you ready?

Agenda for Presentation:

1. Mobile Testing Challenges
2. Mobile Testing Practices
3. Mobile Testing Automation
4. Summary and Challenges

More and more companies are moving toward agile development as part of their application lifecycle.  This presents challenges to "traditionally" structured organizations where business analysis, project management, and quality assurance professionals are organized into different departments or teams.  It also presents challenges to these same individuals in understanding their role on an agile team where everyone is a "developer".

In this presentation, Steve will provide, from his perspective as a QA professional, his observations on testing as a member of an agile Scrum team. Specifically, Steve will talk about:

• What is Agile testing?
• Ten Principles for Agile Testers
• Organizational challenges in adopting agile practices, including quality assurance
• An iteration in the life of a tester
• Role of tools and automation in agile testing

Can you believe the software development community (as innovative as we like to believe we are) continues to borrow concepts from a manufacturing process that dates back to the 1940’s?  In many ways, the movement to Agile software development began with a base understanding of the teachings of manufacturing organizations like Toyota and Ford Motor Company.  In this introductory discussion, I will define Lean Software Development and delve into “7 Lean Software Principles” for your consideration.  These principles, in many ways, mirror the work Taichi Ohno and other process innovators (Deming, Toyoda, Shingo) developed many years ago with the Toyota Production System (TPS).  We’ll get back to some “process roots” and talk about how adapted methods can still be used to deliver value, learning, and engagement in your organizations. 

Presentation Abstract

What you don’t know CAN hurt you, and frequently does when requirements are missed.  There is an art and a science to asking the right questions. To some people there is a fine line between art and science.  The difference between art and science will not be debated in this session.  Rather, expert Roxanne Miller reveals proven techniques for asking the RIGHT questions of the right people based on the Zachman Framework, which is explained in her book The Quest for Software Requirements.

The assumption being made here is that if you ask more of the right questions (to the right people), you’re more likely to elicit all the requirements.  Furthermore, eliciting all the requirements increases the probability of successful project outcomes—delivering the right solution on time and within budget.

The truth is we are human and prone to err.  Therefore, we are subject to physical and mental fatigue, and sickness that often lesson our productivity capabilities.  If you're looking for 100% assurance that you've dotted every "i" and crossed every "t", this presentation might not be for you.  However, if you would like to significantly raise your confidence in your ability to ask the RIGHT questions, then come and listen to what Roxanne Miller has to share with you.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand why WHO you ask is equally, if not more, important as WHAT you ask.
2. Identify the six focus areas of the Zachman Framework.
3. Describe a critical success factor (desired outcome) from asking the right questions.

Complimentary!

Every attendee will receive a complimentary copy of Software Requirements Questions, upon submission of your name and email address.

It's time we go Agile on our projects.  New ideas and approaches give us additional tools in our toolbox for performance improvement and delivery efficiencies.  Hear interesting insights from an Agile leader sharing his experience and application in the software development world.  If you're confused about Agile, you'll leave this session with an understanding of Agile concepts and knowledge to start applying Agile to your projects.

In April 2010, Finn Digital piloted a web-based software application that changed the game for attendee participation and delivered the equivalent of Google Analytics for the live tradeshow floor. In February 2011, the application, named TagUpWith, will be re-launched in a Software as a Service model in private beta. Discover key learning’s that shaped the vision and design of the software, including:

• Ideation and innovation
• Getting from idea to application
• Working with Microsoft's Tag team
• Designing a complex application in a rapidly shifting environment
• De-programming Jekyll & Hyde: Incorporating Customer Feedback
• Big Vision, Detailed Design, Realistic Development
• Positioning yourself to be hit by lightning

Bill will demonstrate TagUpWith in its pilot version, so bring your smartphone! He will also share a selected review of the latest technologies for business-to-business marketing.

As in past years, Milwaukee SPIN will not have a meeting in December due to the busy holiday season.  Please join us for our January meeting in 2011.  Details of the January meeting will be available at this web site and in the meeting invitation emails that are sent to registered Milwaukee SPIN members.

Have a safe and joyous holiday season!

Milwaukee SPIN Board of Directors

Have you ever wondered what goes on at the highest level of an organization? Come listen and speak with top executives about life in their seat.

This year's panel members are

• Tracey Berg – VP and CIO at West Bend Mutual
• Chris Dowler – Senior Vice President and CIO at Assurant Health
• Subbu Ramanathan – Assistant VP of Development at Marshall & Swift Boeckh
• Joe Otto - Vice President of Information technology at DDN

Panel Discussion Format:

The discussion will be facilitated by Bob Stachowiak of Milwaukee SPIN. Each panelist will a few minutes to introduce themselves and their company. Then we will have the question and answer portion where the panelists will have the opportunity to answer questions posed by Bob on a variety of topics. We will finish the discussion with a brief question and answer session with the audience.

There's no question about it - agile principles help expedite software development. Yet the business analyst role seems conspicuously missing from the Agile Manifesto.  Does agile make the skills of the business analyst obsolete? Certainly not! Why? Because if companies hope to achieve strategic goals, they need someone who is ferociously focused on the business value expected from the project outcomes, to help provide guidance not only during a project but also before it is invested and after it is delivered as well. Are you ready to make the transition to this value-centered development-approach? What is it like to be part of an agile team? What agile analysis practices might you adapt even if you're working on a traditional (waterfall-style) project?

This presentation examines how the Agile movement affects the historical Business Analyst role on a project team and creates opportunities to learn new skills and develop new ways of working together. Collaboration, facilitation, leadership, coaching, and team building become significant new skills required for Business Analysts on Agile projects.  For Business Analysts, successfully influencing an agile project depends on defining requirements in smaller increments.  This demands adaptation to new ways of eliciting, specifying and managing requirements.  This talk provides practical guidance for how the business analyst integrates and collaborates with members of the team and how to improve business analysis by applying agile principles.

Biography -- Scott Stribrny

Scott Stribrny is the Co-founder, President, and Managing Director of Group Atlantic, Inc., a consulting firm that has advised private, commercial, and governmental organizations on successful strategy development and operations improvement since 1992. He is also a Senior Consultant with Cutter Consortium's Enterprise Risk Management and Governance practice. He is currently advising on techniques for effective product requirement specification and risk management. His courses on requirements, risk management, peer review, estimating and high-performance teams are well known for their innovative workshops and practical applicability.

Mr. Stribrny has more than 30 years experience in systems specification and building.  He has designed and built real-time mission critical software and has led successful multi-year, multimillion-dollar development programs. His accumulated management experience ranges from growth companies to Fortune 50 conglomerates in many industries, including aerospace, telecommunications, financial, insurance, retail, information services, and manufacturing.

Mr. Stribrny is a co-founder and former leader of the Chicago Software Process Improvement Network, and was an organizer of the 1998 Software Engineering Process Group conference.  He can be reached at Scott.Stribrny@GroupAtlantic.com.

Ever wondered why so many developers code angry? Well, it’s probably because they just spent 4 days of their lives building the WRONG thing! “Why are they building the wrong things”, you ask? Because gathering requirements, documenting them, and *interpreting* what’s written is complex…*very complex*. Enter BDD.

BDD enables (requires) consistent conversations between Business Analysts, Developers and Quality Assurance professionals. And that’s important! This simple step turns an angry post-mortem conversation about a misinterpreted feature spec into a delightful (collaborative) welcomed conversation with all participants during the construction of said feature. This presentation will be a gentle, anger-free primer to Behavior-Driven Development.

If you want to learn new techniques to facilitate collaboration on your project team, this is the presentation for you!

Presenters: Jason Montague’s background includes management consulting, software development consulting, product management, and leading Agile (Scrum, XP, Lean) adoption programs with clients over the last 15 years. His specific experience with Agile spans the last 7 years.

Jim Cornelius is a Technical Architect with over 14 years of technical leadership and expertise in software architecture, engineering and test automation. Specialized in the design of scalable mission critical Internet and internal systems for fortune 500 companies. His interests are in agile architecture and engineering techniques along with pragmatic approaches to test automation and behavior driven development. Most recently his work was focused on emergent design, BDD, and planning for and before iteration zero.

Kim Merbeth is a Business Analyst with over 15 years experience in the financial services industry. She has a customer service and operations background but eventually found her way into the technical world. A BA for the past five years, she has worked on projects that have used waterfall and agile. Most recently, she has focused on behavior driven development and has enjoyed collaborating with QA and Development to create scenario based acceptance criteria that could serve as both requirements and acceptance tests.

When people think about CMMI maturity level 4 (ML4), they contemplate statistical methods, process performance baselines, and process performance models. And why not? If you’ve taken the SEI’s four-day “Understanding CMMI High Maturity Practices” course you cannot help but form that impression. But that view of ML4 is incomplete as it overlooks the vast amount of BS associated with ML4.

Most SCAMPI appraisal teams do a good job of verifying the correct implementation of the ML4 methods and tools. But the real ML4 smell test is this: If you find no hint of BS then it ain’t ML4!

You’ve been told the SEI party line; now it’s time to get the rest of the story…

Many consider "Agile" a technology approach; however the "ability to be agile" (or Agility) applies to the whole Enterprise, Business and Technology. At its core, Agility is a Value System, which emphasizes People, Results, Collaboration, and Responsiveness. Success with  Agility involves a paradigm shift, which includes first focusing on principles & values and then pragmatic practices.

While many organizations focus on the benefits of becoming a more Agile Enterprise -- including accelerating time-to-market, increasing productivity, enhancing quality, and reducing risk & cost -- they fail into achieve a return-on-investment because their approach engenders a Transition rather than a Transformation! Transition is a practice-based change that primarily focuses on surface level behavior while a Transformation is a value/principle-based change that focuses\r\non the DNA of an organization. The focus of a value/principle-based DNA-changing transformation is Culture!

This presentation explores experiences and lessons-learned in Transformation, including adopting, scaling, and sustaining Agility across the Whole Enterprise.

How do projects get to be one year late? A day at a time, according to Fred Brooks. And yet, very few projects can detect a one-day schedule slip. In this presentation, we show how we implemented Earned Value Management System to track progress weekly at the individual level, how team members manage themselves and take corrective actions to maintain their committed schedule, and how teams follow disciplined process while maintaining product focus.

Girish Seshagiri is CEO of Advanced Information Services Inc. (AIS), a winner of the IEEE Computer Society Software Process Achievement Award. AIS is one of only 18 U.S. organizations and the only U.S. small business whose software process capability is certified at SEI CMMI Maturity Level 5. 

Girish is a frequent speaker at many of the international conferences on software engineering, software quality and process improvement. Girish has addressed many SPIN organizations. \r\nGirish served as the Chairman of the Team Software Process (TSP) User Group from 2003-2005.<br /> <br />\r\nGirish served on the IEEE Software Industrial Advisory Board from 2000 – 2007.\r\nGirish has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Michigan State University.

If "SPIN" means "Software Process Improvement Network" and virtually all software is produced by teams, how exactly can we train and support teams and individual team members to use and maintain effective software development processes? This presentation describes a collaboration, between the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Johnson Controls, designed to provide this training and support. The concepts and techniques employed in MSOE's SEPI (Software Engineering Process Improvement) initiative were drawn from the Software Engineering Institute's Personal Software Process and Team Software Process, customized to meet the specific needs of the participating teams.

MSOE's software engineering program also has a responsibility to assist its undergraduate students in gaining the process knowledge and skills they will need to be successful. For this reason, all sophomore software engineering students are required to take a course that is nearly identical to the one designed for industry practitioners; experiences with those students (since 1999) will also be discussed. A key goal of this process work, for both professionals and students, is to combine flexibility and discipline in a way that supports effective team work and self-management while maintaining responsiveness and alignment with business needs.

IT Service Management has managed to imbed itself in most organizational cultures, but as with most organizational strategies, must be continually reviewed and adjusted to address the most pressing technological and business challenges.  Cloud Computing has offered organizations an opportunity to completely rethink the means by which technology delivers services to their end users and customers.  The effectiveness and efficiency of those services, and the infrastructure that supports them, must also be evaluated through the appropriate supporting processes.  This presentation will focus on the key elements of the ITSM structure, and how they directly integrate with the Strategy, Design, Transition, Operational, and Continual Improvement aspects of Cloud Computing.

Have you ever wondered what goes on at the highest level of an organization? Come listen and speak with top executives about life in their seat. This year's panel members are:

Mr. Bill O’Toole – President & CEO of Catholic Knights 
Mr. Darwin Copeman – President & CEO of Jewelers Mutual
Mr. Mark Moody – President of WEA Trust
Mr. Loren Claypool – VP and Managing Director of VCPI, CIO of Extendicare

Panel Discussion Format: The discussion will be facilitated by Keith Korsi of SPIN. Each panelist will a few minutes to introduce themselves and their company. Then we will have the question and answer portion where the panelist will have the opportunity to answer questions posed by Keith on a variety of topics. We will finish the discussion with a brief question and answer session with the audience.

There will be a brief business meeting at 6:15 before the panel discussion.

This presentation is about identifying simple words that cover three starting blocks for gathering high-level solution requirements. We’ll think back to elementary school and focus on how the basic building blocks of grammar can communicate what users need from a solution.

Good project managers control a project’s schedule, scope and budget; but great project managers are also Leaders. This presentation provides insights regarding the nature of leadership and strategies for nurturing and improving your leadership capabilities, incorporating concepts and learnings from leadership ‘gurus’ such as John Maxwell.

If you are a natural-born leader and people have been following your lead (despite your lack of any real authority) since your first day in the office, you should skip this presentation—Heck, you should give the presentation! However, most of us could benefit by learning how to increase the likelihood that when we lead – others will actually follow.

The day of the big move is upon you. The semi-truck stuffed with all of your personal furnishings pulls up to your new home. The moving crew gets to work at once, and swiftly begins unloading and carrying your things through the front door. Suddenly the harmonious dance that the crew performs comes to a screeching halt. As eyes roam back and forth from the front door to your magnificent grand piano, your heart nearly stops as you realize that the piano is not going to fit. What are you going to do?

Functionally, the home builder constructed a beautiful home. However, somehow this nonfunctional detail was missed. Does this scenario sound familiar to any of the missed requirements on your projects lately? Do performance requirements such as response time, throughput, capacity, and availability get missed? What about flexibility requirements such as scalability, multi-lingual, installability, and extendability? Roxanne Miller will reveal "patterns" of nonfunctional requirements that can reduce the possibility of missed requirements that cause project rework. Come and find out what you've been missing.

Learning Objectives (at the end of the session, participants will be able to):
1. Recognize the difference between functional and nonfunctional requirements.
2. Understand various categories of nonfunctional requirements.
3. Discover the simplicity of this frequently misunderstood and overlooked requirement type.

Of the many critical functions a Business Analyst performs to ensure successful delivery of products and projects in organizations, perhaps the most overlooked and under-planned role they play is that of change agent. The need to anticipate and manage change in project planning and deployment is often overlooked, and as a result can challenge project delivery. The Business Analyst is the project team member who must fully grasp the business vision and then interpret and translate that vision through requirements for the technology builders. He or she is positioned to clearly see the current state, the desired state and the change gap in between. From the very first requirements interview, the Business Analyst begins socializing the changes the project will bring, and through the requirements methodology used, he or she drives the picture of the "new normal" that will exist following the solution deployment. Perhaps more than the Project Manager or even the Executive Sponsor, Business Analysts have the opportunity through the core processes of enterprise analysis, requirements elicitation, facilitation and representation to encourage learning and adoption of new ideas. Learn how, by acknowledging and planning this aspect of his or her role, the accomplished Business Analyst can play a key role in driving the introduction and adoption of change to make a real difference in project and organizational success.

Business and technology executives are being asked to do more with less all the time. Managing complexity, improving security, and enabling agility are top priorities. But maintaining legacy systems and supporting current technology consume vast amounts of the typical IT budget. This leaves limited budgetary resources and manpower to stay on top of new technology and develop applications to meet the core needs of your business. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is an effective solution.

ALM is focused on measuring and managing the real costs and value of software design, development and maintenance. To establish vision, a common lifecycle management solution is needed to help you track, balance, and communicate the systems that are being created to effectively run your business.

In this discussion we will:

* Define what we mean by Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)
* Describe the business benefits that ALM optimization can deliver
* Help you determine your ALM Capability
* Discuss some ALM Best Practices

Manage Risk in an Uncertain World

It’s the Future of How Businesses Will Be run Abstract For corporations, risk management has become a top concern in the face of increasing demand for greater corporate accountability as well as world events that have changed the risk landscape and their impact on the business world. Governance mandates such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the events of 9/11 and their aftermath, along with the continuing uncertainty of the business-economic environment, have made it compulsory for corporations to rethink their approaches to identifying and managing risk. Project and program managers everywhere face a daunting mix of challenges, including ever changing program demands, program environments of unprecedented complexity, tough new oversight requirements, and the constant pressure to do more with less. The need for risk management for making effective decisions and communicating the results within program organizations has never been more urgent. This briefing looks at the rapid rise of risk management and aims to expose project & program managers to the essentials of effective risk management for 2008 and beyond. The briefing provides an exclusive glimpse of a company that has been at the forefront of risk management, and describes how risk management has made the company one of the best managed in the US.

Have you ever wondered what goes on in a CxO’s brain? This will be the night to find out. Come listen to and speak with them about life in their seat. This year's panel includes:

• Mr. Rod Dykehouse – CIO, ProHealth
• Mr. Jeff Frazee – CIO, West Bend Mutual Insurance
• Mr. Keith Korsi – CEO/Managing Principal, Trissential
• Mr. Bruce Maas – CIO, UW Milwaukee
• Mr. Jim Oberholtzer – CIO, U.S. Bowling Congress

Panel Discussion Format: We will have these 5 executives on the panel. The discussion will be facilitated by Bob Stachowiak, current board member and former President of Milwaukee SPIN. Each panelist will have 5 minutes to introduce themselves and their company. Then we will have the question and answer portion where the panelist will have the opportunity to answer questions posed by Bob on a variety of software topics. We will finish the discussion with a brief question and answer session with the audience.

This seminar provides an interactive discussion of best practices surrounding software development and implementation. Many in the Information Technology industry use the words "validate" and "test" to mean the same thing. However, validation encompasses much more than simple testing. One of the main differences between testing and validation is the focus of the objective. Attendees will understand the difference between testing and validation, associated best practices, and the various roles and responsibilities for this effort.

Seminar Objectives

Upon successful completion, the participants will be able to:

• Understand the differences between Testing and Validation
• Understand the basics of Validation
• Understand Validation Methodology and Processes

For corporations, risk management has become a top concern in the face of increasing demand for\ greater corporate accountability as well as world events that have changed the risk landscape and their impact on the business world. Governance mandates such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the events of 9/11 and their aftermath, along with the continuing uncertainty of the business-economic environment, have made it compulsory for corporations to rethink their approaches to identifying and managing risk.

Project and program managers everywhere face a daunting mix of challenges, including ever changing program demands, program environments of unprecedented complexity, tough new oversight requirements, and the constant pressure to do more with less. The need for risk management for making effective decisions and communicating the results within program organizations has never been more urgent.

\r\nThis briefing looks at the rapid rise of risk management and aims to expose project & program\r\nmanagers to the essentials of effective risk management for 2008 and beyond. The briefing\r\nprovides an exclusive glimpse of a company that has been at the forefront of risk management,and describes how risk management has made the company one of the best managed in the US.

Much has been written about benefits of test automation frameworks including the almighty Keyword-Driven Architecture. However, most implementations still fall short of expectations. This presentation will go beyond theory and discuss the practical application of test automation frameworks. Topics will include:

• Examination of various frameworks and their benefits
• Mapping frameworks to test objectives
• Integrating frameworks to maximize flexibility and ROI

Benefits of attending:

• Gain an understanding of various test automation frameworks
• Learn how to choose the right framework for your testing objectives
• Understand the common attributes that ALL frameworks must have to be successful

In managing an organization to achieve goals, the staff meeting has been the major methodology used to disseminate directives and to gather status information. Status information has always been critical for validating directives, determining situation gaps, and developing additional ‘corrective’ directives. However, due to the translation that occurs when information is passed throughout a hierarchy, this information dissemination and collection process inherently leads to considerable artificial, illusory, fraudulent, and misinformation. The results are considerable misunderstandings that lead to solutions of symptoms of problems not the real problems. Decisions based on misinformation create new problems, including further misunderstandings which lead to fear, inaction, confusion, and opportunities for severe personal interest politics. Many excellent CEOs (and CIOs), good managers, and fine technicians have lost their jobs as a direct result of this daily phenomenon. Many corporate disasters have also occurred such as the Firestone Tire debacle, fall of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco International, Global Crossing, and many others.

This presentation illustrates with examples how serious trouble develops and describes a methodology to deal with it by measuring and managing the "translation" problem. Situations are presented with case studies to illustrate how critical 'intangibles' can be made 'tangible' and dealt with effectively. Examples include dealing with change management, goal alignment, IT technology program utilization, employee satisfaction, project management, and productivity improvements.

According to a recent Forrester Research, Inc. report, the quality of software requirements is a limiting factor on the success of development projects. Companies struggle on two primary fronts: requirements definition and requirements management. The market places a disproportionate emphasis on tools for requirements management, but the real opportunity for improvement lies in requirements definition and in how different development methodologies treat changing requirements.

Being better at requirements means understanding that the automated products that you build become part of your users' work no matter what kind of work that is. It’s being able to appreciate, accommodate and improve the users' work by delivering products that fit seamlessly into the work. It also means knowing how to find the precise requirements, how to prioritize them in a credible way, and how to validate whether the implementation exactly matches that requirement. This presentation gives you a distillation of strategies and metrics from many successful requirements projects that may serve as the foundation for your next requirements effort. You’ll get an overview of a useful requirements definition process—a way of quickly finding the most appropriate product for your user's needs, and then building a specification that unambiguously and completely describes that product.

Like other engineers, software developers transform ideas into usable products. Unlike other engineers, they create a product that is inherently invisible, not completely testable and often transitional. Moreover, a software product in an interim development stage is often unusable, producing free-floating anxiety in developers and users alike. Behavioral science tells us that invisibility and the effect of “all or nothing” are psychological factors that negatively impact developer effectiveness. Mundane tasks such as repeated testing often result in frustration while the transitional nature of software creates a false notion that the defects can always be removed in the future. Moreover, there is growing realization that we humans are incapable of fully applying and maintaining our own best practices. Huizinga and Kolawa will explain how to establish an automated technology infrastructure that supports effective software development. This infrastructure defines people roles, necessary technology, and interactions between people and technology. It provides product visibility, automates repetitive tasks, tracks project status, and seamlessly collects project data to provide measures necessary for decision making. Ultimately, it forms a software production line, thereby putting the engineering into software engineering.

Are you curious how Agile your organization is? Do you wonder how you compare with other organizations that have been using Agile for a similar amount of time? During this talk we will discuss a framework for assessing organizational agility. We will describe how to use the framework to assess agility at various times during an organization’s adoption of Agile and how to derive actionable information from each assessment. We will also present findings derived from assessing the agility of numerous organizations.

Have you ever wondered what goes on in a CxO’s brain? This will be the night to find out. Come listen to and speak with them about life in their seat. This year's panel includes:

• Mr. Dave Kerford – CEO, AQS
• Mr. Jeff Dobish – CFO, IVANS
• Mr. Alex Yarmulnik – CIO, Midwest Airlines
• Mr. Bruce Hagen – CIO, Bemis

Each panelist will have five minutes to introduce themselves and their company. Then we will have the question and answer portion where the panelist will have the opportunity to answer questions on a variety of software topics. We will finish the discussion with a brief question and answer session with the audience. If you have a question you would like answered, please email it to cxorquest@milwaukeespin.com prior to the meeting.

What does it mean to successfully outsource software, systems, and information technology (IT)? Successful acquirer organizations use best practices to execute outsourcing projects that are completed on time and within budget, and these projects result in a product that meets the organization's business needs or mission. In addition, the product is of acceptable quality and meets the needs of customers or end users.

Applying an outsourcing business strategy can improve your organization's operational efficiency by leveraging a supplier's capabilities to deliver quality solutions rapidly, at lower cost. Many organizations, both commercial and governmental, are becoming acquirers of software, systems, and IT. Market forces require companies and government agencies to evaluate internal and external options for system development and make practical business decisions about whether to develop or acquire.

What factors are critical to these decisions? What processes should be followed? And once the decision is made to acquire, what are the necessary processes that help ensure a reasonable level of success in acquiring that system? The presentation focuses on a series of "hidden truths" of successful acquisition projects. Some of these truths may not be hidden from you, depending on your acquisition experience. But all are valuable to IT acquirers.

Services-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a rapidly growing technology that many organizations are considering for implementation. By definition, SOA is a standards-based design approach to creating an integrated IT infrastructure capable of rapidly responding to changing business needs. Organizations must meet the challenge of determining how to implement SOA but the bigger challenge involves how to implement a strategy and approach for managing the software quality processes and activities to support SOA. The approach to software quality for SOA is dramatically different than existing processes and will require knowledgeable staff and tools. 

This seminar is designed to:

• Provide awareness into approaches for implementation of SOA
• Understand the differences between traditional testing and software quality approaches for SOA
• Identify the challenges associated with testing for SOA
• Learn how to plan your SOA testing strategy and what critical components need to be included
• Understand the latest automated testing technology solutions for SOA

Today, it is very common for companies to combine the Business Analyst (BA) and Project Manager (PM) roles into a "dual role" position. What do you get when you combine a BA and a PM? A "BM," of course! We believe there are good reasons why projects deserve both a BA and a PM. In this presentation, we will discuss the skills and importance of both the PM and BA roles, will cover real world examples of what can go wrong when combing the roles, will discuss ways to prevent the dual role situation, and will offer guidance to survive it if you aren't successful avoiding it. A high-level overview of the differences in the duties and interactions of each role through a standard project life cycle, as well as some insights into where the industry is going with the BA role will also be discussed.

The face-to-face or one-on-one interview is still the most frequently used requirements-gathering technique. However, Requirements Workshops (facilitated sessions) are growing in popularity due to evidence that shows that facilitation can reduce the requirements-gathering time by as much as 40%! This presentation assumes the audience has some familiarity with the facilitation technique and characteristics. So this presentation provides basic tips for the preparation and execution of effective requirements-gathering workshops (facilitated sessions).

Successful facilitated sessions are dependent on the skills of the session leader, called the Facilitator, to effectively manage the dynamics of the participants as a group and/or individually. This presentation offers tips for facilitation such as preparation guidelines, agenda format, room setup, and basic ground rules. Additionally, tips for handling difficult participant behavior or "problem people" will help facilitators minimize or avoid unpleasant group conflict. There are common patterns of difficult participant behavior that challenge even the most experienced facilitators. Some of the difficult styles, as well as tactics for handling them, that will be covered are
The Latecomer,
Broken Record,
Whisperer,
Loudmouth, and
Attacker.

This seminar provides an interactive discussion of the issues and advantages of a risk-based testing strategy in software development and implementation.\r\n

\r\nMore and more, technical solutions must be delivered quickly to enable a business to remain successful. Additionally, solutions are becoming integrated with business partners and end-users outside of a company, creating additional for risk to those developing and deploying software products. To resolve these issues and reduce risk, organizations are looking to deliver a quality product in an efficient manner. Risk-based testing strategies and their supporting processes help project teams meet these demands. \r\n

Join us for an evening at the Technology Innovation Center (the "TIC"), a business incubator for start-up technology-based businesses located at the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa. The TIC can certainly be referred to as "Milwaukee's Software Mecca." The TIC has nurtured well over 100 new businesses and created over 1000 new jobs, two-thirds of which are focused on writing software or are involved in other information technology ventures.

Guy Mascari, Director of the TIC, will present an overview of the facility and discuss the services provided to businesses in the center. He will discuss several of the current clients of the TIC, including: Niceware International, a provider of RFID hardware and software; Shining Brow Software, a Microsoft partner in service management software; and Guild Software, publishers of online video games including Vendetta Online(tm) a massively multiplayer online role-playing game(MMORPG).

Also presenting will be Geoff Bastow and Kelley Starr of Thin Air Software, one of the most successful IT companies in the TIC. Geoff has extensive experience with startups, now with his forth company in the TIC.

So, whether you are a high-tech entrepreneur looking to get a business off the ground, or a software professional trying to keep up with the Milwaukee software scene, join us for an exciting evening at the Technology Innovation Center.

This presentation will focus on general best practices in performance testing and is intended for those looking to implement performance testing in their organization. High level topics covered include resource requirements, planning, scripting, data management, execution and analysis. Attendees will come away with a performance testing roadmap they can use to avoid common performance testing pitfalls - enabling them to focus efforts on the specific performance details of their systems.