Agile-Estimator.com is on the up!

I’m really excited about the progress my new start-up (Agile-Estimator.com) has gained over the last few weeks.  The development efforts are coming along strong and things are starting to take shape.  

AE was one of the finalists for a slot in the Spark Charleston Incubation program (http://www.sparkchs.com/).  Located in the tech sector of Charleston, SC, Spark is a privately funded incubation platform designed to support high potential start-up firms in the Charleston area.  The ultimate goal being to “spark” the local tech sector and economy.  

Yesterday I found out that AE was one of three companies accepted into the program.  I’m ecstatic about this opportunity and extend a warm thank you to Chris and the board for bringing AE into the program.  

There is much work do be done in the coming weeks.  As development velocity continues to improve I expect to have a fully functional piece of software in four-six weeks.  We are working through infrastructure architecture at the moment. We have selected Media Temple (http://mediatemple.net/) due to their awesome ability to scale.  Looking forward to building a lasting partnership with them.

Congratulations to the Students of OSU’s CETI Organization

Yesterday the Center for Enterprise Transformation and Innovation (CETI) organization at The Ohio State University hosted CETI Industry Day.  The forum showcased thirty-five student capstone projects, research, and practice collaborations between CETI and local companies.

This year’s winning student project was awarded to Team Table Top for their compelling work in the table top computing space.  Congratulations guys!

Thoughtworks’ founder, Roy Singham delivered a killer presentation on his vision for the future of software development - economic impacts, influences, trends, and technologies.  His deck was compelling and his delivery was captivating. Thanks and well done Roy.

The afternoon was occupied by several presentations by local companies activly practicing a software development technique known as Agile.  Representatives from Nationwide, The Gap, Pillar Technologies, and Thoughtworks shared their perspectives and experiences and then addressed the audience.  Conversation gravitated around organizational adoption of Agile, estimating, testing, training, best practices, and execution. Thanks to all for opening up and sharing.

I would like to cordually thank and congratulate Dr. Rajiv Ramnath and his students for putting on a successful event.  The experience was very stimulating and demonstrates a committment to further developing the concept of university and industry collaboration.  The net result of this collaboration is mutually beneficial and furthermore helps retain talented technology individuals in the Columbus area.

Cheers,

Peter Klassen

pete.klassen@sophicgroup.net

5 Big Project Management Trends - How to React

I recently read an interesting article that provides solid insight for project managers and IT project service companies.  I have summarized the main points of this article and share my perspective on how to react.

The 3rd annual PM Network Trends Report looks at the shifting landscape and outlines the five big business trends every project manager needs to deal with - or face the consequences.

5 Trends in Project Management

1. Hyper Efficiency - project managers must try to eliminate all unnecessary waste from projects
2. Total Transparency - sharing project information breeds loyalty, streamlines project progress and improves the end result
3. Power Alliances - the right partner can reduce risk and improve delivery time, but the wrong one can lead to project failure
4. Big Job Cuts - the bleak economy is causing many companies to put projects on hold, and project managers have become prime candidates for layoffs.  There are fewer jobs for PMs, but experience will put come ahead of the curve
5. Ultra-Nearsourcing - companies are keeping their projects closer to home to keep costs lower, however it is not for every project (Gale, 2009).

This article brings up some interesting and important concepts.  For consulting companies that are in the project space these concepts should be considered a strong influence for the marketing, sales, and delivery of solutions.  Agile delivery concepts could be the answer to satisfying market demand (or lack there of).

Consulting firms selling IT project services should consider the following:

From a marketing perspective consulting firms should promote Agile related services.  This might include delivering a project using the Agile methodology or positioning the PMO to leverage Agile within the organization.

From a sales perspective Agile principles could demonstrate a “leaner means of execution” thus cost justifying a more affordable delivery for clients.

As for the execution of IT projects, PMs should consider leveraging Agile as a delivery methodology.  Conducting a methodology adoption session will provide insight on how Agile will be accepted.  This will allow the PM to determine the degree to which Agile will be leveraged.  A popular trend has been leveraging an Iterative Waterfall methodology, which is a hybrid between Waterfall and Agile.

-Peter Klassen

References

Gale, Sarah (2009).5 Big Trends. PM Network. 23, 36-42.