Session Title
Legacy Evolution (Value + Innovation versus Systemic Agile + Digital Transformation)
Abstract
In order to accelerate the modernization of business global leaders have embraced systemic Digital Transformations facilitated in large part by the adoption of Agile Software methods, practices and associated technology. Unfortunately, systemic business-wide transitions have often proven very expensive and to have lower than expected impact on productivity. CEOs often mistake Agile for Agility whereas the Agile contract really just speaks to predictability and quality. Both are necessary but not sufficient!
In this talk, we discuss our experiences with Lean-inspired Value + Innovation-driven development. This a focused approach which injects new practices, and technology at specific high-value targets in the value chain. Unlike mainstream Agile which seeks to deploy the same practices and tooling across the business - Value+Innovation focuses on high-yield opportunities. The targeted approach minimizes the operational and staff impact. It optimizes the use of scarce key capabilities for each specific intervention. Interventions address a specific bottleneck often introducing new technology and practices. We illustrate the approach through various case studies.
Bio
Dave Thomas has a wide spectrum of experience in the software industry as an executive, investor, board member, consultant, architect, and engineer. He is Chairman of Bedarra Corp, which provides consulting on technology and business strategy for emerging technology, products and services. Bedarra provides virtual CTOs, as well as directors, advisors and mentors to support new initiatives.
Dave served as Chief Scientist/CSO of Kx Systems, First Derivatives Plc. He co-founded Bedarra Research Labs, creators of the Ivy visual analytics workbench. Dave is the founder of YOW! Conferences and Workshops. He was Managing Director of Object Mentor - company specializing in the training and deployment of Agile and Object-Oriented Software Development methodologies. Founder and past CEO of Object Technology International (OTI), becoming CEO of IBM OTI Labs after its sale to IBM. Recognized as an ACM Distinguished Engineer for his contributions to Object Technology.
With a unique ability to see the future and translate research into competitive products, he is known for his contributions to Object Technology including IBM VisualAge and Eclipse IDEs, Smalltalk and Java virtual machines.
Dave is a popular, humorous, albeit opinionated keynote speaker with an impressive breadth of business experience and technical depth. He is a thought leader in large-scale software engineering and a founding director of the Agile Alliance.