Program Description

There are two major schools of thought for how to improve the software product development process. The "standards school" advocates adherence to rigorously documented "best practices", as seen in the CMM and ISO 9000 frameworks. The "agile" school advocates rapid development with a minimum of specifications and up-front planning. Both camps are claiming victory, but in this workshop we will show how there are serious problems with both approaches. The pace of actual improvement is often slow, the effort is not linked to quantifiable bottom-line results for the company, and it is difficult to get the buy-in needed to make any real changes.

In contrast with traditional go-slow approaches to improve the software development process, the Lean approach involves a radical reorganization of how work is performed. Non-value-added steps are eliminated to simplify and speed up processes. Cross-functional teams are used to eliminate traditional boundaries. The Lean approach distinguishes itself by its aggressive and no-nonsense emphasis on customer value, profitability and speed, with team bonuses to match.

Lean began at Toyota, which after the second world war was close to perishing and had to figure out how to design and manufacture complex products faster, cheaper, and with higher quality than its competitors. They succeeded in doing so, and their efforts culminated in the Toyota Production System, a.k.a. Lean Enterprise. Companies implementing the Lean principles in Manufacturing have experienced a 50% to 95% inventory and cycle time reduction, 50% fewer defects, and a 50% cost reduction. Inspired by the success of Toyota and other Lean companies, more companies are now looking at how the Lean approach can be used to speed up product development. In this workshop we will discuss how the Lean principles can be applied to software development.

You will learn how to:

•  Achieve up to 50% in cost reductions

•  Reduce cycle time by 30-95%

•  Improve quality by reducing defect opportunities

•  Help your teams focus on value and remove waste

•  Work more closely with suppliers and customers for mutual benefit

•  How to organize your people around "value streams" and overcome departmental boundaries

Hands-on exercise:

Bring a description of your current software development process and any data you have on where most of your effort and especially cycle time is spent. We will show you a new technique for quickly analyzing and redesigning your process.

Audience:

• Quality/Process/Engineering managers in companies that depend on their ability to rapidly build high-quality software to satisfy customer needs (software companies, game developers, defense
  contractors, medical device companies, etc.)

• Managers in mid-sized to large IT departments that must rapidly build reliable custom applications that are business-critical

About the Speaker

Frode L. Ødegård is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ødegård Labs, Inc. He is a frequent public speaker on software engineering management. Frode's lecture topics have included defect prevention, optimizing software development for profitability, architecture, outsourcing practices, and the relationship between leadership, quality, and specifications.

Frode is the author of a forthcoming book on world class software product development. Frode's interests outside work include philosophy, psychology and strength training.