AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Transcription

1 AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT Making the development process responsive to business needs Analysis without compromise A Butler Group Strategy Briefing Thursday 6 November 2008 CBI Conference centre, London Thursday 13 November 2008 London

2 About Strategy Briefings Butler Group Strategy Briefings are a series of one-day conferences and exhibitions, targeted at senior IT and business executives, with European attendees at each event. Focusing on key technologies that our clients are about to adopt, each Strategy Briefing offers practical advice on how to incorporate and implement major technologies into IT strategies. This is delivered to delegates through our unique Strategy Briefing format that has led to these events becoming widely regarded as the de facto Northern European platform for both end-users and vendors to participate in a themed technology debate. Keynote Presentations Given by Michael Azoff (Senior Research Analyst), and Senior representatives from Primary Sponsors help delegates understand how they might plan to create value through Agile Software Development. Case Studies Provided by Primary Sponsors, these help delegates understand how creating value through Agile Software Development can be used to gain business advantage, directly from end-user organisations. Exhibition The Primary Sponsors will be joined by a number of additional vendors for the exhibition, providing delegates with a complete understanding of the major vendors in the Agile Software Development arena. Forum Debate The day concludes with a Forum Debate chaired by Alan Rodger. Representatives from the Primary Sponsors will join him. Strategy Briefing USPs Butler Group Strategy Briefings provide an enjoyable and professional atmosphere where delegates can listen to the key vendors explain their products positioning and their strategy. Delegates can also learn valuable lessons from the case study speakers. Butler Group Analyst keynote presentations give an industry overview and independent opinion. As well as being a great marketing opportunity for the participating vendors, the Strategy Briefings are a great place to gather intelligence on competitors positioning and messages. Our marketing is targeted on companies who are in play, that is, who have real projects and are thus looking to select technology partners. These delegates are usually there to validate and verify the partners they may have already short listed. We encourage senior representatives from both IT and the business to attend. Our focus is quality not quantity. Strategy Briefings are designed for numbers of delegates, with the emphasis on senior, decision-making executives. This creates a great peer-to-peer networking opportunity for delegates, whilst maintaining a higher quality of leads for the particpating sponsors. We use our expertise to connect the key vendors with quality delegates, resulting in better sales leads. Strategy Briefings are single topic events, enabling delegates to both relax and keep focus, unlike multiple stream events where delegates dash about with their event planner in their hand.

3 Introduction by Michael Azoff, Senior Research Analyst, Butler Group. Agile methodologies for software development are gaining increasing attention as businesses look to see how they can go beyond the traditional Waterfall approach. Waterfall is a gated method where at the end of each stage sign-off needs to be achieved against delivery, before passing on to the next stage. Sometimes Waterfall is adjusted with iterations that occur between adjacent stages, but generally it is best described as a linear process, or one of baton passing. The main stages are: requirements gathering, modelling and design, software construction, testing, and deployment. The two main problems with this approach is that: a) a large effort goes into the requirements document and sign off before anything is built for very large scale projects this could be as much as 12 or even 18 months, by which time the technology itself will have moved on, and it also assumes that the requirements are all known upfront; and b) testing is relegated to the end when time is at a premium, schedules stretched, and when making corrections is most expensive (short of discovering faults in the field). Scrum, DSDM, and to some extent RUP, have gained an increasing reputation as preferred Agile methodologies for project management, with XP often being cited for actual coding practice. Where Agile wins over Waterfall is that: a) requirements are focused on the known elements of the project and prioritised so that work can begin immediately on these parts; and b) the melding of design-build-test activities and producing deliverables of working software in short bursts, resembles the passing of a rugby ball between team members a highly iterative process. The result is software that evolves to meet requirements and changes in a flexible manner, and with no surprises at the end of the project, because continual builds ensure always working software. Scrum and XP are the two Agile brands that have gained sufficient momentum that businesses are now exploring how to extend Agile beyond just application development, and also scaling up to large-scale enterprise projects. This Butler Group Strategy Briefing will explore the implications for business, answering questions such as: how should a business begin to evaluate Agile? How should a business implement Agile, particularly where Waterfall will continue to be practiced? And what can we learn from end-user case studies on scaling Agile out, and up to enterprise-scale projects? Key Topics Agile Software Development is gaining mainstream acceptance by developers: we explore the reasons for success. Agile involves greater discipline, not less, and access to process / methodology information can help we indicate potential sources. Application development tools fall into two main groups those targeting management and those targeting core development. We explain how tools work best alongside Agile practice.

4 Sponsorship Opportunities By selecting highly relevant topics as themes for our Strategy Briefings we ensure that a heightened awareness is already present and therefore interest from the end-user community exists. By charging a fee to attend, we can guarantee the quality of the delegates, all of whom hold senior positions within large pan- European corporates. Delegates are keen to meet those vendors who are the major players within the topic arena. We undertake a detailed marketing plan which includes the following: Event advertised on Butler Group s Web site. Dedicated merges sent to Butler Group s client database leading up to the event. Event advertised in OpinionWire. Examples of vendors who have sponsored previous Strategy Briefings: Delegates & Sponsors Examples of delegates who have attended previous Strategy Briefings: Business Intelligence & CRM Bang & Olufsen A/S CIO A&R Carton BV Business Analyst Highways Agency Manager Process & Systems KPN Telecom N.V. Application Support Mexx International BV Chief Application Architect Manpower Inc Group IT Director De Agostini UK Ltd Commercial IT Manager Cadbury Schweppes Plc Project Manager Ministry of Education, Culture & Science Director of ITS University of Durham Head of IT Novartis Animal Health Business Systems Analyst Tommy Hilfiger Europe IT Applications Manager Business in the Community Head of Records Management ABN AMRO Technical Architect Dixons Store Group Assistant Director University College London Head of IT Shelter Strategy Manager EDF Energy Head of Communications & Training University of Salford Head of E Distribution Rabobank International Systems Manager Littlewoods Home Shopping Director, Application Development Group University of Cambridge Head of Section Ministry of Taxation Head of IT South East England Development Agency Systems Engineer Manager Elsevier Ltd Intranet Technical Manager London Underground Website Manager Royal National Institute for the Blind Director of Middleware Architecture GlaxoSmithKline Head of Marketing Support Schroders Plc B2E Application Architect Barclays Bank Plc Content Management Technology Manager AAH Pharmaceuticals Finance Director PZ Cussons (International) Ltd IT Director Deloitte Consulting Strategic Procurement Executive The National Trust Group IT Security Manager Jarvis Plc Vice President Credit Suisse First Boston IT Procurement Manager HBOS Financial Services Manager Infrastructure Services Lloyds of London VP, Enterprise Architect ABN AMRO Bank NV Head of Information Architecture and Support Unit Houses of Parliament Web Development Manager Institute for Cancer Research Executive Director, Information Systems Charities Aid Foundation Web & Portals Manager Cable & Wireless Plc IT Manager Direct Line Insurance Head of IP BBC Worldwide Ltd

5 Sponsorship Packages Primary Sponsor Hour-long Keynote Speech with the opportunity to introduce a Case Study Presentation presented by the client (optional but preferred). Premium Position Exhibition Stand. Seat on the Panel Debate. Full Marketing Exposure, including corporate logo where appropriate. Sponsor 40 minute presentation with the opportunity to introduce a Case Study Presentation presented by the client (optional but preferred). Exhibition Stand. Full Marketing Exposure, including corporate logo where appropriate. Delegate list and contact details post event. Delegate list and contact details post event. What Next? Due to the limited number of sponsorship opportunities, coupled with the popularity of these events, we strongly advise that you contact Butler Group: Tel: interest@butlergroup.com to secure your participation. About Butler Group Butler Group is the premier European provider of Information Technology research, analysis, and advice. Founded in 1990 by Martin Butler, the Company is respected throughout the business world for the impartiality and incisiveness of its research and opinion. Butler Group provides a comprehensive portfolio of Research, Events, and Subscription Services, catering for the specialised needs of all levels of executive, from IT professionals to senior managers and board directors. Our products and services cover every aspect of the increasingly important impact Information Technology has on every business, from product purchase decisions to developing effective high-level strategy. They range from the visionary looking up to five years ahead to the current practical use of technology. Europa House 184 Ferensway Hull East Yorkshire HU1 3UT UK Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) info@butlergroup.com