Software Process Improvement Network :: Washington, D.C. Area > Meetings

March 7, 2012
Business Value of Agile Methods: Using ROI and Real Options

Dr. David F. Rico will give a presentation on the "Business Value of Agile Methods: Using ROI and Real Options," which are highly-disciplined contemporary new product development (NPD) approaches for rapidly building high-quality information technology-intensive systems. Dr. Rico will provide a brief introduction to agile methods, an overview of popular agile methods, and a brief survey of the benefits of agile methods as reported by major industry studies (including rarely seen, late-breaking economic data and results from the top consulting firms). Dr. Rico will provide a survey of costs and benefits, a suite of metrics for quantifying business value, a discussion of parametric models, a methodology for estimating ROI, and a comparison of 11 major Agile and Traditional Methods. This briefing has been warmly received by the Project Management Institute (PMI), International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN), University of Virginia CIO Conference, Central Maryland Association of .NET Professionals, Boeing Cyber & Information Solutions, Airlines Reporting Corporation, Social Security Administration, University of Maryland, and other major U.S. Government Agencies. This briefing has been published in a major international journal and a new book entitled, "Business Value of Agile Software Methods: Maximizing ROI with Just-in-Time Processes and Documentation."

Dave Rico
Principal Systems Engineer, Boeing

Dr. Rico is a principal systems engineer with Boeing, where he helps oversee a portfolio of large, multi-billion dollar government computer system programs. He has been a technical leader in support of NASA, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army for over 25 years. He has led numerous projects based on Cloud Computing, Lean Thinking, Agile Methods, SOA, Web Services, Six Sigma, FOSS, ISO 9001, CMMI, Baldrige, TQM, Enterprise Architecture, DoDAF, and DoD 5000. He specializes in IT investment analysis, IT portfolio valuation, and IT enabled change. He has been an international keynote speaker, presented at leading industry conferences, written six textbooks, published numerous articles, and is a reviewer for multiple systems engineering journals. He is a Certified PMP, Certified Scrum Master, and teaches at three Washington, DC-area universities. He has been in the field of information systems since 1983.

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April 4, 2012
CMMI+Scrum: Power Partners in Product Development

Everywhere we look, agile methods are taking hold. Whether it is Scrum or XP, Spiral or Crystal, we are all starting to see the positive effects that Agile methods are having on our work. But it's not all good news. Many "agile" shops are not getting anything close to the results they were hoping for. Management still waits for information and makes decisions based on perception. Projects are still late and over budget. People are not trained, and the same mistakes are being made time and time again. But there is an answer.

The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), the leading framework for continuous improvement can ALSO be used to improve Agile methods! CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum and XP, and it fills in the blanks in a way that makes the investment in agile both powerful and productive.

Jeff Dalton
President, Broadsword

Jeff Dalton is Broadsword’s President, Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He is co-Chair of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board and President of the Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network (GL-SPIN). He holds degrees in Music and Computer Science and builds experimental airplanes in his spare time.

Jeff’s first degree was in Music from Johns Hopkins University. He has performed with orchestras in Seville Spain, Mexico City, and Baltimore. He earned a second degree in Computer Science in 1988.

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