The Agile Executive

Jim and I have finalized the content and the format for our forthcoming Cutter Summit seminar. The seminar is structured around a case study which includes four exercise. We expect the case study/exercises will take close to two-thirds of the allotted time (the morning of October 27). In the other third we will provide the theory and practices to be used in the seminar exercises and (hopefully) in many future technical debt engagements participants in the workshop will oversee.

The seminar does not require deep technical knowledge. It targets participants who possess conceptual grasp of software development, software governance and IT operations/ITIL. If you feel like reading a little about technical debt prior to the Summit, the various posts on technical debt in this blog will be more than sufficient.

We plan to go with the following agenda (still subject to some minor tweaking):

Agenda for the October 27, 9:30AM to 1:00PM Technical Debt Seminar

• Setting the Stage: Why Technical Debt is a Strategic Issue

• Part I: What is Technical Debt?

• Part II : Case Study – NotMyCompany, Inc.
  • Exercise #1 – Modernizing NotMyCompany’s Legacy Code

• Part III: The Nature of Technical Debt

• Part IV: Unified Governance
  • Exercise #2 – The acquisition of SocialAreUs by NotMyCompany

• Part V: Process Control Models
  • Exercise #3 – How Often Should NotMyCompany Stop the Line?

• (Time Permitting – Part VI: Using Technical Debt in Devops
  • Exercise #4 – The Agile Versus ITIL Debate at NotMyCompany)

By the end of the seminar you will know how to effectively apply technical debt techniques as an integral part of software governance that is anchored in business realities and imperatives.