Written by Traci Lester on May 15th, 2013
Here at ASPE-SDLC we are committed to providing the Agile community with need-to-know information covering both technical and professional topics. In years past we have developed a very specific and focused salary survey for use by the Agile community. And with the growing adoption of Agile methods, the growing demand for Agile training, and the growing value of Agile skills and certification, we have decided to re-launch our Agile Salary Survey in partnership with our friends at Global Knowledge, HP and ICAgile. We want to show the Agile community just how valuable their skill set really is.
We highly encourage you to participate in the 2013 Agile Salary Survey. We want to know about your current position and what is happening in the Agile World. This survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete and you can withdraw from the survey at any point. Survey responses are strictly confidential and data from this research will be reported only in the aggregate.
A report containing a detailed analysis of survey results will be distributed to participants soon after the survey period closes as well as available on www.aspe-sdlc.com for download.
Take the 2013 Agile Salary Survey now!
Posted in Agile, Agile Certification, Agile Development, Agile Government, Agile Software, CSD, CSM, CSP, Career, ICAgile, Kanban, Leadership, PMI-ACP, Project Management, Scrum, Scrum Certification, ScrumMaster, Software Development, White Paper, certification | No Responses »
Tags: agile, Agile Development, Agile salary survey, ASPE, ASPE-SDLC, GK, Global Knowledge, Hewlett Packard, HP, ICAgile, Introducing the 2013 Agile Salary Survey!, Salary Survey
Written by Traci Lester on May 15th, 2013
Help for Federal Contracting Officers and Project Managers
by Bob Clarke, Director of Federal Enterprises – ASPE, Inc.
Let’s face it, contracting officers (COs) can make or break Federal software development projects by the way they structure the contracts to acquire the development services for the project. If the project gets off-track, everyone will look to the contract to see if the contractor is meeting the contract terms, not whether they are delivering potentially shippable software in regular increments.
With the increasing adoption of Agile project management in Federal agencies, we know that COs and program managers often feel constrained by Federal contracting rules when they build acquisition plans for Agile. To bridge the knowledge gap, our “Acquisition for Agile” course will give your acquisition teams an understanding of “Why Agile” and how best to acquire Agile services. Click to continue »
Posted in Acquisition for Agile, Agile, Agile Government, Federal Services, Project Management | No Responses »
Tags: agile, Agile Development, ASPE, ASPE-SDLC, Bob Clarke, Buying Agile Services, Contracting Agile Services, Help for Federal Contracting Officers and Project Managers
Written by Traci Lester on May 14th, 2013
by Tom McGraw, VP of Public Sales – ASPE, Inc.
ASPE supports a number of industry-recognized Agile certifications. Many Agile certifications available in the industry are designed for individuals new, or relatively new, to Agile. Unlike many traditional certifications (such as the PMP certification offered through PMI, or the CBAP certification offered through IIBA) that have intensive pre-requisites and eligibility requirements, governing bodies of Agile certifications often provide certification for exposure in a classroom to the methodology, regardless of prior Agile experience or knowledge.
There are two Agile certification governing bodies accredited by ASPE, which can lead to Agile certification directly after course completion—the Scrum Alliance, and The International Consortium for Agile (aka, IC-Agile).
The Scrum Alliance has been issuing their industry-recognized Certified Scrum designations since 2001. There are currently over 200,000 credential holders for the most prominent Agile certification, the Certified Scrum Master designation. In addition to this entry-level certification, the Scrum Alliance offers two other entry-level Agile certifications. Click to continue »
Posted in Agile, Agile Alliance, Agile Certification | No Responses »
Tags: agile, Agile Certification, Agile Development, ASPE, ASPE-SDLC, Certified IC-Agile Professional, Certified Scrum Developer, Certified Scrum Product Owner, certified scrummaster, CIP, CSD, csm, CSPO, entry-level Agile certification, ICAgile, scrum, Scrum alliance, Tom McGraw, What entry-level Agile certifications are available through ASPE?
Written by Traci Lester on May 10th, 2013
We have our second winner of 2013! Congratulations to Mark McArthey of Oconomowoc, WI for winning the second iPad drawing of the 2013!
Don’t fret! You still have one more chance to win! Enter NOW to win one of three iPads in 2013 from ASPE. The final winner will be chosen on June 14th.
Sign up at www.aspeinc.com/ipad for your chance to win one of three iPads, an exciting way to experience the web, email, photos, video, & more.
Enter to win a FREE iPad from ASPE!
Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Written by Kelley Bruns on May 9th, 2013
by Kelley Bruns, CBAP®, PMP®, CSM
One of my dogs ended up missing two days ago, but I couldn’t look for her in the usual places where she likes to go exploring. The reason why I couldn’t search for her in the usual places was because we were climbing a mountain. We turned our backs on her for an instant and she was gone – this is part of working with an Alaskan malamute – they love to seek adventures and they are a bit thick-headed. My first instinct was try to follow where she went, but that’s fairly difficult to do when you are on a rocky ledge. By the time we got off the ledge she was nowhere in sight – she was missing and our other malamute provided no clues to help guide us to her. There were no responses to our voice commands or whistles.
This experience got me thinking about missing requirements. It’s easy to get in the habit of looking in the usual places and using the same process to find requirements, but isn’t that why we miss them? It’s beneficial to get out of a rut by using other tools and techniques in order to not miss requirements. The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® provides us with multiple options to help us improve in this area; a few examples include text, matrices, and diagrams/models. According to a 2010 study performed by Meta Group, 60% – 80% of project failures can be attributed directly to poor requirements gathering, analysis, and management.
If this is an area you would like to influence and change in a positive way at your workplace, contact our ASPE sales team today to identify the best path to get you there. And, you don’t need to worry about falling off of a rocky ledge to find what you have been missing.
As for my dog, we searched and searched and finally returned home hoping she wouldn’t be found by a grizzly bear or mountain lion. Once we got there we saw a tired but happy dog waiting for us to come back home. She beat us back! I learned a valuable lesson that day – just like eliciting requirements it’s easy search in all the wrong places.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Written by Kaete Piccirilli on May 7th, 2013
You are what you measure. Metrics drive behavior and implementing the right metrics to measure the right things is imperative to support any improvement initiative. The metrics used in traditional project management, such as % Complete for Requirements, Code and Test do not tell where we truly are in delivering business value. The only true measure of progress is working software.
On April 25, 2013, Andy Painter examined the fundamentals of Agile Metrics and how to implement them so that we can more accurately assess the impact that agile methods has on improving the software creation process and where and when we will be done with a project.
You can listen to a complete recording of this presentation at aspeevents.webex.com. Select “View Event Recordings” in the top right corner. You can also download the slides from this presentation by visiting our Web Seminar Archives.
To learn more about what Agile can do for your organization. Check out our 3-day course Agile Boot Camp and learn Iteration Planning, Product Roadmap and Backlog, Estimating Practices, User Story Development and Iteration Execution. Not just methods and approaches. Bring your team together to learn and experience Agile as it should be done.
Posted in ASPE, ASPE-SDLC, Agile, Agile Development, Agile Metrics, Uncategorized, Web Seminar Recap, aspe web seminar | No Responses »
Tags: agile, agile boot camp, agile course, Andy Painter, aspe web seminar recap, ASPE web seminars, ASPE-SDLC, metrics, Web Seminar Recap