Seminar Description:

When designing a web presence, there's often a disastrous disconnect between the design of user experience, system functionality, and visual design. Sometimes design is by committee, done on the fly, or worse: given no truly structured process at all. By investing in a few common sense analysis measures at the beginning of your project, you can ensure that the rollout of your web presence will be as efficient and effective as possible.

In this free one-hour web presentation, business analysis expert Billie Johnson, CBAP, presents some common-sense methods to bring your team together for determining proper direction and function before moving to design and production. By determining function, then moving on to form, then implementing form efficiently by prototyping core features of your design, you can effectively address user and customer needs and combine them with elegant packaging. This focus on business needs, user experience and an organized approach to prototyping key foundations of your web presence with integrated visual design allows you to maximize your investment in web design. Billy will show you you how to leverage basic techniques proven in the world of business analysis, and apply them to your online design efforts when the time comes for you to roll out a shiny new website or user interface. ASPE's creative director Chris Knotts, PMP contributed to this program.

Seminar Presenter:

Billie Johnson - Billie Johnson, CBAP, has 20+ years of experience in the field of business analysis spanning financial, manufacturing, consulting, education, and government industries. As an early adopter of the IIBA® and CBAP® certification, she received her CBAP® certification in May 2007. The concepts, tasks, and techniques defined as good practice by the BABOK® are practices that have served her well in providing a structured approach to complex problems and opportunities. She is currently a Business Analysis Instructor/Coach/Mentor and enjoys furthering the field of business analysis by touching those in the field with tools to face their unique problems/opportunities for organizations today.

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

Organizations are increasingly finding themselves overwhelmed with data, yet starved for actionable information. As such, organizations are migrating quickly to the utilization of business intelligence (BI) and advanced analytics.

One of the fastest growing areas within BI -- Predictive Analytics & Data Mining (PADM) –- provides substantial returns when implemented properly, as demonstrated in a wealth of case studies. PADM is being explored within these organizations as a way to improve their decision making processes, thereby increasing efficiency and minimizing risk.

Yet, the vast majority of practitioners who attempt PADM implementations approach the discovery process like any other IT project. When their projects fail or fall short, they prematurely dismiss the practice and delay the tremendous gains they could otherwise reap with PADM.

This web seminar is intended for stakeholders, functional managers and business practitioners in business, industry, government and academia, who have made substantial investments in data collection, storage, retrieval, visualization and basic analysis but may not have the technical or strategic experience necessary to chart an effective roadmap to uncover the valuable predictive insights hidden within their existing data. No prior knowledge is required.

Seminar Presenter:

Tony Rathburn - Tony Rathburn is a Senior Consultant and Keynote-Level Presenter with The Modeling Agency – a predictive modeling and data mining consulting firm offering guidance and results for those who are data-rich, yet information-poor. Tony has engaged with commercial and government clients internationally in the development and implementation of predictive analytics solutions since the mid-1980's.

Mr. Rathburn's expertise is focused on the design and development of business models of human behavior. From an industry perspective, he has extensive experience in the financial sector, banking, insurance, energy, retail and telecommunications. He has an extensive functional area perspective, including the development of models for trading, pricing, CRM, B2B, B2C, fraud detection, risk management and attrition/retention.

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

As Agile grows, people who learned about it at a 5th, 6th or 7th degree of separation from the "founding fathers" of Agile sometimes see it as process or a science type method. That sentiment about Agile isn't 100% incorrect, but the reality is that Agile is much more at its core. It is based on a core perspective from which process/methods flow out. It is about seeing the world, conducting yourself, working in a team, and doing actual work the Agile way.

Sounds like a cult, right? Well, in some cases it is. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. If a "utopian" work environment is something you are looking to be a part of, Agile can possibly take you there. Remember the four basic values:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

If done right you can gain high morale and develop a highly productive work environment (maybe even utopian depending on your perspective). The interesting thing about these values though, is that they pretty much run counter to how we currently conduct business, and how human beings naturally think, act and react.

In this presentation you will learn about the methods around these four basic values and learn about the change management challenges that come with agile adoption. We will touch on what Scrum means, how to conduct an iteration, what is a task board, how to do a proper retrospective, and how planning is handled in Agile. On top of that we will review government adaption of agile and use our experience with the VA as a semi-case study on Agile in government. Finally, the topic of certification will be reviewed with a detailed discussion of both Scrum Alliance certification programs and the new PMI-ACP credential.

This session will give you a working knowledge of agile and allow you dig deeper into its methods and practices with a solid, foundational understanding. We will also discuss Federal government policies and procedures and how those are impacted by agile deployment.

Seminar Presenter:

David Mantica - David Mantica has more than 16 years of experience in business to business continuing education in executive, product management, marketing, and operations capacities. He has product managed the initiation, development and delivery of more than 300 instructor-led and live, online training courses, covering topics in the software development life cycle, IT, telecommunications, finance, healthcare IT, and marketing industries. David was instrumental in the development and delivery of the training industry's first voice over IP (VOIP)-enabled live, instructor-led training course for public consumption, and chaired CompTIA's Learning Alliance formulation committee. He was on the boards of the DSLcon, Frame Relaycon, STP Conferences and Raleigh Latin School and is currently on the board of IIOM (International Institute of Outsourced Management).

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

Since mid-2008 the US economy has been struggling. Not so much with growth or corporate profit issues, but certainly with job development and the tax revenues that come with jobs. So companies make money but workers struggle with more work, less time and reduced return on effort. At the same time, government institutions (state, local and Federal) are struggling with mounting debt and increased service requests. The result: the currently employed are stuck in the middle and that means consistent change and instability.

The above issues are Macroeconomic issues. This presentation digs deeper into the micro-issues caused by unstable Macroeconomic impact on the roles of the Project Manager and the Business Analyst. In this presentation we will look at the past roles of the PM and BA, we will discuss how the IIBA view of BA work has significantly changed industry prospective on what a BA does and how this change has impacted PM / BA interaction. We will discuss how, as economic instability grew, the outsourcing trend, the continued mainstreaming of Agile methods, where the BA / PM fit into these changes. In the end we will discuss potential future outcomes and the skills and tools both BAs and PMs need to consider for 2012 and beyond.

Information for this presentation was gained through three years of salary surveys done by ASPE-SDLC on both the PM and BA roles, multiple customer interviews related to training and skills development, discussions with thought leaders, and reviewing trends in training courses requested and taken.

This presentation is not a technical deep dive, but a detailed and research analysis of direction of the PM and BA role based on industry requirements and economic realities.

Seminar Presenter:

David Mantica - David Mantica has more than 16 years of experience in business to business continuing education in executive, product management, marketing, and operations capacities. He has product managed the initiation, development and delivery of more than 300 instructor-led and live, online training courses, covering topics in the software development life cycle, IT, telecommunications, finance, healthcare IT, and marketing industries. David was instrumental in the development and delivery of the training industry's first voice over IP (VOIP)-enabled live, instructor-led training course for public consumption, and chaired CompTIA's Learning Alliance formulation committee. He was on the boards of the DSLcon, Frame Relaycon, STP Conferences and Raleigh Latin School and is currently on the board of IIOM (International Institute of Outsourced Management).

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

The newest generation to hit the workforce goes by many different names. The basic birth year bracket for this generation is 1982 – 1995 or 2000, depending on your source. The names include Generation Y, Millennial Generation, Generation Next, Net Generation, Echo Boomers and even the Peter Pan Generation.

Here is the kicker, this generation is HUGE and is needed to ensure continued economic growth. The Baby Boomer Generation is around 120M the X Generation is around 90M. We just don't have enough X Generation professionals to fill the leadership void being created by the Baby Boomer push to retirement. The Millenials will be quickly pushed into leadership positions over the next 10 years to fill this void.

This sounds much easier in writing than it is to actually do. This generation has a very specific demographic and motivation. In order to get the most out of your High Potential Millennials, you must have a detailed understanding of the characteristics of this generation and how best to support, motivate and lead this group to ensure they achieve their maximum potential.

In this 45 min web seminar, we will have two presenters. One is JT Moore, vice president of marketing at ASPE, Inc. JT is a Millennial in a leadership role. The other is David Mantica, president of ASPE Inc. with more than half of his team in the Millennial classification, David brings real-world experience on Millennial talent management.

JT and David will review and provide point / counter points on the following topics related to Millennial talent management:
• Very detailed look at Millennial characteristics including pros, cons and dispelling certain stereotypes
• Motivating Millennials in the work place, including issues on compensation, benefits, work/life balance
• Critical success discussion around empowering Millennial success through task assignment and work empowerment
• Finally a frank discussion of issues around discipline, corrective action, and feedback circles with Millennials

Whether you are a business analyst, project manager, IT manager or director, business manager or executive, you must understand how to properly drive the growth and development of your high-potential Millennials. Based on the significantly different characteristics of this generation, a detailed understanding is necessary for success. Or, as this generation is very willing to do, they will quickly leave and find something that does fit who they are.

Seminar Presenter:

David Mantica - David Mantica has more than 16 years of experience in business to business continuing education in executive, product management, marketing, and operations capacities. He has product managed the initiation, development and delivery of more than 300 instructor-led and live, online training courses, covering topics in the software development life cycle, IT, telecommunications, finance, healthcare IT, and marketing industries. David was instrumental in the development and delivery of the training industry's first voice over IP (VOIP)-enabled live, instructor-led training course for public consumption, and chaired CompTIA's Learning Alliance formulation committee. He was on the boards of the DSLcon, Frame Relaycon, STP Conferences and Raleigh Latin School and is currently on the board of IIOM (International Institute of Outsourced Management).

Seminar Description:

Many of today's project managers are finding themselves leading and managing Agile development teams, only to find that many of the tools and techniques applied when utilizing a traditional project management approach no longer work as effectively, or at all. In order to do more than survive in this iterative development environment, today's PM must employ additional project management tools and techniques to effectively lead their teams and deliver their projects. Learning how to transition from a traditional project manager to an effective Agile Project Manager is going to be an essential step for today's software development leaders to remain relevant. This hour long webinar will explore how today's PM can easily and successfully make the transition to an effective Agile PM.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

With head count down in most organizations business leaders have to continue to drive productivity. The challenge though is two fold.

1. Productivity gains will only go on for so long. New skills will have to be incorporated in order to maintain and especially increase productivity over time.
2. The short-term productivity is great. Over the long-term, however, driving productivity without some investment in innovation is a receipt for disaster.

With the jobless recovery, capital has been available for training staff, but the main issue has been time. It is near impossible for many to find time away from the office during regular business hours. As this trend continues, organizations will have to get more and more creative to find ways to provide the skills, tools, and technique enhancements their workers need to drive innovation and keep the productivity momentum going.

In this 45-min web seminar David Mantica, President of ASPE, Inc. will review service offerings we have created to help enterprise organizations reduce the time investment needed for skills development. Topics to be covered include:

• Today's Online training capabilities and how they rival the classroom training experience, while providing time, travel, and cost savings
• Coaching as a tool for productivity enhancement (the best on the job training tool available)
• Consulting to help augment team resources and plug holes
• Licensing options for content, and the Train the Trainer delivery
• Night time, weekend, and half-day course delivery

The Internet has become a fantastic tool for providing solid knowledge transfer in the form of e-learning and web seminars. In this session, we will review the innovative solutions ASPE has developed to provide real-world skills, tools and techniques training (not just knowledge transfer) in a more convenient way than standard face-to-face sessions.

Seminar Presenter:

David Mantica - David Mantica has more than 16 years of experience in business to business continuing education in executive, product management, marketing, and operations capacities. He has product managed the initiation, development and delivery of more than 300 instructor-led and live, online training courses, covering topics in the software development life cycle, IT, telecommunications, finance, healthcare IT, and marketing industries. David was instrumental in the development and delivery of the training industry's first voice over IP (VOIP)-enabled live, instructor-led training course for public consumption, and chaired CompTIA's Learning Alliance formulation committee. He was on the boards of the DSLcon, Frame Relaycon, STP Conferences and Raleigh Latin School and is currently on the board of IIOM (International Institute of Outsourced Management).

Seminar Description:

In any project development and delivery methodology there is a need to ensure the proper communication of status to the project's stakeholders. The need for this communication does not go away when utilizing an Agile approach, but it does change. In this web seminar we discuss the purpose of communicating status and how best to achieve that expected value through a different mechanism.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

It is here. Testing for the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner pilot started in September. With our leadership position in both Agile and Project Management, ASPE-SDLC feels uniquely qualified to provide this primer session to help you prepare yourself to obtain this certification. Many of our instructors have taken the exam and will receive their results soon.

• Application Requirements
• Fees
• Exam content overview
• Domains and tasks for Agile Certification
• Training options
• Where this certification fits with the Scrum Alliance certifications
• Q&A

Seminar Presenter:

David Mantica - David Mantica has more than 16 years of experience in business to business continuing education in executive, product management, marketing, and operations capacities. He has product managed the initiation, development and delivery of more than 300 instructor-led and live, online training courses, covering topics in the software development life cycle, IT, telecommunications, finance, healthcare IT, and marketing industries. David was instrumental in the development and delivery of the training industry's first voice over IP (VOIP)-enabled live, instructor-led training course for public consumption, and chaired CompTIA's Learning Alliance formulation committee. He was on the boards of the DSLcon, Frame Relaycon, STP Conferences and Raleigh Latin School and is currently on the board of IIOM (International Institute of Outsourced Management).

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

As teams constantly develop small incremental features by adding, modifying, refactoring, and re-designing existing software, many challenges emerges with each and every iteration. Among these challenges is ensuring previously delivered functionality is still correct and newly created functionality works as expected within a single iteration. Test Driven Development (TDD) can help address these issues with greater safety and confidence while supporting the team to create better quality software and simpler designs. TDD is built on a set of values that testing and quality are paramount, change is expected and both are constantly embraced.

In this web seminar, we will discuss these benefits, the TDD Cycle, how to get started and challenges facing teams adopting TDD.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

Agile Methods have taken software development by storm. Professionals are hoping to gain the efficiencies and quality that experts profess Agile methods provide. They are also looking for a higher quality working environment, including increased empowerment that Agile preaches. ASPE-SDLC and Davisbase consulting have taught over 10,000 professionals on Agile topics since 2006. To have a chance of success in Agile, you must learn what Agile really is and not what the evangelist, consulting firms, and tool vendors want you to know.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

As a business analyst, you are most likely highly organized, but without the planning tools and business analysis expectations; you may have the appearance of being disorganized in your plight to deliver effective requirements. If we do not pause to plan our work, it is as if you are trying to ride a bicycle before the wheels have been attached. You might be able to sit on the bike and think about where you want to go, but you won't get anywhere at all. In a rush to provide a solution, the problem still might not be resolved because users are still unskilled. So the cycle of design a solution, find a problem, design a solution, and find a problem just continues, with everyone who is involved still unhappy and unproductive.

Most organizations have identified productivity as a strategic goal for all employees. Business analysts can contribute by developing their plans and working toward the plans. We are challenged to deliver with speed, increased productivity & efficiency, and to help deliver a competitive advantage. Management will most likely press to complete the analysis phase quicker than possible. The plans will provide you the ammunition to discuss the options to meet aggressive timelines. This web seminar will give you some hints and tips for producing key business analysis plans. If you are currently in the role of a business analyst, or interface with business analysts, then this business analyst training web seminar is for you.

Seminar Presenter:

Billie Johnson - Billie Johnson, CBAP, has 20+ years of experience in the field of business analysis spanning financial, manufacturing, consulting, education, and government industries. As an early adopter of the IIBA® and CBAP® certification, she received her CBAP® certification in May 2007. The concepts, tasks, and techniques defined as good practice by the BABOK® are practices that have served her well in providing a structured approach to complex problems and opportunities. She is currently a Business Analysis Instructor/Coach/Mentor and enjoys furthering the field of business analysis by touching those in the field with tools to face their unique problems/opportunities for organizations today.

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

When a software development professional first hears about Agile, they are often initially incredulous that this type of approach can work due to a misperception that Agile simply means "no planning." This belief could not be further from the truth. Agile teams tend to plan more throughout the course of a project than a traditional approach, albeit in a different fashion than they may be accustomed to. Rather than planning once at the beginning of a project, Agile teams practice continuous planning throughout the project. This web seminar will explore the five Levels of Agile planning, and how they help teams ensure that teams are able to benefit from what they learn over the course of their development and delivery efforts.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

Prior to implementing Scrum, many of us are classically trained project managers. We are taught to master the tools and techniques of the profession. Unfortunately, many of us are not taught key leadership skills and we struggle to fulfill the purpose of the ScrumMaster role. When we manage, rather than lead, our teams can feel controlled and their productivity can suffer. We need to learn the core behaviors of a leader, so that we can help foster the kind of environment where hyper-productive Scrum teams can flourish. In this session we will examine the fundamentals of Agile Leadership as they apply to the ScrumMaster role.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

As companies work to migrate their software development approach from Waterfall to Agile, they often begin to discover that the limited set of tools offered by the Agile (or Scrum) framework alone do not satisfy organizational needs. Larger projects, more teams, and limited resources are often the hallmark and impetus to implement a Lean development approach where value streams and waste elimination drive the creation of better products, more profitable efforts, and fully utilized resource teams. In this web seminar we will discuss the process, function, and benefits of utilizing Kanban and Lean to streamline your efforts.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

In an effort to improve their planning efficiency, Agile teams utilize leaner, lighter written requirements to document the needs for their product. This approach allows teams to focus on creating effective, working software sooner, but also presents a challenge for these teams when they are required to effectively size their project work and predict when they will complete their development. In order to address this dilemma, Agile teams must employ an enhanced estimation technique that allows them to evaluate the level of effort required to deliver their product. This one hour webinar will discuss the method today's Agile teams use to solve the common problem of creating estimates when the complete set of requirements are not known.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

Although Agile has proven to provide incredible benefits in software development and delivery, it is not foolproof, nor a "Silver Bullet." Plenty of factors need to be considered before attempting this highly disciplined approach. Learn from the mistakes other organizations have made and discover which pitfalls to avoid to ensure that your first attempt at applying an Agile approach will be met with a successful outcome. This hour-long web seminar will explore these areas and provide clear steps your team and organization should consider to provide a clear set of tools to maximize the opportunity for best results possible.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.

Seminar Description:

One of the most important foundational components for effectively utilizing an Agile approach is the team retrospective, yet it is often poorly executed by teams, resulting in little to no value. Conducting an effective, efficient team retrospective isn't difficult, but many teams and Scrum Masters forget to focus on a few key areas essential for an effective forum. This hour long webinar will share with you the secrets employed by successful Agile teams and great Scrum Masters in their mission for continuous, incremental improvement.

Seminar Presenter:

DavisBase

Attendees will receive 1 PDU for this web seminar.