Presentation: "Scaling Agile into the Enterprise"

Time: Thursday 17:15 - 18:15

Location: Cornell

Abstract:

It is one thing to scale Agile practices up to a large, distributed team. That is hard. But, to scale Agile and Lean principles and practices upward and outward into the whole enterprise is an entirely different matter. What we have found is a stark and forbidding truth: an Agile team in a non-Agile enterprise will not long survive.

What does it take to align an organization to Agile and Lean principles and practices? What are the dimensions of the problem? What are some of the approaches and practices that have been demonstrated to work? What are some of the patterns of how things can go horribly, horribly wrong? Will you have any hair left when you are done? These are the subjects that we will explore.

Mark Ferraro, Valtech

 Mark  Ferraro

Mark Ferraro is a transformation practitioner with Valtech. He has a decade and a half of information technology experience from many aspects of the software development value stream. He is focused on applying and helping others across the enterprise to apply industry-recognized Agile-Lean and other best practices that enable teams to meet and exceed business objectives. Cultivating and growing effective Communities of Practice (CoP) is his preferred approach to achieve enterprise transformations and installing lasting change. This approach establishes a setting for rapid adoption, continuous improvement, increased productivity, organizational learning, and high employee morale. He is committed to working with individuals, teams, and organizations to identify and implement the essential elements necessary to reach their full potential and sustain a competitive advantage.

He has also designed and developed training solutions for certification, skills development, and knowledge transfer. He has delivered these solutions using the traditional classroom setting, as a conference speaker, and by using multimedia/web asynchronous techniques. He is a Certified Usability Analyst (CUA), and a Certified Business Analyst (CBA). Additionally, he holds a graduate certificate in Adult Education/Training and Development, and an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems.