Agile and Beyond 2016

Agile methodology is rightfully focused on developing software that delights users with enjoyable and productive user experiences, pleasant user interfaces and unparalleled ease of use. But how do we simultaneously delight our CEOs and other stakeholders that support and fund our projects, but may not necessarily ever use our software? After all, those who are footing the bill are ultimately much more concerned with reducing costs, increasing productivity and maximizing profitability than they are with delightful user experiences. The answer lies in extending the tenets of agile (continuous improvement, reduction of wasteful processes, etc.) to the enterprise business processes that our software supports. We all know that every application is in place to facilitate a set of core processes that help the business achieve some key objective (e.g., raw materials to finished goods, order to cash, purchase to payment, etc.). All too often though, we use our expertise to deliver systems that support established organizational processes without questioning the soundness and efficiency of those processes. In doing so, we often fail to identify and capitalize on opportunities to improve processes and workflows that would have an incredible impact on productivity and profitability. If we accept the responsibility to question the status quo of the core business processes that impact our system (via inputs, outputs, data flows, integration points, etc.), we have a much better chance of driving the kinds of efficiencies that will make our business sponsors eager to green-light projects. This session focuses on extending the agile mission from simply the delivery of delightful software to the delivery of delightful (and much more profitable) business processes. In doing so, we create a scenario where the agile practitioner becomes the Continuous Improvement/Process Engineering function that so many organizations lack, but sorely need. Even more importantly, we will drive efficiencies that maximize the value and ROI that we deliver to our organizations – and delight our CEO’s and key stakeholders in the process.