Due to its ongoing rise in popularity 'Agile' methods are now being used on a wide range of projects, varying in size and complexity. As a result it's not uncommon for key project areas, like development, testing, UX, etc to be outsourced to 'on' and 'off-shore' companies. And although the decision to outsource is sometimes the right one for a project, outsourcing also comes with its own inherent risks. Using real world examples based on personal experience, Ade Shokoya will be sharing the do's and don'ts of agile outsourcing. Attendees will leave this session knowing how to identify and avoid the common outsourcing problems that could quickly derail your agile projects - and potentially cost you your job. Armed with this knowledge you'll be better positioned to improve your personal power and influence at work, and achieve your career objectives.

What do poker, Greek oracles, an Italian mathematician from the Middle Ages, and the path of hurricanes have in common? Given the title of this presentation, chances are it has something to do with estimation, and you'll have to attend this session to get the full connection. Kent McDonald explores the challenges and realities of trying to estimate software-related knowledge work-analysis, testing, development, and the entire project effort. A major challenge is that there are no guaranteed ways to arrive at perfectly accurate estimates, which not surprisingly is why they are called estimates. Kent introduces and gives you a chance to practice quick and practical estimating techniques that will work in different situations-guesstimating, break it down and add it up, and planning poker.

Too often we focus only on the latest headline-grabbing processes and products. While recognizing that we must respond to ever-changing business needs, deep down we know we must live by a few absolutes as we approach our daily work. At the core is a standard of ethical conduct that we always uphold. With an ethical underpinning, we will earn the trust and respect of our peers and those we serve. Jackie Pulley presents a framework for professional ethics within the IT development profession, including key practices from her experiences gained during more than twenty years in IT software development. Drawing on the PMI ethics standards, her personal lessons learned, and conversations with other leaders, Jackie offers a thought-provoking session for C-Level executives, freshly degreed software developers, and everyone in between.

Counting is easy. However, what makes measurement really valuable-and really hard to get right-is knowing what to count and what to do with the results. If your organization is mostly tracking resource usage, costs, and schedule data, it is making a big mistake. What about the users? The customers? The overall business strategy? Sharing the lessons he has learned from fighting-and surviving-many software measurement battles, Ed Weller offers a step-by-step approach for implementing a practical and valuable metrics program. After understanding what measures are most important to the business strategy and all stakeholders, the next step is to decide what data supports those measures and how to capture it. With data in hand, you can create simple and informative ways to make the resulting metrics visible and easy to digest. The biggest challenges-avoidance, disbelief, and rationalization-come next.