CAMUG November Meeting

This is the Official CAMUG November 2007 meeting.

In this third meeting of the season, Michael Vax brings us "Benefits and Challenges of Agile in a Distributed Environment".

With a wider adaptation of Agile processes, teams practicing Agile Development are getting larger and more distributed.

Agile process was not necessary created as a solution for distributed development, but the risks of distributed and offshore development can be effectively mitigated using Agile practices. By use of these techniques, multi-site development teams, especially those working on dynamic and complex development projects in multiple time zones, overcome frequent challenges encountered in distributed environments, and greatly increase efficiencies. Specific examples will be used to illustrate:

1. The typical challenges associated with distributed development

2. How Agile practices minimize risks in a distributed environment

3. Which Agile practices need to be modified for distributed teams

4. How to avoid typical mistakes in a multi-site environment

5. Why the distributed Agile approach works better than the distributed waterfall approach for dynamic, complex projects

This presentation is based on a personal experience in using Agile process with teams distributed between multiple locations and time zones.

Bio:

Michael Vax has spent more than 20 years in software development. During his career, he has worked as a developer, an architect, a development manager, a VP of Development, and a CTO.

Currently the CEO of Luxoft Canada, Michael is managing Luxoft’s development center in Vancouver. Luxoft is a global software development company headquartered in Russia, with offices in the US, Canada, UK, and Ukraine. Its clients include world leaders in the IT, manufacturing, energy, financial services, and aerospace industries as well as smaller independent software vendors and product houses.

Prior joining Luxoft, Michael was the Vice President of Product Development at WebCT - one of the world's leading providers of e-learning systems, which are used by thousands of colleges and universities in more than 70 countries worldwide. At WebCT Michael was managing a 100+ person product development department, with offices in Vancouver and Boston.

Michael is a member of Agile Alliance and certified SCRUM Master. As one of organizers of Agile Vancouver, he is actively promoting Agile software development in Canada. A frequent speaker at industry related conferences, Michael speaks and writes on distributed Agile and functional test-driven development. He was recently a key note speaker at International Conference on Global Software Engineering in Munich.

Location: ICT 122, ICT Building, University of Calgary

Time: 18:00-18:30 (warmup: juice & snacks), 18:30 - 19:30