Being an officer in the local AITP chapter and Software Process Improvement organization, I am excited about this new forum. My focus will tend to be very broad and process oriented... with influence from Agile, Lean, SEI, UP/RUP, developer, engineering, real-life data center, and ITSM vantage points.

One key consideration in my view is a need to have support mechanisms driven by business needs - that is, to have the value stream come first - with processes, problem solving, data gathering, tools, and compliance/governance mechanisms aligned to support the business. If you do not start from this perspective, I think you run the risk of making business processes fit tools and frameworks - instead of the business itself. Processes should make business value flow; compliance, solid metrics and decision support, risk management, and such ideally are secondary or background - or perhaps side effects of following the processes.

A second consideration - which maybe should be my first - is the people. Tools and frameworks exist to improve their results... Smart change management is gradual, and it is best to leverage the good in people, to engage them by soliciting their input, to communicate openly, to leverage their ideas. Control is an illusion... external control will not take good people much further; Reaching out to them - and creating a culture of excellence, mutual respect, and challenge.. is the foundation for strong, world class achievement... and profitability.

Score: 9.3, Votes: 3