Archive for the ‘Agile’ Category

Business Analysis for Business Intelligence

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Over the past few years, I’ve spoken to user groups to share my experiences working with use cases, scenarios, and user acceptance tests in support of data warehousing and Business Intelligence (BI) BI analysis. Afterwards, many people ask me to summarize my recommendations. In response, I wrote a short article – Requirements Tips for Data Centric Projects. You can access it here (note: you may have to register).

In my article, I focus on analyzing the context of usage. In addition, remember this: to elicit, analyze, and specify requirements in this space, almost all of the time-tested data-centric techniques are still necessary.

People often asked me for additional tips and advice. What additional considerations for business analysis for BI? Continue reading

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Best Books for Software Developers

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

This winter, SD Times editor Jennifer deJong Lent asked me to contribute an SD Times article on recommended books for developers. Jennifer and I agreed my list would exclude books about languages, databases or IDEs. I was pleased to contribute.

Jennifer begins her article with the following: “With the proliferation of online articles and ebooks, old-fashioned paper books seem not to have a place in today’s world. Many experts, however, still find useful things in paperbacks and hardcovers. From technology to people and team management, these books still help developers out today. Here are what the experts recommend.” Continue reading

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Power Up Your Agile Planning & Analysis

Friday, November 18th, 2011

I’m pleased to share my podcast with Jochen (Joe) Krebs*, Founder of Agile NYC. The podcast was recorded on October 11, 2011, just before my presentation to the Agile NYC group.

The presentation, entitled, Power Up Your Agile Planning and Analysis:

Deliver Value via Structured Conversations describes how product stakeholders partner to develop a shared understanding of the product needs. I discuss how the partners gain a focused yet holistic understanding of the highest-value requirements and plan the project so that the delivery team builds the right product, at the right time. Continue reading

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Collaboration Works: Ingredients for Successful Workshops

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

I’m honored to share my podcast with Yaaqub (Yamo) Mohamed of The BACoach. We discuss ingredients for effective requirements workshops described in my first book, Requirements by Collaboration: Workshops for Defining Needs.

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Agile 2011: Top 7 Agile Highlights and Trends

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

The tenth anniversary of the international Agile 20xx conference, Agile 2011, returned to its inaugural location, Salt Lake City, Utah. The attendance set a record for being the largest agile conference in the world! This year’s conference, held August 9-12 2011, was attended by 1,600+ people. It was jam-packed with morning-to-night activities. The conference also included events to reflect and celebrate on the 10th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto.

We at EBG Consulting were pleased to have been selected (from over 900 submissions) to present three sessions. Here are some of highlights and trends:

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Reflecting on My Personal Learning Journey

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011


I’m pleased to share with you an “author cast,” a podcast interview of me by Yaaqub (Yamo) Mohamed of The BACoach.

Yamo’s interview got me thinking and reflecting on my own professional learning journey and dig into the two books I’ve written (so far ;-) ). Continue reading | 1 Comment

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Agile Requirements Exploration with Tester Collaboration

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Janet Gregory, co-author with Lisa Crispin of Agile Testing, on a workshop entitled “Agile Requirements Exploration with Tester Collaboration” at Agile 2011 Conference and STARWEST.

I believe that there is a lot of cross-fertilization benefit to be gained when people with skills in different disciplines collaborate closely toward shared ends. This is very true for the disciplines of testing and business analysis. The tester mind-set is crucial for verifying requirements. The business analysis mind-set is crucial for validating requirements. Continue reading | 1 Comment

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This Week’s Business Analysis and Requirements Workshop: 2 Days of Learning in Las Vegas

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

I was recently interviewed by SearchSoftwareQuality editor Yvette Francino about this week’s Business Analysis and Requirements Workshop at the Better Conference/Development Conference this week in Las Vegas, Nevada (6-7 June, 2011).

Yvette asked me to explain the logistics, if we would be emulating gathering requirements for a particular project and if the workshop be relevant regardless of domain area. Here are my answers: As conference chair, Continue reading | 1 Comment

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The Product Partnership: Using Structured Conversations to Deliver Value

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

In a prior blog post, you learned about the in-progress book Mary Gorman and I are writing. We are thrilled to have our workshop proposal for the Agile 2011 Conference accepted. The workshop will incorporates elements of our book. Here’s our YouTube video on The Product Partnership submission. Continue reading | 1 Comment

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Are Your Software Development Practices Jumping the Shark?

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

By Ellen Gottesdiener and Mary Gorman

In September 1977, the TV sitcom Happy Days had über-hip Fonzie, clad in leather jacket and swimshorts, water ski over a shark to prove his mettle—and at that moment even diehard fans knew that the show was past its prime. They were right. After that episode, ratings plummeted, and the expression “Jumping the Shark” was born. When a TV show, or anything else, jumps the shark, you know it’s on its way out.

Our question this month: have any of your software development practices jumped the shark?

For example, are there boundaries around people’s roles? Some organizations tend to confine people to roles such as developer, architect… Continue reading

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