2011 Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference

Mark your calendars for the 2011 Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference in Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday 2011-APR-16. (www.GLSEC.org)!

I invite you and your colleagues to the 2011 GLSEC. This year’s conference focuses on Competitive Innovation. Come learn from top business and IT thought-leaders from all over the Midwest as they address critical aspects for attaining software excellence, from business strategy and enterprise architecture, and from hiring practices to test-driven development and embedded engineering.

Noted consultants and authors Johanna Rothman and Rex Black are the keynote speakers:

Johanna Rothman is a management consultant for software managers and leaders. She helps clients identify and solve the problems that prevent them from releasing systems, hiring the right people, or even deciding which project to work on next. She takes a pragmatic approach and customizes a solution that will work best for you and your organization. Her keynote is titled “Thriving in a Competitive Marketplace”.

Rex Black has over a quarter-century of software and systems engineering experience. He is the president and principal consultant of RBCS, Inc and is a leader in software, hardware, and systems testing. His popular book, “Managing the Testing Process”, has sold over 40,000 copies around the world, including Japanese, Chinese, and Indian releases. His keynote is titled “The Future of Test Management”.

I will present “Attaining Business-Oriented Software Excellence”:

ABSTRACT:
Software excellence goes beyond mere technical ideals and measures. Software, as with all information technology (IT), must serve and enable the business, and must do so cost effectively. This establishes the context, boundaries, and rationale for any meaningful definition and measure of software excellence. But how do companies attain such business-oriented software excellence?
Framed in the context of global change, market forces, and technology advance, this presentation explores our understanding and misconceptions regarding the role of software in enabling and automating business. It examines case study successes and failures in creating software solutions.
This presentation describes how enterprise architecture aligns IT with the business strategy and optimizes IT investments; translating and demarcating the context, rationale, and boundaries for software excellence. It explains the essential enterprise architecture mechanisms for achieving alignment, and attaining business-oriented software excellence. The provided checklist allows you to gauge how well your company utilizes enterprise architecture, and recommends specific action steps you can take to help your company attain business-oriented software excellence.

Conference Details:
2011 Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference
Saturday, April 16, 2011 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM (Eastern Time)
Prince Conference Center at Calvin College
1800 E. Beltline SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA
www.GLSEC.org

Finally, I invite you to share this message with your colleagues and contacts; especially those business professionals who are directors, executives, managers, and supervisors. This conference will help them get more business value from their IT investments and software portfolios.

I look forward to seeing you at the 2011 Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference.

Finding Value in Cloud Computing – Part 2: Business-IT Alignment

Increasingly, business are insisting that the information technology (IT) function lead innovation of business practices and contribute to increased revenue generation. “If IT still thinks of itself as something that keeps the lights on, it is limiting its potential. Today, business wants IT to lead the way and show how to: Acquire more customers, enhance customer experience and keep employees happy.” __CIO.com, ‘2011 Non-tech Prediction: Business-IT Alignment’, 2011_JAN-19, (http://www.cio.in/article/2011-non-tech-prediction-business-it-alignment)

The Cloud computing paradigm can help organizations transform the role of the IT function and ensure that it meets these goals. Many organizations are using Cloud computing to deliver services to their customer in ways not previously practical. Additionally, the Cloud computing paradigm is enabling organizations to offer new services and improved pricing to their customers. General Electric (GE), for example, leveraged Cloud computing to greatly improve its global supply chain and e-procurement capabilities. __CIO.com, ‘GE CIO Gets His Head in the Cloud for New SaaS Supply Chain App’, 2009-JAN-22, (http://www.cio.com/article/477499/GE_CIO_Gets_His_Head_in_the_Cloud_for_New_SaaS_Supply_Chain_App)

__ Joseph Starwood (www.linkedin.com/in/JosephStarwood)

The Times They Are a-Changin' __ Bob Dylan

Are you an ‘IT professional’? Are you sure about that?

In We’re Not in IT Anymore, an executive survey results analysis, the Corporate Executive Board “…predicts that three out of every four IT roles will either migrate to business services, evolve into business roles, or will be externalized by 2015.” (http://www.executiveboard.com/it/pdf/The_Future_of_Corporate_IT.pdf)

Those who have followed my postings know my position: professionals in the IT department are business professionals who know and apply information technology for the benefit of the business! So the results from this survey come as no surprise.

However, the implications are profound. The pace of change will be rapid and far-reaching. According to the Corporate Executive Board “…we are embarking on one of the most significant changes to corporate IT in years.” Some challenges are predictable. Organizational change will place great stress on change management functions and maturity, on Human Resource services, and on individual professionals in existing IT departments.

The Enterprise Architectures within these changing organizations will also be under great stress; testing the robustness, flexibility, and maturity. As Enterprise Architects, we must aid our executives in preparing for this significant change. Our efforts to achieve Business-IT Alignment, between the Business Operating Model and the IT Operating Model (IT Vision), will support a smoother transition.

At “Integrate 2010: Uniting the World of IT”, a two-day conference in Cleveland, Benku Thomas, Nour Laaroubi, and I will present a model for establishing Business-IT Alignment through Enterprise Architecture. (http://gcle.itsmfusa.org/?q=content/integrate-2010) We also show how to bridge the chasm between strategic and tactical; that is between the Enterprise Architecture and the IT initiatives (Portfolio projects and Asset enhancements).

__ Joseph Starwood (www.JosephStarwood.com)