Implementing a Strategy for Excellence

Implementing a Strategy for Excellence

The January 2023 tech talk was presented by Seemin Suleri

Abstract

In our pursuit of excellence, we built a strategy that matched the ambition of a competitive e-commerce business. The problem was, where do we start the work: A struggling software department with high attrition and low engagement, a software system that was falling apart, a monolith that was hard to break away from. This talk covers how the real work was done on the ground to achieve great results. It also gives practical advice on where to find tools that enable you to measure the effectiveness of the strategy. For anyone who is tasked with bringing a vision to reality, this talk is packed with ideas that generated high performance, high engagement, and better quality products 40 times faster.

About the Presenter 

Seemin Suleri

Seemin is an agent for change in a competitive digital world. Specializing in building and leading high-performance self-organizing teams, she has enabled businesses to transform their cultural and technological landscape. She has a real passion for Agile and continuous improvement. Currently working as Head of Engineering for 288 Group Ltd, she is leading the company’s systems transformation effort to meet the demands of the ever-evolving and competitive market.

She is a mum of two energetic preschoolers, and is passionate about flexibility and inclusion in teams to allow people from all backgrounds to succeed. She has led a number of initiatives to increase the representation of women in software, and is always interested in the human element in organizational success. She is an enthusiastic individual with a background in both software engineering and project management, coupled with the ability to operate within an array of engineering disciplines to unblock flow and get the job done.

How to Increase Team Performance : A Tale of Two Teams

How to Increase Team Performance : A Tale of Two Teams

The June 2022 tech talk was presented by Seemin Suleri

Abstract:

This is a story of two software teams: one in a large blue-chip corporate environment and another in a small company. This is a tale of how people came together to face challenges and show incredible results and achievement. It will also show how we managed to create an environment with our limitations to foster creativity by creating strong foundations. For people who are in established software teams or just about to start their journey, there is a little bit to take away in their own journey to mastery.

About the Presenter 

Seemin Suleri

Seemin is an ambassador of iterative and continuous delivery practices. She has a real passion for Agile and continuous improvement. Currently working as Head of Engineering at 288 Group, she is leading the company’s systems transformation effort to meet the demands of the ever-evolving and competitive digital landscape.

Seemin is a software engineer at heart, with experience in both software development and project management. She is an advocate of enabling a culture that allows autonomous teams to succeed in delivery.

She is a mum of two toddlers, and is passionate about flexibility and inclusion in software teams to allow people from all backgrounds to succeed. She has led a number of initiatives to increase the representation of women in software, and is always interested in the human element in organizational success.

Designing and Launching Secure Software Development Degree Apprenticeships Partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Panel Session

Designing and Launching Secure Software Development Degree Apprenticeships Partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Panel Session

The May 2022 tech talk was presented by Diana Elliott, Girish Seshagiri, and Nikunja Swain

About the Session

Currently, in the U.S. over one million software developer positions and 600,000 cybersecurity occupations are unfilled due to the lack of available skilled job seekers. At the same time, the percentage of women, minorities and veterans in technology professions continues to be low. In this panel discussion, we describe how a consortium of South Carolina Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is partnering with SC employers to design and launch IT and cybersecurity degree apprenticeship cohorts in fall 2022. The panelists will provide a status update of the exemplar government/industry/academic collaboration which will result in career pathways to technology jobs for cyber security and computer science graduates of HBCUs. The panelists will discuss the requirements of DOL Registered Apprenticeship Program which is a high-quality vocational training model with standard work process including 2,000 hours of on-the-job training and 61 academic credit hours. The panelists will present how the HBCU consortium colleges mapped cybersecurity and computer science degree curricula to National Initiative Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework competencies for developing software which is secure from cyber-attacks.

About the Presenters

Diana Elliott is a senior fellow in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute. Her work focuses on families’ financial security and economic mobility and the programs and policies that support them, including apprenticeships. Elliott is the director of several apprenticeship projects at Urban, including the Apprenticeship Expansion and Modernization Fund, which launched over 1500 apprentices into tech occupations. Prior to Urban, Elliott was a research manager at the Pew Charitable Trusts and a family demographer at the US Census Bureau. Elliott holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Girish Seshagiri Founder/CEO of Nonprofit Apprenticeship Implementation Solutions, Inc is an early adopter of the apprenticeship dual model. Under his leadership, the Community Initiative Center of Excellence for Secure Software (CICESS) was launched in Peoria, Illinois in 2015. CICESS received the 2018 Innovation in Cybersecurity Education Award given by the National Cyberwatch Center. Girish is currently focused on government/industry/academic collaboration partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to design and launch IT and Cybersecurity degree apprenticeship cohorts. Girish is the immediate past co-chair of the NICE Apprenticeship Working Group. Girish has an MBA from Michigan State University.

Nikunja Swain is a professor, department chair, and executive director of center of excellence in cybersecurity at South Carolina State University. Dr. Swain has over 35 years of college level teaching experience and he is a registered professional engineer in South Carolina. Dr. Swain has over 70 conference/journal publications, and number of grants from NSF, DOE, USDA/NIFA, DOD, and others. Dr. Swain is a life senior member of IEEE, a professional member of ACM, a member of SIGITE, and ASEE.

Changing the Engines without Landing the Plane

Changing the Engines without Landing the Plane

The January 2022 tech talk was presented by Robert Bentall

Abstract:

Technical debt is like adding useless ballast to a speeding jet. It just slows everything down. Yet, in most environments, technical debt reduction, infrastructure upgrades, and process improvement usually take second place to other, “more important” stuff. But without these enhancements, productivity will drop and projects will grind to a halt. 

This talk will cover the most important lessons I have learned working on projects in a range of different industry sectors and organizations.

About the Presenter 

Robert Bentall is Principal Software Engineer at Martin-Baker Aircraft Company, where he leads the Software Team. Prior to this, he worked for Schlumberger Oilfield UK PLC as a software engineer.

SAFe vs. Reality: How Will We Solve the Conflict?

SAFe vs. Reality: How Will We Solve the Conflict?

The June 2021 tech talk was presented by Francisco Javier Ruvalcaba Moya

Abstract:

SAFe is the new standard in the software industry; you must code faster.” “You already implemented SAFe, so why are you delaying the release?” Multiple questions appear when SAFe is going to be implemented, but how do we make people understand that SAFe is not a cure-all? Is it clear to all that SAFe is just a tool, and that what is important is how to apply it? We’ll explore a few stories about this issue and give multiple examples on how to improve with SAFe support.

About the Presenter 

Francisco Ruvalcaba Moya  Francisco holds a Master’s degree in Intelligent Multimedia Systems. He is lead of staff software at Continental Automotive Guadalajara with 11+ years of experience in ID devices and car access systems; he is also a Scrum Master, certified in SAFe 5.0 and formerly SW PO in SAFe 4.6.