Mary DeFoe (Integral Process Solutions), Measurement, the Elephant in the Room (Perceptions, Mistakes and Mitigation for Measurement Programs)

December 4, 2008

Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, EE/CS 3-111

Twin-SPIN
For the Minneapolis/St. Paul Regional Area

Meeting   Announcement:

Thursday
December 4th, 2008
5:30-8:00 p.m. at The University of Minnesota
5:30 start for networking, 6:15 start of meeting.

 

EE/CS Building
Room EE/CS 3-111 (Look for signs)
Minneapolis, MN

  

Directions:   
A map is available at http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/EE/CSci/
Check out the detailed map under the “close up” button.

This Month’s Meeting:

Program Manager: Dick Hedger – Quality Software Technologies

Topic: “Measurement, the Elephant in the Room

  (Perceptions, Mistakes and Mitigation for Measurement Programs)”

Speaker: Mary DeFoe – Integral Process Solutions

Abstract: 

Presentation at http://www.integralprocesssolutions.com/pdfs/elephant.pdf

Many companies struggle with building and maintaining effective measures for their IT organization and specifically their software development process.  Companies seek ways to improve return on investment, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction and/or reduce operating costs.  The question is “Where do I start?” and “How do I ensure ongoing success for a measurement program?”

In this pursuit, frequently companies will start down the measurement path without understanding how to make their measurement activities successful.  Some will start by collecting only data that is available.  This information is put into reports that are distributed; however the information may not receive the proper attention or be perceived as helpful.  When receiving reports, readers push them aside and at some point, someone asks the question “Why are these reports produced?”  When no one knows, the reporting stops and the process is thrown away.  Does this sound familiar?

There is a great old tale that you may be familiar with called the Elephant and the Blind Men.  This tale can help us understand the parallels and difficulties in developing a successful measurement story based upon various perspectives.

The presentation will include measurement success factors, benefits, and steps in the measurement life cycle, industry measurement guidance, and sample charts that use some of the industry recommended measures.

Speaker Bio:

Mary DeFoe, CSQA, and Principal of Integral Process Solutions, has 20+ years of Information Technology (IT) experience.  The last 13 years have been in management, project management, and leading Project Management Organizations (PMO’s), process improvement initiatives, and quality assurance & quality control organizations. 

Ms. DeFoe has many years of hands-on experience in the following industries: retail, insurance, financial, and legal.  She has successfully managed and prepared organizations to achieve the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) Level 2 and Level 3 and is a CMMI enthusiast.  Over 500 IT professionals have been trained by Mary on project management and quality principles.   In addition, she has successfully established infrastructures for PMO’s, quality process teams, testing center functions and software measurement programs. 

Academically, Ms. DeFoe has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management Information Systems, a Masters in Project Management and is a Certified Software Quality Analyst.  She is also a member of the Software Engineering Institute, the Project Management Institute, and TwinSPIN.

Twin-SPIN Mission Statement:
The Twin-SPIN software process improvement network  (SPIN) is a regional organization established in January of 1996 as a   forum for the free and open exchange of software process improvement   experiences and ideas. Representatives from industry, government, academia, other professional organizations, and consultants are welcome to participate. Our mission is to help sustain commitment and enhance skills in the area of software process improvement through an active program of networking and mutual support. The organization strives to serve as a source of educational and experiential information for its members, other SPIN organizations, and the general community of software professionals.  

Meetings are normally held on the 1st Thursday of each month from 5:45-8:00 p.m. Twin-SPIN is a non-profit organization and is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Center for Software Engineering (UMSEC).  See: http://twin-spin.cs.umn.edu

2008 Sponsors:

Facility Sponsor 
University of Minnesota, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

$2,000 Sponsors 
University of Minnesota Software Engineering Center (UMSEC)
$600 Sponsors 

General Dynamics – AIS

$500 Sponsors

Vital Images

$400 Sponsors

International Institute of Software Process

$200 Sponsors

BenchmarkQA

Goodrich Aerospace

Open Systems International

$100 Sponsors

Fissure

Glewwe Castle Brewery

Integral Process Solutions

Quality Software Technologies

            Trissential