Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 132!

SPaMCAST 132 features my interview with Bill Bentley discussing the book he co-authored "Lean Six Sigma Secrets for the CIO".  We covered the gamut of process improvement with emphasis on six sigma, lean and the combination of the two techniques.

Bill Bentley is the owner and president of www.value-train.com,  a training and consulting business.  His Atlanta area company was started in 2002 and provides quantitative process improvement training to the public via open enrollment courses, and to corporations via in-house courses.  The company also provides consulting services.  Primary topics include Six Sigma, Lean and applied quantitative methods.  Bill has an MSEE from Rensselaer, substantial further education and training, and has nearly completed his MBA in Finance and Management.

Bill is a pro at solving tough real-world business and technical problems, first as a control systems engineer with Procter & Gamble out of school, later in increasingly responsible management roles with P&G, Frito-Lay, Nabisco and Rockwell.  His employers have been manufacturers of food, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, electronic instrumentation and software and his corporate assignments included engineering, operations management, sales and business turnarounds.  Bill’s executive positions have included Director of Technology of an instrument manufacturing company, General Manager of an engineering company and President and CEO of a software company. 

Starting from nothing, Bill has built his company into a respectable business with a national reputation with thousand of graduates and hundreds of corporations served.  Value-Train is an authorized State training provider in Georgia, Massachusetts and Texas. 

Bill is a sailor and also enjoys riding the Georgia Mountains on his motorcycle.

Contact Information:
Email:  valuetrain@gmail.com
Web:    www.value-train.com

Shameless Ad for my book!

Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team."
 
Have you bought your copy?

Contact information for the Software Process and Measurement Cast
Email:  spamcastinfo@gmail.com
Voicemail:  +1-206-888-6111
Website: www.spamcast.net
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Next!
SPaMCAST 133 will dip back into the Metrics Minute with an article on burnup charts.  We will be burning up the pobsphere on this one!

Software Process and Measurement
Show 13!

Six Month Anniversary

Show Thirteen features an interview with Gary Gack on Lean Six Sigma.   The interview is phenomenal!  Gary is the founder of Process-Fusion.net and holds an MBA from the Wharton School.  He is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. In addition an ASQ Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE), a Visiting Scientist with the Software Engineering Institute where he co-authored the "Measuring for Performance Driven Improvement 1" course for which he is an authorized instructor, and he holds the ITIL Foundation Certification. He has more than 40 years of diverse experience in the software and IT industry, including more than 20 years focused on process improvement.  Gary can be reach by email at ggack@Process-Fusion.net or by phone at (904) 579-1894.

The essay for this cast is titled, “Achieving Balance in Outsourcing Governance.""  The text of this commentary can be found at my personal blog, www.tcagley.wordpress.com.

Remember that comments and feedback are welcome! 

There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . . 

Email SPaMCAST at         spamcastinfo@gmail.com

Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111

Twitter – www.twitter.com/tcagley

It is my intent to share all emails and voice messages! 

Future Events:

On August 23 I will present a DCG / CAI Webinar: titled Measure Twice, Implement Once at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM EDT .  See http://www.davidconsultinggroup.com/news/calendar.aspx for details.

In September, I will  be presenting ‘Life on the Edge: Counting Weird Things on the Web’ on Thursday September 13th at 11:20 at the International Software Measurement and Analysis Conference in Las Vegas.  The conference and workshops run from Sunday September 9 througth the 14th.  Details are available at http://www.ifpug.org/educational/workshopagenda2007.htm

Next Software Process and Measurement Cast:

The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features an interview with M.A. Parthasarathy, Mr. Parthasarathy is the author of Practical Software Estimation which was recently published by Addison Wesley.  It is interviews like this that remind of why I started SPaMCAST. I enjoyed the discussion and you will get a ton out of it. 

SPaMCAST Four features an interview with Stasia Iwanicki of the David Consulting Group (www.davidconsultinggroup.com).    Stasia can be reach at s.iwanicki@davidconsultinggroup.com.  Stasia and host, Tom Cagley, discuss the how the CMMI and Six Sigma interact. 

The discussion provides information for organization to decide which model makes sense and whether they can be applied at the same time.  The discussion touched on the issue of whether a craft or factory model is healthier as a model for an information technology organizations in the 21st century.  I believe the topic foreshadows its own mud wrestle in the future.  Thoughts?

The essay in this cast is titled 'Models, Models Everywhere . . .'  The essay challenges you to clearly understand why you are using any model and to evaluate the value.  Implementing a model for the sake of model is a loosing proposition.  The essay leaves you with the question, 'models, models, everywhere . . . a powerful tool or a straight jacket?' Which is it for you?

Next Cast:
SPaMCAST Five will be released on March 25th and will feature an interview with Ian Brown of Booz Allen Hamilton.  The interview will focus on the conundrum we call estimation.  This cast will be the first in an arc of discussion on the topic of estimation.

Future Events
In April I will be presenting and teaching a workshop at the IFPUG Spring Workshops and Functional Sizing Summit (www.ifpug.org).  The workshop titled Counting New Medias:  Blogs, WIKIs, Podcasts and Second Life will be a truly hands class wrestling with sizing media and the tools used to create it. The IFPUG Spring Workshops and Functional Sizing Summit will be held Sunday, April 22 until Thursday, April 26, 2007 at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel in Vancouver, Canada.  Information is available at www.ifpug.org.  If you are attending let me know and will see about a friends of SPaMCAST gathering.

On June 21 at 3 PM I will  be presenting When Good Numbers Go Bad at Better Software 2007 in Las Vegas.  The conference and workshops run from Monday June 18 though Thursday June 21 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.  Information is available at http://www.sqe.com/bettersoftwareconf/  If you are attending let me know.

Finally remember that Will McKnight will be speaking at SEPG this year March 26 through 29 in Austin.  Information is available  at www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/2007/

 Comments, Rants and Raves?
Your comments, questions and rants are appreciated and will help to facilitate a dialog and build the community.  Let me know the topics you would like have covered and people you would like interviewed. Get involved! Contact SPAMCast at SPAMcastinfo@gmail.com