EL SIG will be hosting a Holiday Party on December 15 in SAP Building 2 (3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA). Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Another year is coming to an end. As we look back on another year rich in relationships and EL SIG event memories we'd like to invite you to join us for our last event of 2012. Our fabulous December event sponsors, Project Connections, Agile Learning Labs, and Tom Delora, have contributed to cover the cost of our holiday party and EL SIG Community Feedback Exercise.
Ongoing Management Sponsor:
Project Connections is our EL SIG Management Sponsor.
ProjectConnections.com is dedicated to practically and affordably supporting individuals as they do their jobs day-to-day and helping them grow their management abilities and careers. We also provide management development and support resources to organizations, through group subscriptions, methodology content licenses, on-demand virtual training programs, virtual coaching, and more - all to help managers improve how critical project work gets done, and to help grow the capabilities of everyone on their staffs and teams.
Attendance Verification Available:
Please ask an SDForum registration personnel at the event if you need an attendance verification form for professional development and certification purpose.
Cost: $20 at the door for non-SDForum members, No charge for SDForum members
For more details and to sign up, visit the Meetup.com page for this event.
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
JOB SWAP - Check out our Yahoo! Group here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SDForum_EL_SIG_JobSwap/
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Announcing the Next EL SIG Meeting, November 17 [Robert Lasater]
The next meeting of the Engineering Leadership SIG will be held on November 17 in SAP Building 2 (3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA), starting at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM. The main presentation will be a panel discussion on tools for program, resource and portfolio management.
TITLE: Exploration of Tools for Program, Resource and Portfolio Management
Have you struggled in your company to manage all the projects hitting your development teams? Are you desperate to learn about tools capable of managing your company's entire project portfolio and the internal resources that can be deployed against those projects?
Join us to hear from a panel of seasoned practitioners who can discuss the tools they have found and the benefits those tools are delivering to their teams and their organizations. Also, how they're still deficient - where they could be better - how they change the challenges and bring the next need into focus.
Discussion points include:
* RESOURCING: shared resources, resource management, dozens of developers with hundreds of tasks coming at them weekly
* PRIORITIZING: prioritizing tasks and projects, focusing on "doing the right things, not just on doing things right"
* SCHEDULING: interdependencies among projects and shared requirements, managing boundaries between teams, synchronizing and sequencing releases, planning, scheduling, and estimating for scores of products / hundreds of custom projects
* MANAGING EXECUTION: having visibility into which projects and tasks are getting resources - and which ones are not, meeting schedule commitments, metrics , predictability
PANELISTS:
* Saood Shah heads professional services for GraceNote / Sony, where he uses Salesforce to manage resource contention across lots of customer projects.
* Shawn McKay heads the GraceNote / Sony PMO, where she has deployed Microsoft Project Server to manage lots of developers working on product development.
* Ketan Bhatia heads the Yahoo! PMO, where he relies on Mariner to manage projects and resources.
BIOGRAPHIES OF PANELISTS:
Saood Shah is the Director of Professional Services at Gracenote, where he is focused on delivering solution architecture, project management, and technical support services to 60+ customer projects at any given time. His team uses Salesforce.com to manage Accounts, Contacts, Issues, and Milestones, stay on top of active project status, and analyze metrics and trends from historical data.
Saood has over 10 years of software industry experience leading Services and Support organizations, selling Services deals, and managing PS implementations and operations. Prior to Gracenote, Saood led the Client Services organization at Adap.tv, and was responsible for managing the Technical Services and Program Management teams. In this position, he focused on providing timely, quality support to drive adoption and retention, and ultimately, grow Adap.tv’s customer base.
Shawn McKay is the Director of the Program Management Office at Gracenote, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. Gracenote’s Mission Statement is to help people discover and enjoy digital media. The Gracenote PMO is responsible for Process and Tools Development and Leadership, Resource and Portfolio Management, Project Governance, and Core and Extended Team Leadership and Facilitation. The Gracenote PMO uses both “waterfall-lite” and “Agile Scrum-lite” techniques to manage all new product development at Gracenote.
Shawn has over 15 years of project and program management experience at various bay area companies, including Charles Schwab, Autodesk, AFC/Tellabs, and most recently, Gracenote. Before settling on SW program management as a career, she also worked for over a decade in careers ranging from non-profits to finance to investment banking. Shawn holds an MBA degree, a PMP certification, and a Bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of Business.
Ketan Bhatia has over 15 years of experience in management of large scale, global web product releases and software implementations. Ketan works for Yahoo! as a Director of Product Program Management and is known as a trusted advisor with strong negotiation skills and for being accomplished in defining strategic direction for the business. He has held numerous positions in Healthcare IT including Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California.
Ketan has an MBA from Temple University, Philadelphia.
Snacks and Bevevrage Sponsor:
Brian Lawley, 280Group - The 280 Group™ provides Product Marketing and Product Management Consultants, Contra ctors, Training, Books,Certifi cation, and Templates to help companies worldwideto define, launch and market breakthrough new products.ponsor:
Ongoing Management Sponsor:
Project Connections is our EL SIG Management Sponsor.
ProjectConnections.com is dedicated to practically and affordably supporting individuals as they do their jobs day-to-day and helping them grow their management abilities and careers. We also provide management development and support resources to organizations, through group subscriptions, methodology content licenses, on-demand virtual training programs, virtual coaching, and more - all to help managers improve how critical project work gets done, and to help grow the capabilities of everyone on their staffs and teams.
Attendance Verification Available :
Please ask an SDForum registration personnel at the event if you need an attendance verification form for professional development and certification purpose.
Agenda
6:15 - 6:30 Early arrival recommended!
6:30 - 7:00 Registration / Checkin
6:30 - 7:00 Enjoy cheese, fruit, snacks, pizza, soda and networking
6:31 - 6:59 Engineering Leadership Peer-2-Peer Roundtable
7:00 - 7:10 Introduction and opening announcements
7:10 - 8:20 Keynote and Q&A
8:20 - 8:30 Closing announcements
8:30 - 8:45 Informal networking and followup Q&A
8:45 - 8:50 Clean up
8:50 - 9:00 Clear the room & have a safe trip home!
Cost: $20 at the door for non-SDForum members, No charge for SDForum members
For more details and to sign up, visit the Meetup.com page for this event.
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
JOB SWAP - Check out our Yahoo! Group here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SDForum_EL_SIG_JobSwap/
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
TITLE: Exploration of Tools for Program, Resource and Portfolio Management
Have you struggled in your company to manage all the projects hitting your development teams? Are you desperate to learn about tools capable of managing your company's entire project portfolio and the internal resources that can be deployed against those projects?
Join us to hear from a panel of seasoned practitioners who can discuss the tools they have found and the benefits those tools are delivering to their teams and their organizations. Also, how they're still deficient - where they could be better - how they change the challenges and bring the next need into focus.
Discussion points include:
* RESOURCING: shared resources, resource management, dozens of developers with hundreds of tasks coming at them weekly
* PRIORITIZING: prioritizing tasks and projects, focusing on "doing the right things, not just on doing things right"
* SCHEDULING: interdependencies among projects and shared requirements, managing boundaries between teams, synchronizing and sequencing releases, planning, scheduling, and estimating for scores of products / hundreds of custom projects
* MANAGING EXECUTION: having visibility into which projects and tasks are getting resources - and which ones are not, meeting schedule commitments, metrics , predictability
PANELISTS:
* Saood Shah heads professional services for GraceNote / Sony, where he uses Salesforce to manage resource contention across lots of customer projects.
* Shawn McKay heads the GraceNote / Sony PMO, where she has deployed Microsoft Project Server to manage lots of developers working on product development.
* Ketan Bhatia heads the Yahoo! PMO, where he relies on Mariner to manage projects and resources.
BIOGRAPHIES OF PANELISTS:
Saood Shah is the Director of Professional Services at Gracenote, where he is focused on delivering solution architecture, project management, and technical support services to 60+ customer projects at any given time. His team uses Salesforce.com to manage Accounts, Contacts, Issues, and Milestones, stay on top of active project status, and analyze metrics and trends from historical data.
Saood has over 10 years of software industry experience leading Services and Support organizations, selling Services deals, and managing PS implementations and operations. Prior to Gracenote, Saood led the Client Services organization at Adap.tv, and was responsible for managing the Technical Services and Program Management teams. In this position, he focused on providing timely, quality support to drive adoption and retention, and ultimately, grow Adap.tv’s customer base.
Shawn McKay is the Director of the Program Management Office at Gracenote, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. Gracenote’s Mission Statement is to help people discover and enjoy digital media. The Gracenote PMO is responsible for Process and Tools Development and Leadership, Resource and Portfolio Management, Project Governance, and Core and Extended Team Leadership and Facilitation. The Gracenote PMO uses both “waterfall-lite” and “Agile Scrum-lite” techniques to manage all new product development at Gracenote.
Shawn has over 15 years of project and program management experience at various bay area companies, including Charles Schwab, Autodesk, AFC/Tellabs, and most recently, Gracenote. Before settling on SW program management as a career, she also worked for over a decade in careers ranging from non-profits to finance to investment banking. Shawn holds an MBA degree, a PMP certification, and a Bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of Business.
Ketan Bhatia has over 15 years of experience in management of large scale, global web product releases and software implementations. Ketan works for Yahoo! as a Director of Product Program Management and is known as a trusted advisor with strong negotiation skills and for being accomplished in defining strategic direction for the business. He has held numerous positions in Healthcare IT including Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California.
Ketan has an MBA from Temple University, Philadelphia.
Snacks and Bevevrage Sponsor:
Brian Lawley, 280Group - The 280 Group™ provides Product Marketing and Product Management Consultants, Contra ctors, Training, Books,Certifi cation, and Templates to help companies worldwideto define, launch and market breakthrough new products.ponsor:
Ongoing Management Sponsor:
Project Connections is our EL SIG Management Sponsor.
ProjectConnections.com is dedicated to practically and affordably supporting individuals as they do their jobs day-to-day and helping them grow their management abilities and careers. We also provide management development and support resources to organizations, through group subscriptions, methodology content licenses, on-demand virtual training programs, virtual coaching, and more - all to help managers improve how critical project work gets done, and to help grow the capabilities of everyone on their staffs and teams.
Attendance Verification Available :
Please ask an SDForum registration personnel at the event if you need an attendance verification form for professional development and certification purpose.
Agenda
6:15 - 6:30 Early arrival recommended!
6:30 - 7:00 Registration / Checkin
6:30 - 7:00 Enjoy cheese, fruit, snacks, pizza, soda and networking
6:31 - 6:59 Engineering Leadership Peer-2-Peer Roundtable
7:00 - 7:10 Introduction and opening announcements
7:10 - 8:20 Keynote and Q&A
8:20 - 8:30 Closing announcements
8:30 - 8:45 Informal networking and followup Q&A
8:45 - 8:50 Clean up
8:50 - 9:00 Clear the room & have a safe trip home!
Cost: $20 at the door for non-SDForum members, No charge for SDForum members
For more details and to sign up, visit the Meetup.com page for this event.
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
JOB SWAP - Check out our Yahoo! Group here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SDForum_EL_SIG_JobSwap/
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
Monday, October 24, 2011
"Display Defective" [Michael Emens]
This week, as if to keep our long romance “alive”, my car throws me a new dash board warning:
“display defective”
I laughed out loud. My first thoughts were that they’ve really over engineered this car to have the display tell me that the display itself is about to die. Over the course of this short drive I concluded this was likely done by design and not over design:
1. The display itself is important for so many other messages that replacing it soon was a good idea
2. The system reports on every other aspect of the car so not including the display itself would seem like an incomplete design.
Now that I solved this very important mystery of life I could not resist letting my mind wander on similar instances of apparent over design or over thinking something. Project metrics came to mind and how they are often undervalued or overvalued on a project.
Most anyone who’s been in product development for a while has seen it; companies often make the mistake of paying too little or too much attention to project metrics. Both can kill a project (or career) so the question is “where’s the sweet spot”. As with such topics there are lots of really good books out there on what metrics you can collect and how to “read the tea leaves” of those metrics, however I’ve found that few books effectively address:
1. What metrics should be collected for this particular project?
2. Of those collected what should be reported on?
3. What triggers and plans are in place to detect and correct an undesirable trend?
4. If undesirable trends are not being acted on then should those be discontinued?
I have personally found that management (me included) often make the mistake of prescribing “key metrics” to the project teams because the latest book said these are good metrics to follow. Such management direction is also done without buy in from the team members and not regularly reviewed for project impact and relevancy.
In my next blog entry I will explore this topic further and welcome your comments and suggestions.
________________________________________________________________________
With a BS in Computer Science from Chapman University, Michael has spent 20+ years in software development doing: coding, research, development, customer facing, system architecture, team building, and early stage (pre-funded) startups. Michael was first at Rockwell International designing software for an embedded systems radar system, image processing, and navigation systems. Between 1993 and 2001 Michael was a consulting software developer for several companies including Sony, Nortel, IBM, and Motorola. In 2000 and 2001 Michael co-founded two separate startups specializing in voice recognition and web technologies. Michael has over 24 software and web technology patents and is now a Project Manager for Agile software projects. Feel free to engage Michael via email: MichaelEmens@gmail.com
“display defective”
I laughed out loud. My first thoughts were that they’ve really over engineered this car to have the display tell me that the display itself is about to die. Over the course of this short drive I concluded this was likely done by design and not over design:
1. The display itself is important for so many other messages that replacing it soon was a good idea
2. The system reports on every other aspect of the car so not including the display itself would seem like an incomplete design.
Now that I solved this very important mystery of life I could not resist letting my mind wander on similar instances of apparent over design or over thinking something. Project metrics came to mind and how they are often undervalued or overvalued on a project.
Most anyone who’s been in product development for a while has seen it; companies often make the mistake of paying too little or too much attention to project metrics. Both can kill a project (or career) so the question is “where’s the sweet spot”. As with such topics there are lots of really good books out there on what metrics you can collect and how to “read the tea leaves” of those metrics, however I’ve found that few books effectively address:
1. What metrics should be collected for this particular project?
2. Of those collected what should be reported on?
3. What triggers and plans are in place to detect and correct an undesirable trend?
4. If undesirable trends are not being acted on then should those be discontinued?
I have personally found that management (me included) often make the mistake of prescribing “key metrics” to the project teams because the latest book said these are good metrics to follow. Such management direction is also done without buy in from the team members and not regularly reviewed for project impact and relevancy.
In my next blog entry I will explore this topic further and welcome your comments and suggestions.
________________________________________________________________________
With a BS in Computer Science from Chapman University, Michael has spent 20+ years in software development doing: coding, research, development, customer facing, system architecture, team building, and early stage (pre-funded) startups. Michael was first at Rockwell International designing software for an embedded systems radar system, image processing, and navigation systems. Between 1993 and 2001 Michael was a consulting software developer for several companies including Sony, Nortel, IBM, and Motorola. In 2000 and 2001 Michael co-founded two separate startups specializing in voice recognition and web technologies. Michael has over 24 software and web technology patents and is now a Project Manager for Agile software projects. Feel free to engage Michael via email: MichaelEmens@gmail.com
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Announcing the Next EL SIG Meeting, October 20 [Robert Lasater]
The next meeting of the Engineering Leadership SIG will be held on Thursday, October 20, in the Baltic/Caribbean rooms in SAP Building 2 (3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA), starting at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Title of the main presentation, "Trust everybody, but cut the cards - The Secrets to Building Sustainable Teams", by Will Read - Director of Engineering, Stageit Corp.
Software engineers in the Bay Area have their choice of jobs, and leaving one company for another is often a very lucrative move. It can be challenging to make new hires without having worry about turnover too. In this talk, I will show you how to create an environment that provides intrinsic value to its developers. I will also share what it ...means to be part of a team instead of a collection of individuals occupying the same physical space. In the end, it will all come down to making the right hires and setting the tone for a place that is safe to be honest and creative.
Will Read leads the company’s developers who code and maintain the systems behind the StageIt platform. Prior to joining StageIt, Will worked at Pivotal Labs, a consultancy known for its high-quality software development practices. While at Pivotal, Will helped match the physical and digital music inventories for BestBuy, provide personalized "Who To Follow" suggestions to users for Twitter, and deliver real-time, localized, personalized deals to users on desktop and mobile devices for Groupon. He began his career working for various start-ups including Jobvite, a leading job referral web service. Will holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Purdue University.
Agenda:
6:15 - 6:30 Early arrival recommended!
6:30 - 7:00 Registration / Checkin
6:30 - 7:00 Enjoy cheese, fruit, snacks, pizza, soda and networking
6:31 - 6:59 Engineering Leadership Peer-2-Peer Roundtable
7:00 - 7:10 Introduction and opening announcements
7:10 - 8:20 Keynote and Q&A
8:20 - 8:30 Closing announcements
8:30 - 8:45 Informal networking and followup Q&A
8:45 - 8:50 Clean up
8:50 - 9:00 Clear the room & have a safe trip home!
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
Cost:
$20 at the door for non-SVForum members; no charge for SVForum members
Read more at http://www.meetup.com/EL-SIG/events/23882921/
Software engineers in the Bay Area have their choice of jobs, and leaving one company for another is often a very lucrative move. It can be challenging to make new hires without having worry about turnover too. In this talk, I will show you how to create an environment that provides intrinsic value to its developers. I will also share what it ...means to be part of a team instead of a collection of individuals occupying the same physical space. In the end, it will all come down to making the right hires and setting the tone for a place that is safe to be honest and creative.
Will Read leads the company’s developers who code and maintain the systems behind the StageIt platform. Prior to joining StageIt, Will worked at Pivotal Labs, a consultancy known for its high-quality software development practices. While at Pivotal, Will helped match the physical and digital music inventories for BestBuy, provide personalized "Who To Follow" suggestions to users for Twitter, and deliver real-time, localized, personalized deals to users on desktop and mobile devices for Groupon. He began his career working for various start-ups including Jobvite, a leading job referral web service. Will holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Purdue University.
Agenda:
6:15 - 6:30 Early arrival recommended!
6:30 - 7:00 Registration / Checkin
6:30 - 7:00 Enjoy cheese, fruit, snacks, pizza, soda and networking
6:31 - 6:59 Engineering Leadership Peer-2-Peer Roundtable
7:00 - 7:10 Introduction and opening announcements
7:10 - 8:20 Keynote and Q&A
8:20 - 8:30 Closing announcements
8:30 - 8:45 Informal networking and followup Q&A
8:45 - 8:50 Clean up
8:50 - 9:00 Clear the room & have a safe trip home!
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
Cost:
$20 at the door for non-SVForum members; no charge for SVForum members
Read more at http://www.meetup.com/EL-SIG/events/23882921/
Steve Jobs Dead at 56 [Michael Emens]
This week (in fact today and just now) I heard some news I did not expect and I heard it from someone I did not expect it to hear it from… my son. You see my son is 15 years old (and a sophomore in high school) and the news he gave me rocked my world as I did not expect it. He said, “Steve Jobs died”.
At that moment just like someone experiencing those last moments of life (like in the movies) I immediately transported to my sophomore year of high school.
It was 1982… I was a sophomore in a new high school and little to no friends to speak of. News of a “computer” on campus soon caught my ear. I quickly hunted down these two “computers”. Apparently they were donated to the school from a company called “Apple”.
Before I knew it I was spending endless lunch and after school hours at this computer. At the time having a computer in high schools was a new concept to everyone (including the staff and teachers)… they simply did not know what to do with these things.
These two computers were placed in a library closet (yes a real closet) and typing room closet… yes I said “typing room”. Ok for those under 45’ish I’ll explain… in 1982 typing was an actual class to teach you how to type on a keyboard… and it was not typing on a computer it was on a typewriter and if you ask me what a typewriter is I’m going to send you to your room and ask you to Google it.
As much as I hate to saying it today “Apple I” was my first true love… and yes my wife is OK with it.
I spent endless (I really mean endless) hours reverse engineering that Apple computer. I “peeked” and “poked” the memory to understand everything about this puppy (again Google it). I recall one day the typing teacher came up to me and said… “Why are you spending so much time at this ‘Computer’? It’s a big waste of time”. I’m very happy to say I ignored that teacher.
Come senior year of high school (1984) I applied to college and to my pleasant surprise “Computer Science” was an actual major. The rest is history as far as I’m concerned.
In truth… over the years my loyalties were with Microsoft. I was a Microsoft believer and an Apple hater. Today however I can say my Microsoft/Apple religious beliefs are actively changing… and that’s a good topic for another day.
Today however my thoughts and admiration are with Steve Jobs… Not because I was a loyalist to his cause, but rather (and in fact and in truth) he was a true adversary in my personal computer revolution. He (and Steve Wozniak) introduced me to computers. They both gave me something to feel passionate about and at age when I needed it the most.
Thank you Steve Jobs…
Although we did not play on the same team, you made every game something to look forward to.
On a final note…
My son (interestingly a sophomore in high school this year) has a class in “Computer Science” using a Mac and Microsoft Windows emulation… The revolution continues.
Cheers.
Michael Emens
Michael Emens is a software leader with a focus on building teams to create Windows, Android, and iPhone based solutions. He has worked for
companies such as Molecular Devices, EMC, IBM Research, SONY, Nortel, Motorola, U.S. Robotics, and Boeing.
At that moment just like someone experiencing those last moments of life (like in the movies) I immediately transported to my sophomore year of high school.
It was 1982… I was a sophomore in a new high school and little to no friends to speak of. News of a “computer” on campus soon caught my ear. I quickly hunted down these two “computers”. Apparently they were donated to the school from a company called “Apple”.
Before I knew it I was spending endless lunch and after school hours at this computer. At the time having a computer in high schools was a new concept to everyone (including the staff and teachers)… they simply did not know what to do with these things.
These two computers were placed in a library closet (yes a real closet) and typing room closet… yes I said “typing room”. Ok for those under 45’ish I’ll explain… in 1982 typing was an actual class to teach you how to type on a keyboard… and it was not typing on a computer it was on a typewriter and if you ask me what a typewriter is I’m going to send you to your room and ask you to Google it.
As much as I hate to saying it today “Apple I” was my first true love… and yes my wife is OK with it.
I spent endless (I really mean endless) hours reverse engineering that Apple computer. I “peeked” and “poked” the memory to understand everything about this puppy (again Google it). I recall one day the typing teacher came up to me and said… “Why are you spending so much time at this ‘Computer’? It’s a big waste of time”. I’m very happy to say I ignored that teacher.
Come senior year of high school (1984) I applied to college and to my pleasant surprise “Computer Science” was an actual major. The rest is history as far as I’m concerned.
In truth… over the years my loyalties were with Microsoft. I was a Microsoft believer and an Apple hater. Today however I can say my Microsoft/Apple religious beliefs are actively changing… and that’s a good topic for another day.
Today however my thoughts and admiration are with Steve Jobs… Not because I was a loyalist to his cause, but rather (and in fact and in truth) he was a true adversary in my personal computer revolution. He (and Steve Wozniak) introduced me to computers. They both gave me something to feel passionate about and at age when I needed it the most.
Thank you Steve Jobs…
Although we did not play on the same team, you made every game something to look forward to.
On a final note…
My son (interestingly a sophomore in high school this year) has a class in “Computer Science” using a Mac and Microsoft Windows emulation… The revolution continues.
Cheers.
Michael Emens
Michael Emens is a software leader with a focus on building teams to create Windows, Android, and iPhone based solutions. He has worked for
companies such as Molecular Devices, EMC, IBM Research, SONY, Nortel, Motorola, U.S. Robotics, and Boeing.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
“Friends Don’t Let Friends do Outsourcing” [Sam Hahn]
EL SIG's co-chair contributes this cautionary story on outsourcing.
I have a friend (let’s call him Andy) who used to work for me and was a good engineer. He subsequently became VP Engineering at an outsourced software development company overseas. I have another friend (let’s call him Don) who also worked with me at a large software company in the sales group; we went on a couple trips together to call on customers when I was a product manager.
So when Andy wanted to spin out his own outsourced software development company (after learning the business), and Don wanted to find someone to develop a Web 2.0 demo / app so he could pursue funding or BD opportunities, I thought it a no-brainer to hook them up, as they could help each other out, right?
I’ll never do it again. At least, never without adult supervision.
Expectations were very high on both sides. Andy wanted this to grow into a big project once funding happened, so he put a lot of effort into getting the code developed exactly per requirements. Don wanted to see regular quick progress, but worked from a fairly detailed PRD. Neither had a good issue or bug tracking system in place. Meetings weren’t scheduled regularly; a date was set, but when that date came and went, many unmet expectations surfaced, to the detriment of the continued beneficial relationship between the 2 parties.
Of course I blame myself. I should’ve seen this coming and inserted myself into this process to make sure things went smoothly. But I assumed that I would be invited to do so if needed. Indeed Don had prepared several proposals to engage me in his venture. Each version had an issue we needed to discuss, so disappointment had already begun to set in by the time I considered looking into the outsourcing relationship in detail.
What did I learn? In no uncertain terms, “Friends don’t let friends do outsourcing.” (At least without Adult Supervision.)
By “Adult Supervision”, I mean with professional engineering management expertise on the client side. Sales people cannot assume they are going to succeed at engineering management of remote outsourced staff. To assume this is to make light of the engineering management profession. It’s challenging enough to get distributed development working for well-running, well-managed engineering organizations. It’s folly for an inexperienced person to step into an engineering management role to attempt to lead a successful remote outsourced offshore development. Don’t do it! When you see this coming at you – go to DEFCON3!
Friends just don’t let friends do outsourcing!
Originally posted at SV Project Management.
Sam Hahn
Since graduating from Stanford University, Sam has spent over 2 decades in just about every aspect of coding, research, product definition, customer understanding, system architecture, data modeling, team building, strategy formulation, corporate startups, executive management, private equity placement, and entrepreneur mentoring. In some of these positions, he has also been responsible for product management and sales as well. Sam was the first at TRW (and possibly elsewhere) to architect systems that integrated relational database management systems, hypertext, vector and raster-based cartography, elevation data, multiple sources of intelligence data (yes this must be vague!), image processing, document management, character recognition, text indexing, search, and reasoning systems as early as the mid-80's. Sam was responsible for 4 development teams at Siebel Systems (web engine, handheld, eService, and Sales.com) in his 7 years there. As one of the core architects at Siebel, Sam oversaw research in presentation technology initiatives, including metadata-driven portal frameworks. Sam was co-founder, VP of Engineering, and CTO of DocuMagix (now part of eFax.com), and has also held VPE positions at Sales.com and Purisma. Sam is a partner at Sand Hill Angels, and now advises entrepreneurs in startup strategies and companies on effective application of Chasm and Agile thinking and practices. Attempting to live an enlightened life, he is too often tempted by sushi, Cambodian food, and white mochas with soy, only somewhat balanced by his enjoyment of tai chi. Please agree, disagree, laud, personally or professionally engage Sam via S@mHahn.com
I have a friend (let’s call him Andy) who used to work for me and was a good engineer. He subsequently became VP Engineering at an outsourced software development company overseas. I have another friend (let’s call him Don) who also worked with me at a large software company in the sales group; we went on a couple trips together to call on customers when I was a product manager.
So when Andy wanted to spin out his own outsourced software development company (after learning the business), and Don wanted to find someone to develop a Web 2.0 demo / app so he could pursue funding or BD opportunities, I thought it a no-brainer to hook them up, as they could help each other out, right?
I’ll never do it again. At least, never without adult supervision.
Expectations were very high on both sides. Andy wanted this to grow into a big project once funding happened, so he put a lot of effort into getting the code developed exactly per requirements. Don wanted to see regular quick progress, but worked from a fairly detailed PRD. Neither had a good issue or bug tracking system in place. Meetings weren’t scheduled regularly; a date was set, but when that date came and went, many unmet expectations surfaced, to the detriment of the continued beneficial relationship between the 2 parties.
Of course I blame myself. I should’ve seen this coming and inserted myself into this process to make sure things went smoothly. But I assumed that I would be invited to do so if needed. Indeed Don had prepared several proposals to engage me in his venture. Each version had an issue we needed to discuss, so disappointment had already begun to set in by the time I considered looking into the outsourcing relationship in detail.
What did I learn? In no uncertain terms, “Friends don’t let friends do outsourcing.” (At least without Adult Supervision.)
By “Adult Supervision”, I mean with professional engineering management expertise on the client side. Sales people cannot assume they are going to succeed at engineering management of remote outsourced staff. To assume this is to make light of the engineering management profession. It’s challenging enough to get distributed development working for well-running, well-managed engineering organizations. It’s folly for an inexperienced person to step into an engineering management role to attempt to lead a successful remote outsourced offshore development. Don’t do it! When you see this coming at you – go to DEFCON3!
Friends just don’t let friends do outsourcing!
Originally posted at SV Project Management.
Sam Hahn
Since graduating from Stanford University, Sam has spent over 2 decades in just about every aspect of coding, research, product definition, customer understanding, system architecture, data modeling, team building, strategy formulation, corporate startups, executive management, private equity placement, and entrepreneur mentoring. In some of these positions, he has also been responsible for product management and sales as well. Sam was the first at TRW (and possibly elsewhere) to architect systems that integrated relational database management systems, hypertext, vector and raster-based cartography, elevation data, multiple sources of intelligence data (yes this must be vague!), image processing, document management, character recognition, text indexing, search, and reasoning systems as early as the mid-80's. Sam was responsible for 4 development teams at Siebel Systems (web engine, handheld, eService, and Sales.com) in his 7 years there. As one of the core architects at Siebel, Sam oversaw research in presentation technology initiatives, including metadata-driven portal frameworks. Sam was co-founder, VP of Engineering, and CTO of DocuMagix (now part of eFax.com), and has also held VPE positions at Sales.com and Purisma. Sam is a partner at Sand Hill Angels, and now advises entrepreneurs in startup strategies and companies on effective application of Chasm and Agile thinking and practices. Attempting to live an enlightened life, he is too often tempted by sushi, Cambodian food, and white mochas with soy, only somewhat balanced by his enjoyment of tai chi. Please agree, disagree, laud, personally or professionally engage Sam via S@mHahn.com
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Please Visit the Previous Engineering Leadership SIG Blog
Due to the change in the name of the Silicon Valley Forum (SV Forum) from its previous name of the Software Developers Forum, we just started this blog.
Please go visit our older blog, sdforumelsig.blogspot.com.
Although no further updates or postings are expected, the posts remain timely, informative and relevant to enhancing skills as a Engineering Leader and as a leader in general.
Please go visit our older blog, sdforumelsig.blogspot.com.
Although no further updates or postings are expected, the posts remain timely, informative and relevant to enhancing skills as a Engineering Leader and as a leader in general.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Announcing the Next EL SIG Meeting, September 15 [Robert Lasater]
The next meeting of the Engineering Leadership SIG will be held on September 15 in SAP Building 2 (3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA), starting at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Title of the main presentation, "Problems, Big Problems, and Damn Problems: Solving the problems that keep you awake at night", by Jerry L. Talley.
Jerry says "The topic of the talk is a discovery from my 30+ years in organizational development work. I believe there are only 6 types of problems. Each type poses a unique challenge. The most critical decision in problem solving is not 'What's the best solution?', but rather it is 'What type of problem is this?' Once you identify the type you have a clear sense of the critical features that must be explored, what strategy to use in solving the problem, and what a solution would look like...at least in outline form.
"It turns out that strategies that work well for some types are disastrous when applied to other types. And some of the types are easy to confuse for each other. So typing the problem is not always simple; it's just always essential.
"The talk outlines the 6 types and briefly describes the strategy unique to each type. It is a dramatic departure from the classical model of problem solving which has been around since the 1950's and altered very little since then."
Jerry Talley has over 20 years of organizational consulting. Prior to that career, he was an adjunct professor at Stanford University teaching in the Sociology Department for 18 years. Coincident with that experience, he had a practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist for about ten years. Starting in the late 1970's, he moved into organizational development consulting, accumulating over 250 client engagements since that time. His clients included companies in high tech R&D, hospitality, health care, the military, manufacturing, banking and credit unions, education, publishing, mental health, city and county government, not-for-profits, and large consulting houses...and one organic grocery store.
Throughout all these experiences, the common focus was on how people think about and manage complex situations, how they attempt to solve the problems in their world, and how they form relationships with others in that effort.
For more information, go here.
SNACK SPONSOR: Brian Lawley, 280Group - The 280 Group™ provides Product Marketing and Product Management Consultants, Contractors, Training, Books,Certification, and Templates to help companies world wide to define, launch and market breakthrough new products.
SNACK & BEVERAGE NOTES: SVForum provides some pizzas, and SAP welcomes us to help ourselves to soft drinks that we may encounter in the vicinity of our events.
As of August we won't be providing alcoholic beverages in the future so we can spend more money on food.
MANAGEMENT RESOURCES SPONSOR: ProjectConnections.com supports EL SIG members with a wide range of resources for managing organizations, projects, and people. Members can access links to templates, checklists, articles, and more from the ProjectConnections.com Premium library. All this is available to ELSIG members at no charge, at the ELSIG page onProjectConnetions.com (Open Enrollment is offered twice a year for this benefit. It's that time of year! We'll be sending a notice shortly and you can sign up if you haven't already.)
Cost: $20 at the door for non-SDForum members, No charge for SDForum members
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
JOB SWAP - Check out our Yahoo! Group here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SDForum_EL_SIG_JobSwap/
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
Jerry says "The topic of the talk is a discovery from my 30+ years in organizational development work. I believe there are only 6 types of problems. Each type poses a unique challenge. The most critical decision in problem solving is not 'What's the best solution?', but rather it is 'What type of problem is this?' Once you identify the type you have a clear sense of the critical features that must be explored, what strategy to use in solving the problem, and what a solution would look like...at least in outline form.
"It turns out that strategies that work well for some types are disastrous when applied to other types. And some of the types are easy to confuse for each other. So typing the problem is not always simple; it's just always essential.
"The talk outlines the 6 types and briefly describes the strategy unique to each type. It is a dramatic departure from the classical model of problem solving which has been around since the 1950's and altered very little since then."
Jerry Talley has over 20 years of organizational consulting. Prior to that career, he was an adjunct professor at Stanford University teaching in the Sociology Department for 18 years. Coincident with that experience, he had a practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist for about ten years. Starting in the late 1970's, he moved into organizational development consulting, accumulating over 250 client engagements since that time. His clients included companies in high tech R&D, hospitality, health care, the military, manufacturing, banking and credit unions, education, publishing, mental health, city and county government, not-for-profits, and large consulting houses...and one organic grocery store.
Throughout all these experiences, the common focus was on how people think about and manage complex situations, how they attempt to solve the problems in their world, and how they form relationships with others in that effort.
For more information, go here.
SNACK SPONSOR: Brian Lawley, 280Group - The 280 Group™ provides Product Marketing and Product Management Consultants, Contractors, Training, Books,Certification, and Templates to help companies world wide to define, launch and market breakthrough new products.
SNACK & BEVERAGE NOTES: SVForum provides some pizzas, and SAP welcomes us to help ourselves to soft drinks that we may encounter in the vicinity of our events.
As of August we won't be providing alcoholic beverages in the future so we can spend more money on food.
MANAGEMENT RESOURCES SPONSOR: ProjectConnections.com supports EL SIG members with a wide range of resources for managing organizations, projects, and people. Members can access links to templates, checklists, articles, and more from the ProjectConnections.com Premium library. All this is available to ELSIG members at no charge, at the ELSIG page onProjectConnetions.com (Open Enrollment is offered twice a year for this benefit. It's that time of year! We'll be sending a notice shortly and you can sign up if you haven't already.)
Cost: $20 at the door for non-SDForum members, No charge for SDForum members
BOOK SWAP - Every month! Bring books to share.
JOB SWAP - Check out our Yahoo! Group here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SDForum_EL_SIG_JobSwap/
PEER-to-PEER Roundtable - Every month! Join us to share insights and advice with peers each month prior to the 7 PM event.
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