Kent Beck, inventor of Agile XP, says that Agile success could be defined as delivering more useful functionality with fewer defects. Early research revealed mixed success. Many organizations did not know how to measure and have “fact-based” conversations on productivity and cost. Some teams found faster schedules, but quality did not improve. Others found both. What factors make a difference? New benchmark analysis by QSM Associates reveals the latest productivity, time-to-market, quality, and cost patterns. As a result, we may be seeing a major shift in software economics made possible by the promises of Agile. Michael shares this latest research in the QSM SLIM industry database, which contains more than 10,000 completed projects (waterfall, agile, offshore, onshore) collected worldwide. This talk shares consulting tricks to accelerate your success. Join us and find out how to derive your own patterns to inform your executive teams or spotlight areas that need help.

About the speaker:

At QSM Associates, Michael Mah teaches, writes, and consults to tech companies on measuring and estimating software projects for offshore, waterfall, and agile. He is the director of the Benchmarking Practice at the Cutter Consortium in the U.S., with 25 years of industry experience. Michael and his QSM partners have researched thousands of projectsworldwide. His work examines time-pressure dynamics of teams and its contribution to project success and failure. His clients include Boeing, Progressive, Verizon Wireless, Nationwide, JPMorganChase?, Roche, and other Fortune 100 companies. His background is in physics, electrical engineering and dispute resolution from Tufts University and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Michael is also a private pilot and lives in the mountains of western Massachusetts. www.qsma.com.