Mark Smalley, Ambassador-in-chief at the ASL BiSL Foundation says:
“With business productivity and cost reduction, along business agility and speed to market, being the top IT management concerns (research: Prof Jerry Luftman), it's no wonder that IT departments are increasingly engaging with the business to discover which Application Lifecycle Management investments will provide maximum business value.”
In 2010, Cofunds embarked upon a challenging Change Programme to meet the changes in market demands and new FSA regulation. They recognised that the huge programme of work would impact the way the software platform was to be built and maintained in the future. To help ensure success the IT team decided to embark on a journey that reviewed and improved their process and the associated tools; their entire ALM.
Jim McGlynn, Head of IT Development at Cofunds, will describe their ALM journey at UNICOM Seminar’s Application Lifecycle Management: Processes and Methods to Support ALM Conference on 28 February ’13. He will openly share his real life experiences, concentrate on the problems, issues and successes and discuss the crucial aspects that must drive your ALM.
Jim will be joined by other thought leaders in the field. The conference will include technical sessions to educate practitioners on tools and strategies, to adjust and evolve their application development lifecycle and explore how to implement ALM.
This conference will be held from 9:30am to 5:30pm. For press enquiries please contact Manvir Mudhar: + 44 (0)1895 819 472 or email manvir@unicom.co.uk.
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Press Release - 22/11/2012
CMMI transits from Software Engineering institute (SEI) to an Independent Unit
The Software Engineering Institute, also known as SEI, plans to move CMMI work and products to a new unit by the end of 2012. This unit will be operated by Carnegie Mellon University and aims to focus on research and development. However, the new organisation will not be academic, but will focused on serving the partners and the community. As CMMI is now a mature technology, it can independently sustain itself and is no longer part of the SEI mission. This will allow SEI to focus on solving software engineering problems and improve the management of the institute.
In his interview at UNICOM’s Recent Trends in Process Improvement conference in Amsterdam, Jay Douglass, International Business Development Manager of SEI said:
“This is a great change; CMMI institute will become even more customer orientated than the SEI was able to do in the past. It is a great thing for the community and technology.”
The new approach aims to bring more value and allow the CMMI community to take control of the market by responding and leading it. It will be driven by the market rather than sponsors so that it can be more responsive to partners. The innovative change intends on bringing a better focus to cost control and encouraging a more commercial way of thinking than SEI can.
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Press Release - 25/09/2012
UK Public Sector must change to embrace Agile Thinking says High Speed 2 CIO
Agile Business Conference (10-11 October, London) puts spotlight on Agile in the Public and Private sectors with case studies from Cabinet Office, SITA; FBI, HMRC, Department for Transport, Aviva, Callcredit, IPC Media and more.
At next month’s Agile Business Conference in London, James Findlay, Chief Information Officer for High Speed 2 and lead for Agile and G-Cloud at the Department for Transport (DfT) will say that the UK Public Sector needs to move away from its preoccupation with methodology to get the best out of Agile - the rapidly growing standard for the management, development and delivery of projects, programmes and products.
"Agile thinking in the Public Sector represents a unique opportunity to change our approach to delivery, not just in IT but across all types of diverse delivery areas in central and local government. It's about attitude, behaviours and a culture which is both eclectic and opportunistic rather than any strict adherence to a methodology," says Findlay.
In his presentation, Findlay will also describe how Agile tools and techniques were used in two high profile public consultation exercises bringing together 1000s of responses and petitions, Parliamentary questions and official correspondence along with Parliamentary debates, hostile public meetings and an inquiry by the Transport Select Committee.
Findley is just one in an impressive line-up of speakers at the annual two-day Agile Business Conference that provides a unique forum for business, management and technical personnel to learn, share knowledge, network and source Agile Services. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, this year’s ABC10 conference will reflect on the First Agile Decade and look at the maturity, evolution and reality of Agile in the public and private sectors.
Diego Lo Giudice, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, will open the conference by presenting the latest research from 100 companies going through business transformation. Delegates will also hear practical case studies from Aviva, Cabinet Office, SITA, FBI, Government Digital Service, Department for Transport, Callcredit Information Group, Rule Financial, IPC Media and HMRC.
The ABC10 conference programme also includes How to Evaluate and Start Agile; How to Learn, Review and Improve Agile; Agile Governance, Project Management and Co-existence; and How to roll-out Agile to the Enterprise and/or across Geographies.
“ABC10 provides the opportunity to meet with experts, attend keynote presentations, participate in workshops and interactive sessions, and network with experienced business and technical practitioners who are already delivering Agile across organisations,” says Alec McCutcheon
Director at UNICOM Seminars. “Delegates will learn about established Agile management philosophies and qualifications, leadership in an Agile environment and how to overcome the challenges in adopting Agile – including Agile in highly regulated sectors.”
The Agile Business Conference - Cross Sector Agile Celebrating the First 10 Years – runs on
10-11 October 2012 at the Inmarsat Conference Centre, London.
Note to editors:
If you are interested in attending the conference, please contact:
Peter Rennison and Allie Andrews
PRPR
Tel: 01442 245030
pr@prpr.co.uk/allie@prpr.co.uk
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Press Release - 20/09/2012
Ben Linders from Ben Linders Advies says:
"We need to uncover better ways to do Process Improvement"
Processes are the essential building blocks of all organisations. Both process understanding and process improvement form the lifeblood of quality organisations. However quality is a never ending quest and Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) is a never ending effort to discover and remove the main causes of problems.
‘We have to recognise that process is just ‘how’ we do something, and unless we correctly identify ‘what’ we do (the services), ‘who’ we do it for (the customers), and ‘why we do it (to help customers achieve desired outcomes) any process design or improvement work is likely to be inefficient and ineffective.’ (Matthew Barrows; BSM Impact)
UNICOM Seminar’s event, ‘Recent Trends in Process Improvement: Focus on Products & Services,’ sets out to provide a useful and balanced guide to emerging approaches and best practices in process improvement standards and frameworks such as: CMMI®; TMMi®; ITIL; Lean; Six Sigma. Our expert speakers and panellists analyse these methodologies.
In particular, the overwhelming influence of Agile and Lean methodologies are examined by the panels. They look at the impact Agile has had on Process Improvement, how Lean approaches can deliver value from Process Improvement.
Participants learn from a series of informative presentations by leading specialists in the field of Process Improvement. The interactive format of this event offers a great platform for networking and discussion. It is a single-track series of presentations with ample time for discussion.
The event is organised in Amsterdam on 15 November, 9:30 to 17:30 by UNICOM, a specialist provider of seminars, workshops, conferences and accredited training.
After the great success and positive feedback received from the DevOps event held in London, UNICOM Seminars is proud to present and take its second DevOps Summit to Amsterdam. This event will be held in central Amsterdam concurrently with Application Lifecycle Management and Recent Trends in Process Improvement: The software perspective.
Our second DevOps Summit illustrates how to build effective teams, configure systems and a combination of technologies so that organisations can deliver reliable software and benefit from it.
The Application Lifecycle Management Forum aims to focus on how to maintain and adapt to the constant process of ALM. It brings together presenters and leading specialists that will teach you how to develop a successful project through a proper framework, procedures and advanced techniques that will help you attain continuous ALM.
Recent Trends in Process Improvement: The software perspective provides a useful and balanced guide to emerging approaches and best practices in process improvement standards and frameworks such as: CMMI®; TMMi®; ITIL; Lean; Six Sigma; BS2000; BS 1500. Our expert panel summaries what they are, how they work and how they can be implemented.
In particular, the overwhelming influence of Agile and Lean methodologies are examined by our knowledgeable panel. They look at the impact Agile has had on Process Improvement, how Lean approaches can deliver value from Process Improvement. How traditional Process Improvement interacts with business model and enhances quality and service delivery.
There are currently opportunities to participate as a speaker, panellist or sponsor. Call the team on 01895 256 484 for further information or email info@unicom.co.uk to request a booking form or reserve delegate places.
‘How
are we expected to deliver good software - can DevOps really help?’
Stephen
Nelson Smith, CEO of Atalanta Systems says:
“The DevOps movement
is still in its infancy...I'm convinced this isn't just a fad, and we're on the
brink of a revolution in the software industry - a paradigm shift in which
developers and sysadmins start to work together, to train each other, and
ultimately to blur the boundary - welcome to the world of the DevOp.”
Research by
UNICOM has shown that at the core of development is Automation necessary
to build, test and continuous deployment. In building and controlling of
systems come into play Agile techniques and Lean practices. But
systems administrators and client service personnel are afraid of change and
tend to think that “It will not work.” DevOps aims to build effective teams,
configure systems and a combination of appropriate technologies which lead to
the delivery of reliable software and business benefit. These aspects are vital
for a smooth collaborative and efficient running of the organization. Lead
speakers will address each of these topics and will be supported by a panel of
users discussing problems and benefits.
Stephen
Nelson Smith, who has been one of the pioneers of DevOps in Europe is chairing
a major event, organised by UNICOM, in Amsterdam on 15 November. He is joined
by other leaders and practitioners in the DevOps ‘movement’ to discuss these
challenges and provide some practical guidance in making DevOps a success.
This Summit will
be held from 9:30am to 5:30pm. For press enquiries please contact Manvir Mudhar
on + 44 (0)1895 819 472 or email manvir@unicom.co.uk.
“The strategic importance of Enterprise Architecture has never been higher.”
Steve Nimmons, Head of Enterprise Architecture at Atos says:
“The strategic importance of Enterprise Architecture has never been higher. Public and private sector organisations are dealing with massive levels of complexity as game-changers like cloud, social media, consumerisation and Gen-Y really bite. Architectures geared towards Business Model Agility are crucial. Enterprise Architecture involves ‘defining your response to a changing world’, and at its zenith changing the world itself. Bill Clinton said “it’s the economy, stupid”, for me “it’s the quality and agility of the Business Model and your ability to deliver it”.
Steve Nimmons will be joined by other practitioners and architects such as Jamie Allison (BAE Systems), Philip Hellyer (Best Buy Europe), Martin Watkin (Nationwide) and many more on 27 September to discuss the constant disruptive change within organisations and how we can adapt to them.
Research by UNICOM shows that these are some of the key challenges that organisations are facing in Enterprise Architecture:
Balancing the competing requirements of functional and process stakeholders
Anticipating and responding to changing business needs more quickly
Aligning all programs of business change and process governance with IT and HR strategy
Continuously managing processes as assets of the enterprise
Making process technology work for your organisation
Successfully defining and managing an aligned program of change
These issues will be addressed at the forum; Achieving Business Efficiency and Innovation with Enterprise Architecture. It will be held on 27 September 2012 in London from 9:30am to 5:30pm. For press enquiries please contact Manvir Mudhar on 01895 819 472 or email manvir@unicom.co.uk.
One of the UK’s longest established training and conference companies was subject to a successful Management Buyout on 1 July 2010 and has ambitious plans for growth.
UNICOM Seminars Ltd [ www.unicom.co.uk ], based in Uxbridge, West London specialises in conferences and training in Management Strategy, Business Intelligence and IT.
UNICOM was established in 1984 and now runs over 200 courses and events per year. In 2006, UNICOM was strategically acquired by QAI [ www.qaiglobal.com ] the global “Operational Excellence” consulting and workforce development organisation in order for them to expand in Europe and grow beyond the US and Asia – QAI is now focusing on on its core consulting business in Europe.
Two of UNICOM’s long-serving senior management team, Alec McCutcheon and Julie Valentine, led the buyout in a cash purchase backed by investment from OptiRisk Systems [ www.optirisk-systems.com ] a specialist in Financial Risk Management training and software - OptiRisk Systems’ CEO, Prof. Gautam Mitra, who is the original founder of UNICOM is re-joining the board of UNICOM as Chairman.
Bucking the current economic trend, UNICOM continues with its existing range of training courses and events, but is also expanding its portfolio to include finance training and vertical industry sector focused conferences including the launch of four new conferences by the end of 2010. Unusually there will be no redundancies as part of change of ownership and the company is recruiting additional team members to facilitate its expansion.
UNICOM also opens an office in Bangalore, India in August 2010 and will be running a broad range of training and events throughout India in topic areas covered in the UK. OptiRisk already has an established operation in India with a young and dynamic management team and have been successfully running a programme of finance training and events [www.optiriskindia.com ].
“The whole team here is very excited about this new chapter in UNICOM’s history. During the past few years QAI has invested heavily in the company enabling it to launch many new and innovative conferences and courses whilst retaining the brand and independence on which its reputation was founded. This will continue with our expansion into finance training and events in partnership with OptiRisk – including the launch of four new conferences by the end of 2010”, says Alec McCutcheon, Director of UNICOM
“Its going to be fantastic aligning and building on the activities of UNICOM and OptiRisk and I am delighted to be re-joining the board of UNICOM the company I founded more than twenty five years ago. Both companies have great products and a strong heritage and it will be exciting building on their strengths to create a truly global company”, says Gautam Mitra, CEO of OptiRisk Systems and Chairman of UNICOM.
For further information, please contact:
The Press Office
UNICOM Seminars Ltd
OptiRisk R&D House, One Oxford Road
Uxbridge, UB9 4DA
UK
