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I've been honored to keynote at numerous conferences
including OOPSLA, Software Development, SSTC, SEPG, SoftEd, CSEE&T, PNSQC,
WinDev, ASM/SM, Technicon, and many others in North America and throughout the
world. I have also given keynote for large software organizations' in-house
conferences. Please contact
seminars@construx.com
to inquire about these talks.
I also give onsite presentations
at private companies as well as occasional presentations in Construx's
public seminar series.
Here are some of my keynote topics.
THE LEGACY OF AGILE DEVELOPMENT
In February 2001 a group of software
authors and consultants met at Snowbird, Utah, to explore areas
of common ground. After much discussion, this group produced the
Agile Manifesto and the Agile movement that followed quickly
became the highest profile software discussion topic in recent
memory.
Six years have now passed since the Snowbird
conference. What contributions has Agile made to the software
industry, and what lessons has the software industry learned
about Agile development during that time? In this talk,
award-winning author and Construx's CEO, Steve McConnell, draws
on Construx's extensive consulting work to dissect the legacy of
Agile software development. McConnell names the Agile practices
that have worked well for Construx's clients and describes the
failure modes of the Agile practices that have tended to fail.
Finally, he puts Agile development into a historical
perspective--making a few predictions about Agile's lasting
contributions to the software field.
10 MOST POWERFUL IDEAS IN
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
As software engineering approaches its 40th
birthday, do we know which software engineering ideas matter
most? In this talk, award-winning author Steve McConnell
identifies 10 of the most powerful ideas in software
engineering. McConnell explains how the 10 ideas form the
foundation for effective software development, and he shows how
practices ranging from the waterfall model to extreme
programming measure up. He uses these key ideas to explain which
currently popular software engineering practices will withstand
the test of time, and which are fleeting fads. This talk will
give software developers, QA specialists, and managers an
opportunity to step back from the day-to-day rush of their work
and gain insight into the key issues of software development.
SEVEN CRITICAL SOFTWARE INSIGHTS FOR C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES
Technical staff complain that "management doesn't understand software
development." What are the critical bits of software development knowledge that
top executives need to know to support successful software development? Is it
even true that C-level executives don't understand these important ideas? In
this talk, Steve McConnell presents 7 critical concepts that top executives need
to know to support software project success. He explores common
miscommunications between executives and technical staff, and he explains how to
communicate these insights to C-level executives in ways that will maximize
their acceptance.
CODE COMPLETE 2: MODERN REALITIES OF SOFTWARE CONSTRUCTION
For more than 10 years, Code Complete has been a computing-industry best seller.
The past decade has seen the emergence of object-oriented programming, the
Internet, the CMM, offshore outsourcing, Java, Visual Basic, and the Agile
movement as well as staggering advances in computing power and numerous other
developments. How have 10 years of advances changed software construction? Has
the general state of programming improved? Are any of the old techniques still
relevant? Has anything moved backward? Award-winning author Steve McConnell
explores the software issues of yesterday and today and arrives at a few lasting
truths about software development. This talk is based on Code Complete Second
Edition.
10 DEADLY SINS OF SOFTWARE ESTIMATION
The average project overruns its planned budget and schedule by
more than 100 percent. In practice, little work is done that
could truly be called "estimation." Many projects are scheduled
using a combination of legitimate business targets and liberal
doses of wishful thinking. In this talk, award-winning author
Steve McConnell presents 10 of the worst ways estimates go
wrong, and presents time-tested rules of thumb for dramatically
improving estimation accuracy.
TEN MYTHS OF RAPID DEVELOPMENT
The software industry commonly confuses high-energy motion with
rapid, meaningful progress. Many projects are developed under
intense schedule pressure and are still delivered late. This
talk explores 10 myths of rapid development, digs into core
issues of achieving short schedules, and explains how to lay the
groundwork for truly effective software improvement. This talk
is based on Steve McConnell's best selling books, "Rapid
Development" and "Professional Software Development."
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT'S LOW HANGING FRUIT
Everyone knows that better software development practices pay
off in the long run, but what if you need improvements now? In
this talk, award-winning author Steve McConnell describes
strategies that produce improvements in schedule, quality, and
development costs in the short term. McConnell identifies the
specific technical practices that produce the highest returns on
investment, the lowest risks of adoption, and the shortest paths
to more successful software projects. McConnell describes the
theory behind short-term vs. long-term improvement strategies
and presents tips for maximizing your chances of success in
adopting these strategies.
BUSINESS CASE FOR IMPROVED SOFTWARE PRACTICES
The average software company spends 2-3 times as much on each
software project as best-in-class companies spend to deliver
similar capabilities. The average organizations wastes 25% or
more of its software budget on projects that are ultimately
cancelled. Technical staff members are all-too-aware of the need
for improved practices. But how do you make the case to upper
management? In this talk, best selling author and industry
leader Steve McConnell explains the dollars and cents of
software process improvement and maps out the need for improved
practices in a way that is meaningful to business executives.
KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL SOFTWARE PROJECTS: AN EXECUTIVE GUIDE
The causes of a successful software project are not a mystery.
Leading organizations have been delivering software on time and
within budget for years, but many other companies still fail on
even simple projects. In this talk, award-winning author Steve
McConnell describes 10 time-tested practices you can use to
control your software projects. Battle-seasoned software
veterans will find this talk an entertaining refresher course in
effective software practices. Software beginners will find this
talk to be an eye opening introduction to the factors that
determine software project outcomes.
AFTER THE GOLD RUSH: ESTABLISHING A TRUE PROFESSION OF
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Award-winning author Steve McConnell offers candid
reflections upon and a look ahead at the software engineering
profession. This talk highlights critical trends and calls for a
more rigorous and standards-based profession. McConnell delivers
a lively and provocative narrative that aims to help software
developers step back from the day-to-day rush of their work and
think about where their careers and the industry are going.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT CONSTRUX SOFTWARE
During software gold rushes, commitment-based development and
24-hour hacking marathons prevail. During normal development
periods, more sophisticated software engineering approaches are
needed, and it turns out that these approaches work better
during gold rush phases too. In the absence of widespread
university education in software education, Construx Software
has developed an innovative, industry leading approach to
professional development of software engineers. Construx's
program synthesizes reading, directed experience, classes,
discussion groups, personal planning, mentoring, and other forms
of organization support to bolster traditional forms of on the
job training. By basing this professional development program on
SWEBOK, Construx is able to leverage this investment in
professional development into gains in recruiting, interviewing,
performance evaluations, and skills inventory management.
KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL PROJECT OUTSOURCING
Outsourcing is a popular trend that is producing decidedly mixed
results. Outsourcing can save time and money as well as freeing
up internal staff for strategic work--or it can be a disastrous
mistake. In this talk, Steve McConnell explains how to
outsource, and, more important, why or why not to outsource. He
quantifies the benefits you can realistically expect from
outsourcing and how to outsource successfully, as well as
identifying the best alternatives.
Please contact
seminars@construx.com
to inquire about any of these talks.
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