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Friday 29th August 2008

PAST EVENT: 2nd Annual Six Sigma in Software and IT Conference The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, Boston, MA, USA (Conference: July 18-19, 2007 Workshops: July 17, 2007)

[ Overview ] [ Key Speakers ] [ Agenda and Speakers ] [ Workshops & Special Events ] [ Networking Opportunities ]

[ Who Should Attend ] [ Prices, Discounts and Key Terms ] [ Travel and Accommodation ]

[ Frequently Asked Questions ] [ Documentation, Tapes and CDs ]

Overview

Overview & Key Topics :

This is a past conference. To view the forthcoming conference in this series please visit Current Conference

Maximizing Cost-Saving Efficiencies, Delivery Capabilities and Customer Expectations through Business Performance Excellence. This unique conference agenda has been specifically designed to confront the different challenges of Process Management, Lean and Six Sigma for quality and cost savings within IT and software engineering. Wherever you are on your Six Sigma journey, or whether you have chosen an alternative route to achieve business excellence, this conference caters to your learning needs.

WCBF understands that quality professionals within Software and IT will have differing needs and demands for Six Sigma depending on the nature, size, resources and commitment of the organization.

For these very reasons we concentrate our efforts on researching and building agendas that aim to appeal to varying types of organizations and enable our participants to successfully confront the diverse challenges associated with business process excellence.

WCBF’s Global Six Sigma Summit (www.gsssa.com) will host The Global Six Sigma Awards, given to the most outstanding organizational achievements through the application of Six Sigma methodologies. The focus of this awards program is to demonstrate to the global business community the real results and excellence which organizations achieve through the successful implementation of Six Sigma.

The Awards will be judged by a panel of esteemed judges in the Six Sigma arena, coming from industry and publishing backgrounds. The winning organizations will be presented with their awards at the Global Six Sigma Awards Gala Dinner on Wednesday October 24th, 2007 at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

For more details of the judges, categories and criteria, click on The Global Six Sigma Awards. or email flora.hamilton@wcbf.com

Key Speakers

KEYNOTE:

Major General Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
Vice Commander, Electronic Systems Center
HANSCOM AFB, MA

EXPERT SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Brian Andes
Master Black Belt, Industry Standard Server Group
HP

Rich Boucher
Lean Six Sigma Deployment Leader: IT, EMC Six Sigma Program Management Office
EMC CORPORATION

Jill Brooks
NCS, North Texas, Software Process Liaison
RAYTHEON

Victor H. Certuche
President
THE TECHNOLOGY SOUL GROUP

Randal Childers
Vice President, Product Development and Quality
MCKESSON PROVIDER TECHNOLOGIES

Bret Dodd
R&D Section Manager
HP

Jay Douglass
Director, Business Development, Europe
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE (SEI), CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

Richard Frost
Global Director, Systems Process and Program Management
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION

Rick Hefner
Director, Process Management
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION

Steven F. Hodlin
Vice President, Business Excellence
DST OUTPUT

Kay Kendall
Director & Master Black Belt
SUN MICROSYSTEMS

Trindy LeForge
Senior Principal Software Engineer
RAYTHEON

Sterling Mortensen
President
BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY CONSULTING

Jim Nash
SEI-Authorized CMMI® Lead Appraiser and Instructor, (Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University )
NASH LABORATORIES, INC.

Tricia McNair
Director, SSPD-SW, Master Black Belt, Software DFSS
MOTOROLA

Tony L Strickland
Principal Quality Assurance Engineer, Certified Expert
RAYTHEON

Rowan Teh
Change Manager/Black Belt, Organization Change Management & Professional Services
ATOS ORIGIN

Agenda and Speakers

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 - Conference Day #1

7:30 REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST

8:30 WELCOME BY THE CHAIR

Rich Boucher
Lean Six Sigma Deployment Leader: IT, EMC Six Sigma Program Management Office
EMC CORPORATION

8:40 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT WORK – HOW TO TURN THE TIDE AROUND

The phrase "It's good enough for government work" originated in World War II. It was during a time when the likes of "Rosie the Riveter" were made famous as we worked hard to provide our allies and our very own soldiers the ships, planes and weapons to fight and win the war against the Axis powers. When the phrase was used during this period it meant it was good enough to pass very stringent standards. It also meant it was good enough to be used by our sons, fathers and loved ones in our country's fight against the enemy. While the meaning may have changed, we ARE at war now. I cannot explain how the meaning of the phrase changed. I do know that each of us in the service of our country can and must do our part to bring back the original meaning of the phrase. The Question is how?
Major General Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
Vice Commander, Electronic Systems Center
HANSCOM AFB, MA

9:30 HOW CAN A COMPANY DEPLOY SIX SIGMA FROM THE GROUND UP? BOTTOM-UP DEPLOYMENT OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

Deploying Lean Six Sigma in an organization can be a predicament. Often, senior management wholeheartedly agrees with the concepts, tools, and methodology when introduced to Lean Six Sigma. At the same time they want to see results, proof that it works and brings value to their organization. This session focuses on how to produce results by leveraging change agents in the organization and aligning results to strategic initiatives. The approach emphasizes building momentum from the ground up. One that works with the culture and links the existing solution framework, such as existing IT methodologies like Phases & Gates and / or ITIL, to DMAIC. This will include lessons learned that will enable a deployment to transition from “push” to “pull”.
- Aligning Six Sigma to existing IT solution methodologies or frameworks
- Practical perspectives on an instance when Six Sigma implementation was difficult: lessons learned, hurdles overcome, how the project was salvaged
- Deployment dos and don'ts
Rich Boucher
Lean Six Sigma Deployment Leader: IT, EMC Six Sigma Program Management Office
EMC CORPORATION

10:20 MORNING REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING

10:50 INTEGRATING SIX SIGMA WITH OTHER QUALITY-RELATED IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

- Exploring similarities and differences between Six Sigma and other quality improvement methodologies, including CMMI and Lean
- Comparing full-scale deployment versus project by project implementation
- Using change management approaches to promote collaboration versus competition between initiatives
Kay Kendall
Director & Master Black Belt
SUN MICROSYSTEMS
Jim Nash
SEI-Authorized CMMI® Lead Appraiser and Instructor, (Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University)
NASH LABORATORIES, INC.

11:40 ANALYSIS OF AN INTEGRATED QUALITY SYSTEM

ANALYSIS OF AN INTEGRATED QUALITY SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES BALDRIGE PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE CRITERIA AS THE SHELL, WITH LEAN AND SIX SIGMA THE IMPROVEMENT DRIVERS, ISO 9000 AS A STANDARDIZATION TOOL, AND THE CAPABILITY MATURITY MODEL AS A MODEL FOR SOFTWARE
- Comparison of Lean vs. Six Sigma – how are they interlinked?
- Making projects work through Lean and Six Sigma
- Applying Lean principles to IT and software development
Steven F. Hodlin
Vice President, Business Excellence
DST OUTPUT

12:30 LUNCH AND NETWORKING

13:30 BEST PRACTICE APPLICATIONS OF SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY TO SOFTWARE

- Assessing quality problems and steps to improving key processes in software product development
- Identifying and removing costly design flaws through effective design analysis tools vs. testing the finished product
- Achieving quality in software testing and maintenance
- Gap analysis of software
- Data requirements for defect analysis and software inspections
- Dealing with the critical issues within an often complicated process - Six Sigma and tips in software product delivery and software process improvement
Randal Childers
Vice President, Product Development and Quality
MCKESSON PROVIDER TECHNOLOGIES

14:20 EXPERIENCES WITH SIX SIGMA IN SOFTWARE

- Customer needs and data to trigger use of Six Sigma
- Mini-cases illustrating execution of Six Sigma
- Concrete results of Six Sigma activities
Jill Brooks
NCS, North Texas, Software Process Liaison
RAYTHEON

15:10 AFTERNOON REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING

15:40 EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATING SOFTWARE DESIGN FOR SIX SIGMA (DFSS) WITH SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

- Identifying Key DFSS tools to use in the appropriate software development lifecycle phase
- Assessing what software methodologies best fit DFSS
- Evaluating ways to optimize and verify the software using DFSS
Tricia McNair
Director, SSPD-SW, Master Black Belt, Software DFSS
MOTOROLA

16:30 THE CMMI ACQUISITION MODEL (CMMI-ACQ), QUALITY AND TESTING STRATEGIES

Many organizations acquire the majority of their systems rather than build systems themselves. The process of acquiring systems is significantly different than developing systems. The CMMI Acquisition Model (CMMI-ACQ) is an organizational maturity model that recognizes functions specific to the process of acquiring systems. The CMMI-ACQ model incorporates generic and specific practices essential to commercial and government organizations. When organizations acquire systems, they relinquish certain aspects of the process to suppliers. Because aspects of the process are outside of their direct control, the established organizational quality procedures will usually not apply. To compensate for this, organizations must develop strategies to assure quality of the delivered systems and provide metrics to support their quality initiatives. This session will provide:
- An overview of the CMMI-ACQ
- Highlight the differences between system development and acquisition processes
- Review approaches for assuring quality throughout the acquisition process
Richard Frost
Global Director, Systems Process and Program Management
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION

17:20 Q&A AND CHAIRMAN'S CONCLUDING REMARKS FOR END OF CONFERENCE DAY ONE

17:30 COCKTAIL PARTY AND NETWORKING RECEPTION

Thursday, July 19th, 2007 - Conference Day #2

7:30 BREAKFAST FOR SPEAKERS AND DELEGATES

8:30 WELCOME TO DAY TWO AND RECAP OF DAY ONE BY THE CHAIR

Jay Douglass
Director, Business Development, Europe
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE (SEI), CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

8:40 SYNERGIZING SIX SIGMA AND QUALITY METHODS TO MAXIMIZE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Six Sigma by itself is a strong improvement methodology. In combination with other quality-related improvement activities, it can be a powerful enabler. In particular, model-based improvement methods such as the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and ISO 9000 may produce a certificate for the wall, but fail to offer any real improvement in project or organizational performance. Judicious application of specific Six Sigma tools and techniques provide an easy mechanism to achieving higher product quality, lower cost, and faster time-to-market. This presentation will compare and contrast the benefits of Six Sigma, CMMI, and ISO, and suggest ways to synergize the efforts for mutual benefit. The focus will be on practical, pragmatic approaches which reduce process overhead and bureaucracy, while focusing on business goals. Examples, taken from the successful Northrop Grumman implementation, will be presented.
Rick Hefner
Director, Process Management
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION

9:30 PROCESS IMPROVEMENT IN MULTI-MODEL ENVIRONMENTS: AN INVESTIGATION

The number of process improvement and best practice models is rapidly growing worldwide. For many organizations the situation has become so complex, that they simultaneously execute improvement programs without really being aware of the inter-relationships and potential synergies between these models. Ultimately, this often leads to organizational conflict and suboptimal results in improvement programs. The talk will be based on the early work at the SEI that is investigating a solution set to this emerging problem.
Jay Douglass
Director, Business Development, Europe
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE (SEI), CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

10:20 MORNING REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING

10:50 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT [OCM] SKILLS AND STRATEGIES

Whether implementing a process improvement or an IT system project, managing the change in people will always be a key success factor. The field of Organizational Change Management (OCM) has been widely researched by academics and practitioners with many studies identifying it as a major reason for project failures. Six Sigma projects are no different. The challenge for Six Sigma projects is embedding OCM strategies within the rigor of the DMAIC methodology. This presentation aims to overcome this challenge by providing practical OCM strategies for Six Sigma projects. References will be made to Lean Six Sigma and ERP implementation projects where these OCM strategies have been successfully proven.
- Organizational change management strategies for achieving the right support for Six Sigma initiatives
- Skills required to implement cultural change in the organization to adapt to Six Sigma
- Role of leadership in change management: developing a workforce of leaders who can manage change
- Overcoming peoples resistance to change
Rowan Teh
Change Manager/Black Belt, Organization Change Management & Professional Services
ATOS ORIGIN

11:40 IMPROVING SIX SIGMA PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT PRIORITIZATION PROCESSES

- Project management for Six Sigma – managing Six Sigma from beginning to end
- Identifying opportunities, selecting, prioritising and resourcing critical projects
- Getting the right resources (internal and contract) into the projects
- Establishing project ownership
- Setting realistic targets and budgets
- Establishing better processes for quantifying measurable benefits from the projects
- Rapid closure of projects to impact bottom line savings
Tony L Strickland
Principal Quality Assurance Engineer , Certified Expert
RAYTHEON
Trindy LeForge
Senior Principal Software Engineer
RAYTHEON

12:30 LUNCH AND NETWORKING

13:30 USING FLOW TO TRANSFORM SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT - APPLYING LEAN TO NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

HP's Laser Print business is well regarded for being successful and well managed. It does rapid development of complex embedded software to support new printers. However, recently HP has begun to transform its development process by focusing on flow. It has been able to quickly achieve surprising improvements in efficiency, cycle time, quality and risk management. This presentation will focus on how this was done. It will discuss:
- The underlying logic behind the changes
- How the changes were sold within the organization
- Which actions had the greatest impact on flow
- How the change process was measured and optimized
- The anticipated and unanticipated benefits of the change
- Lessons learned during the change process
Bret Dodd
R&D Section Manager
HP
Sterling Mortensen
President
BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY CONSULTING

14:20 GUARANTEEING RESULTS: CASE STUDIES IN REDUCING PRODUCT COST AT HEWLETT-PACKARD

The presenter will review how two of HP's more successful improvement projects were carried out and will also discuss how HP manages improvement. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of the different types of improvement projects and the prime considerations in guaranteeing that desired results are achieved.
Brian Andes
Master Black Belt, Industry Standard Server Group
HP

15:10 Q&A

This short Q&A session gives you the opportunity to ask specific questions and discuss the key issues and challenges raised during the day's practical case study presentations

15:20 SUMMING UP AND CHAIRMAN'S CLOSING REMARKS

15:30 END OF CONFERENCE

Workshops & Special Events

17th July 2007: Workshop A

17th July 2007: Workshop B

17th July 2007: Workshop C

08:30 - 11.:15 (includes breakfast) : 17th July 2007: Workshop A

FAILURES TO PROJECT EXECUTION AND THE USE OF SIX SIGMA TO PREDICT, DIAGNOSE AND RESOLVE ISSUES PREVENTING SUCCESSFUL PROJECT EXECUTION

State of the Industry:
- Only 28% of projects delivered on time and on budget
- More than 50% projects cancelled
- Formal, informal processes promoted to solve the problem
- Tools from all vendors touting better control

It comes down to data:
- Learn to use Six Sigma and Lean to define the project execution path that is right for your organization
- Setup a plan that you can truly believe based on industry data and your own data
- Use our basic models to kick start the process and tailor it while you execute
- Use it for Agile or RUP or any other process that you want.
- Learn to use the tools to eradicate places to hide for unproductive people
- Create a culture of commitment and accountability

ABOUT YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER:

Victor H. Certuche, President, THE TECHNOLOGY SOUL GROUP
Victor H Certuche founded The Technology SOUL Group, Inc, in 1997, a process improvement consulting firm. With a strong background in software life cycle, change management and process engineering, Victor’s success in business systems integration was perfect timing for the software industry maturity. Building systems based on business requirements provided the background necessary to launch The Technology SOUL Group, Inc. as a think tank firm. Victor’s work at The Technology SOUL Group, Inc focused on establishing very specific steps to develop software using the latest methodologies and techniques. In addition to training, coaching and tutoring many organizations, Victor lectured at his very early age for a university in the fields of computing. He has also presented in several seminars, events and conferences on a variety of topics, always with a very practical approach.
As SLDC Architect for Aegis Mortgage Corporation, in Houston, Victor called the attention of several publications (ADT, CIO Magazine, Borland Case) for his innovative work. Lately as Senior Consultant for Valtech, Victor is helping in one of the largest contracts Valtech has been awarded, by utilizing his skills in formal processes and tailoring them for Agile environments.
As leader of the Houston Rational Users Group and the SPIN Houston, Victor is trying to awaken a whole set of industries in the region that can tremendously benefit from process improvement in general, and software process improvement in particular.

11:30 - 14: 15 (includes lunch) : 17th July 2007: Workshop B

HOW A PROCESS MATURITY APPROACH ENHANCES SIX SIGMA AND LEAN INITIATIVES IN SOFTWARE AND IT

Objectives - As a result of attending this workshop, participants will:
- Develop a basic understanding of a process maturity model and how it leads to improved project selection
- Understand how Six Sigma integrates and complements other quality improvement approaches
- Define and measure the elements of Cost of Poor Quality in software development
- Identify metrics that support organizational improvement and change those that inhibit cultural change
- Practice the following tools and methods
- Goal, question, metric paradigm
- Simplified QFD
- CTQ flowdown as part of requirements analysis
- Apply statistical tolerancing methods to planning
- Select the approaches that respond best to different types of opportunities

ABOUT YOUR WORKSHOP LEADERS:

Kay Kendall, Director and Master Black Belt, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Ms. Kendall has spent more than 15 years as a quality executive leading large-scale change initiatives across diverse industries – aerospace, semiconductor automation equipment, computers and storage devices, and pharmaceuticals. She has extensive experience using the Baldrige Criteria, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Balanced Scorecards, Hoshin Kanri, and benchmarking to deliver results.
Ms. Kendall completed her third year on the Panel of Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program after serving as an Examiner and Senior Examiner for the Program for six years. She returned to serve as a Senior Alumni in 2006. She is currently a Judge for the MassExcellence Program. She was just elected to the position of Chair for the Board of the MassExcellence Program. She served as a Judge for the California Award for Performance Excellence in 2001 and 2002 and was reappointed for another 3-year term in 2005.
Ms. Kendall is a Senior Member in the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and an ASQ Certified Quality Manager. She has served as an editor on the ASQ Quality Press Review Board since 2002. She is beginning her second two-year term as a National Director for the ASQ Board where she also chairs the Research Committee.
Ms. Kendall holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University with a major in microbiology and an MBA from the University of Arizona Eller School of Business.

Jim Nash, SEI-Authorized CMMI® Lead Appraiser and Instructor, (Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University), NASH LABORATORIES, INC.
Jim Nash has a successful 28 year history in software development, marketing and management, with a focus in software quality assurance. Jim has balanced his experience with fortune 100 employers and clients, such as Tektronix, Intel, and General Electric, with work at venture-funded startups, and most recently, with experience at his consulting firm, Nash Laboratories®, Inc.
While leading embedded development teams at General Electric, Jim became involved in GE’s Six Sigma Quality program, and completed work leading to his certification as a Master Black Belt. Complementing this statistical focus, Jim also earned CMMI® Lead Appraiser and CMMI® Trainer, and People-CMM Appraiser credentials from the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University, and established Nash Laboratories® as a member of the SEI Partner Network.
Jim earned a BS in Computer Science as a National Merit Scholar at Michigan State University, and did graduate work in computer science and linguistics. Jim has served as an Instructor and Assistant Professor at Michigan State and Gannon University, and continues to teach extensively in the private sector.
Jim is a co-inventor for 3 US patents, and has another patent pending. Jim is certified as a Software Quality Engineer by the American Society for Quality (ASQ), and is a member of the ASQ, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the IEEE.

14:30 - 17:15 (includes refreshements) : 17th July 2007: Workshop C

SUCCESSFULLY MANAGING CHANGE WITH SIX SIGMA

For effective Six Sigma deployment buy-in at all levels is crucial. This workshop will equip you with tools and techniques to manage cultural change to advance and sustain a successful Six Sigma approach.

TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED INCLUDE:

Linking organizational change management with Six Sigma to gain top management commitment: how to lead cultural change
- Identifying key stakeholders in a six sigma initiative
- Developing a communication plan to ensure momentum in a six sigma initiative
- Conducting business impact analysis to communicate change
- Forming an extended change team to lead change from the bottom-up
- Sustaining results through meaningful key performance indicators

ABOUT YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER:

Rowan Teh, Change Manager/Black Belt, Organization Change Management & Professional Services, ATOS ORIGIN
Atos Origin is a global IT services company providing business consulting, systems integration and managed operations that improve the effectiveness of its clients’ businesses. Mr. Teh is a Change Manager in the Consulting & Systems Integration service line of Atos Origin based in Dallas, Texas. He has over 9 years of experience in ERP consulting and specializes in helping organizations manage the impact of organizational-wide change from Lean Six Sigma and ERP implementation projects. In recent years he worked on large international projects with clients including an American events management company, Saudi Arabian oil company, and New Zealand forestry company. One of his recent projects was selected as a finalist at the 2006 Global Six Sigma awards under the category of Lean and Six Sigma. He has certifications as Black Belt Lean Six Sigma, ISO Internal Auditor and SAP consultant and is a co-inventor of a US patent for an Organizational Realignment model. He holds a Masters (with Distinction) and Bachelor degrees in Management Information Systems and Marketing & International Management.

Networking Opportunities

The Six Sigma Software conference will bring together senior-level quality and process improvement professionals from a broad range of organizations.

One of the key benefits of attending this conference is the networking opportunities you will find.

Organizations wishing to take further advantage of these opportunities should contact Louise Gosling of WCBF about taking an exhibition booth or sponsoring one of the lunches, breaks or evening receptions.

Email: louise.gosling@wcbf.com

Who Should Attend

WCBF’s Six Sigma in Software conference has been extensively researched and specifically tailored to meet the requirements and interests of professionals working within this industry.

You will benefit from this conference if you are a:

Software Development Engineer/Manager

VP/SVP/Head/Director of:

Quality

Business Excellence

Process Management/Improvement/Excellence

Operations

Six Sigma

Six Sigma:

Program Leader/Sponsor

Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive or Manager within:

Call Center

Help Desks

Prices, Discounts and Key Terms

Prices

	FULL PRICE	EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT PRICE BEFORE 06/08/07	BONUS DISCOUNT PRICE BEFORE 05/18/07
Conference & three Workshops (A, B, C)	$3942	Save $400! $3542	Save $500! $3442
Conference & two Workshops (choose from A, B, C)	$3393	Save $300! $3093	Save $400! $2993
Conference & one Workshop (choose from A, B, C)	$2844	Save $200! $2644	Save $300! $2544
Conference Only	$2295	Save $100! $2195	Save $200! $2095