--Software Engineering Institute Workshop-- Offered by the Abelia Corporation Introducing New Software Technology

"The instructor's knowledge and organization, his ability to express ideas, and his interaction with the students were all excellent."
F.W. (Bill) Hafner, Ph.D., Manager - Systems Engineering, Tybrin Corp.
"This workshop was highly relevant to my work and it met my expectations. It was excellently organized. "
Frank Farrell, Staff Engineer, QUALCOMM
"Eighty per cent or more of the workshop subject matter was relevant to me. The 'why-why' analysis and the overall model will be particularly useful."
Lorna Tyler, Training Manager, Crownlife Canada

 

Quick  
    Facts... 
 
 

SEI's Technology Transition Model (TXM) 
The Technology Transition Model (TXM) is an organized way to lead the adoption of new technology. It consists of eight, practical activities. A vision underlies the model, that some cases of adopting a new technology are so important and difficult to carry out that they justify organizing the activities into a project.
Technology is defined to include tools or techniques, equipment or methods that extend human capabilities. These include today's most prominent new technologies, for example Y2K fixes, Internet tools, client / server networks, and data warehousing. Technology also includes new software processes, and new business processes including new policies and procedures. The TXM applies to all of these.
SEI has identified several simple, powerful techniques for moving through the activities of a TXM project. The TXM and these techniques jointly provide a powerful, intuitive approach to solving important technology adoption problems.
The TXM addresses the Acting phase of the SEI’s IDEAL Model in detail, at the level of an organizational unit. Many TXM projects might be needed within a single IDEAL initiative at the organization level.

 

 Description.  Manual operations by people constitute a major component of many new systems. Consequently, when a new software product or technology is introduced into an organization, it often happens that significant changes must occur in that organization to ensure successful adoption. Individuals or teams with responsibility for introducing new technologies may have general project management skills but be unfamiliar with how to plan the people side of a successful introduction. This workshop is basic training for these software change agents in the people part of change. It introduces them to the concept that technology transition situations can and should be viewed and managed as a project.  

This workshop draws heavily on practical experiences introducing technology to support key process areas of the Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®) for Software. The workshop provides streamlined, practical guidance for planning the introduction of new software engineering products or technology in organizations. Participants learn what is needed to guide and facilitate a predictable and systematic change effort that reduces impact on schedule and productivity and enables easier management of risks caused by new tools or technology.  

The key activities in software technology introduction are defined and described, with extensive examples and exercises. A case study to consolidate participants' understanding wraps up the day.  

Objectives?  After completing the workshop, participants understand the basics of being an effective change agent, including roles and tasks, and can work more effectively and efficiently to plan and manage technology-related change.  

Topics  

1. Introduction  

  • Objectives and scope of the workshop  
  • Technology introduction as a problem to solve  

2. Planning and Implementing Technology Change as a (Sub)Project  

  • Technology Transition Model (TXM) 
  • The IDEALSM Model  
  • Critical project roles
  • Stakeholder expectations -- the people factor in change
  • Risk identification
  • Choosing the proper pilot team
  • Paradigm roll-out strategies  

3. Case Study  

4. Case Study Reports  

  • From workshop members  

5. Summary  
  

Materials? Students receive the SEI handout materials for the course (which includes copies of the instructor's slides, in-class exercises, a case study, and bibliographies), a copy of The Dance of Change by Peter Senge et al. (Currency/Doubleday: New York, 1999), additional Abelia Corporation handouts, and an SEI Certificate of Completion. All handouts are prepared and distributed by Abelia Corporation in compliance with our strict standards for quality.  

Who Should Take the Workshop?  This workshop can benefit software developers and managers acting as change agents, as well as those who play a key role in introducing software tools, methods, and processes into their software development and evolution processes. Related  job descriptions might include: members of adoption teams or software engineering process groups (SEPGs), process action teams, technical working groups, or management steering groups, and change agents kicking off new improvement teams.  

Duration?  The workshop takes one full day.  

SM IDEAL is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University  
®Capability Maturity Model and CMM are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 
 

  This workshop is offered directly by the Software Engineering Institute also. Click here to open the SEI Course Description