Posted on Wed, May 01, 2013
Druckman strengthens SolutionsIQ’s integrated learning program for Agile-based transformations
Redmond, WA, May 1, 2013, SolutionsIQ, a global provider of Agile transformation services, today announced it has partnered with Angela Druckman, one of the industry’s leading trainers and thought leaders on Scrum and Agile development. Druckman, a Certified Scrum Trainer, Agile coach and author of 30 Days to Better Agile, will deliver SolutionsIQ training courses to help organizations gain a firm understanding of modern software practices and useful strategies for implementing Scrum and other essential Agile methods used to improve the software development and deployment process.
"Training is a vital element of SolutionsIQ’s integrated learning program, which includes workshops, coaching and embedding on-site Agile expert practitioners within development teams,” said Charlie Rudd, CEO for SolutionsIQ. “Angela’s extensive experience teaching and coaching Scrum and Agile throughout the world provides our students with the solid foundation in Agile concepts needed to accelerate success and build long-term value.”
“My passion is helping individuals and teams advance their skill levels and output, while leading organizations through Agile transformations that improve competitiveness and effectiveness,” said Druckman. “SolutionsIQ supports my philosophy of being hands-on, working collaboratively with organizations and aligning training to goals that benefit everyone involved. I look forward to contributing to the success of the company and the great customers they serve.”
SolutionsIQ Agile trainers are practitioners who also work regularly on projects with client organizations, helping them understand and learn first-hand how to apply Agile principles through example and real-world experiences. The company’s training courses are designed to be pragmatic and highly experiential. Upon completion, students are ready to apply Scrum and Agile methods to optimize customer satisfaction and value creation, and to receive certification from the Scrum Alliance. Organizations benefit by having properly trained — and motivated — developers working collaboratively to achieve business goals.
About the Angela Druckman
A trainer, practitioner, speaker, author, and Agile development practices coach, Angela Druckman is renowned in the industry for her continued efforts to advance the value and application of the Scrum framework. She has extensive experience introducing Scrum into organizations, building new Scrum teams, and developing and coaching product owners. She is the author of the highly acclaimed book, 30 Days to Better Agile. For complete information on Druckman and her book please visit www.AngelaDruckman.com.
About SolutionsIQ
With global reach, a large and highly experienced consulting staff and nearly a decade of Agile success across diverse industries, SolutionsIQ provides a range of services for large-scale Agile projects. The company offers the broadest range of Agile services in the industry, including certified training, coaching, management consulting, software development and on-site Agile practitioners. Based in Redmond, Wash., the company serves a growing client base of global organizations that depend on the timely release of quality software to meet strategic goals.
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Posted on Wed, Jun 27, 2012
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ, a premier provider of Agile consulting, certified training, coaching, and development, based in Redmond, Wash., has launched a new service, Agile Team Professionals. This offering helps organizations with existing Agile teams to improve team learning and efficiency by augmenting their teams with skilled Agile practitioners on a sustainable basis.
Originally established in 1979, SolutionsIQ has since become an innovator in Agile software development practices. Today the company works with customers across a variety of verticals, providing Agile training, consulting, outsourced development, and team professionals. Offering unrivaled training and consulting services, SolutionsIQ is a thought leader in the Agile software development space.
SolutionsIQ provides the right practitioners at the right time to help teams within their business context learn and solve problems more quickly. The company’s accomplished Agile consultants work side-by-side with existing team members and are able to quickly identify the root causes of obstacles that impede team progress and suggest alternatives for their resolution. By exemplifying Agile principles and values, Agile Team Professionals help teams achieve the goals of self-direction and autonomy more quickly and effectively.
“New teams quickly realize that practicing Agile in the real world is never as easy as it seemed in the classroom. Experienced Agile teams are often frustrated by their inability to find new members that not only know but also embrace Agile and can hit the ground running,” said Charlie Rudd, CEO, SolutionsIQ. “When results fall short of expectations, our professionals know what might work better and why.”
The company has 10 years of experience in delivering business value with Agile, both externally (to help their customers achieve their delivery goals) and internally (to run their company). It is exceptionally well-qualified to help fill these pivotal roles: ScrumMasters, Product Owners, Agile Developers, Test Automation Engineers, and Agile Analysts and Program Managers.
“Demand has been growing in the marketplace for this type of service, and we are one of the first Agile companies to offer it as part of our consulting services,” said Julia Francis, Vice President of Business Operations, SolutionsIQ. “We’re excited to be able to help our international client base reach new levels of agility by engaging our Agile consultants on-site with their teams, where they can directly impact and enhance productivity and results.”
About SolutionsIQ
A leading provider of Agile Consulting, Certified Training, Coaching, Development, and Team Professionals, SolutionsIQ delivers a comprehensive solution for companies seeking to leverage Agile principles and practices to deliver innovative solutions.
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Posted on Tue, Feb 21, 2012
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ, a leading provider of Agile consulting certified training, coaching, development, and Agile talent services, proudly announces the hire of Joe Justice as a managing consultant. Justice is the founder of WIKISPEED, a green automotive-prototyping company that utilizes Agile methods to build cars.
WIKISPEED is currently building a mass-manufacturable, ultra-low-cost, 100-mpg commuter car. Based in Seattle and led by Justice, WIKISPEED is an all-volunteer distributed Agile/Scrum team — members contribute their work from various locations and iteratively enhance the vehicle every two weeks. This model allows extremely high-speed development, especially when paired with rapid prototyping manufacturing tools.
“Joe began as many of us have, helping clients with Agile software development capabilities," said Charlie Rudd, CEO, SolutionsIQ. “What he has done with the WIKISPEED project is nothing short of revolutionary. What Joe brings to the table is the ability to exploit the full value of the Agile practices that have proven so useful in software engineering to new domains, including manufacturing. What makes this success so remarkable is that the WIKISPEED team is a globally-distributed group of volunteers with limited training who have produced not just a car, but a car with breakout performance.”
“I’m thrilled to join the SolutionsIQ team,” said Justice. “SolutionsIQ has been doing Agile for a long time and has one of the most comprehensive service portfolios in the industry.”
About SolutionsIQ
With more than 30 years of experience, SolutionsIQ has a deep understanding of software delivery excellence. The company’s broad range of consulting and training services is essential to any Agile development project or transformation. As a thought leader in the Agile community, SolutionsIQ is uniquely equipped to help its international client base leverage Agile software development and project management methods to deliver solutions more reliably.
Posted on Tue, Oct 25, 2011
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ today announces it is now approved by Project Management Institute as a PMI Registered Education Provider (REP).
PMI REPs are educational organizations that have demonstrated that they are capable of providing world-class effective project management training. Through PMI’s rigorous quality criteria for course content, instructor qualification, and instructional design, REPs provide the project management training necessary to earn and to maintain Project Management Professional (PMP)®, Program Management Professional (PgMP)®, and other PMI professional credentials.
SolutionsIQ offers both public and private Agile training courses that are appropriate for any role — software delivery teams, programmers, testers, other engineers, and project managers, as well as business leaders and executives. The hands-on training provides the knowledge and skills required to realize the full benefits of Agile.
“PMI will soon offer Agile certification via its PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) Program”, said Charlie Rudd, CEO, SolutionsIQ. “The program will validate the ability of practitioners to understand Agile principles and concepts so they can demonstrate to employers and project stakeholders that the use of Agile is among their project management skills, and that they can apply its techniques based on project needs. SolutionsIQ’s Certified ScrumMaster Training and Certified Scrum Product Owner Training will prepare students for certification — each course’s 14 PDUs count toward the 21 that are required for the credential.”
“PMI’s recent survey of training providers shows that 80 percent of organizations seeking suppliers of project management training strongly prefer to work with PMI REPs. They view their affiliation with PMI, as the leading standard-setting professional association for project management, as a stamp of quality on the training services they purchase,” said Edwin Andrews, Ph.D., director of academic and educational programs and services at PMI. “Organizations want to protect their investment in project management training, and they know that a PMI REP delivers such training in a cost-effective and efficient manner.”
Currently, there are over 1,400 REPs in more than 70 countries. These organizations include commercial training providers that design complete educational systems, academic institutions, internal training offices at corporations and government agencies.
About SolutionsIQ
With more than 30 years of experience, SolutionsIQ has a deep understanding of software delivery excellence. The company’s broad range of consulting and training services are essential to any Agile development project or transformation, and gives customers the tools and collaboration they need to succeed. SolutionsIQ is uniquely equipped to help organizations leverage modern Agile software development and project management methods to deliver solutions more reliably, with less risk and at lower cost.
About Project Management Institute (PMI)
PMI is the world’s largest project management member association, representing more than half a million practitioners in over 185 countries. As a global thought leader and knowledge resource, PMI advances the profession through its global standards and credentials, collaborative chapters and virtual communities and academic research. When organizations invest in project management, supported by PMI, executives have confidence their important initiatives deliver expected results, greater business value and competitive advantage. Learn more at www.pmi.org.
Posted on Wed, Jul 06, 2011
Redmond, WA —
Rafael Sabbagh, a Certified Scrum Practitioner, ScrumMaster, and Scrum coach in Brazil, has written an in-depth recap of Scrum Gathering Seattle. Bryan Stallings, a Certified Scrum Trainer and director at SolutionsIQ, was the conference chair for this fun and educational event. The Gathering was a huge success -- the willingness of all the attendees to participate, learn, share stories about how they implement Scrum at their companies (or not), and help each other solve problems was very inspirational to everyone who was there.
From Rafael:
Scrum Global Gathering: Seattle 2011 was held from 16 to 18 May 2011. I believe this was the best, in several respects, among the six Scrum Gatherings I attended. The sessions were rich in novelties, the speakers were high level and the attendants were motivated and engaged in harnessing the event to the fullest. There were several concurrent sessions, but this time I chose by the names of the speakers, among whom were Mike Cohn, Alistair Cockburn and Jeff Patton. One of the good ideas of the organization was purposely set the coffee breaks more frequent and longer, in order to promote conversation among the attendants and the exchange of contacts. Another great idea was to put Scrum Coaches available to participants to schedule individual coaching sessions during the Gathering...
Read the rest of Rafael's great summary at the Scrum Alliance website.
Posted on Tue, Jun 07, 2011
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ, a premier provider of Agile training, coaching, consulting, and distributed Agile software development based in Redmond, Wash., has launched a new course, Essential Practices for Agile Developers. As part of SolutionsIQ’s world-class Agile training curriculum, this course further solidifies the company’s leadership role in certified Agile education.
Essential Practices for Agile Developers is a course designed for software developers interested in learning the development and collaboration practices used by the most experienced Agile teams to achieve breakout performance and enduring quality. Offered in both Java and C#, the course fulfills the three-day technical training requirement that is part of earning the Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) credential from the Scrum Alliance.
The course is structured as a hands-on software development project interleaved with lectures, demonstrations, and group discussions. Participants learn Agile practices by using them as part of a Scrum Team and incrementally delivering a software product from an emergent backlog of features.
“We are passionate about offering the very best in comprehensive Agile training for any role – software delivery teams, programmers, testers, other engineers, and project managers, as well as business leaders and executives”, said Charlie Rudd, CEO, SolutionsIQ. “Essential Practices for Agile Developers joins our long and growing list of public and private courses that empower students with the knowledge necessary to successfully implement Agile and Scrum in their organizations.”
In addition to taking this new course, students who want to earn the CSD credential must also complete an additional two days of technical curriculum. The company’s Certified Scrum Master Training or Certified Scrum Product Owner Training fulfills this requirement, enabling students to fast-track their certification through Agile training coursework at SolutionsIQ.
“We’ve had an overwhelming response to Essential Practices for Agile Developers,” said Julia Francis, Director of Sales and Operations, SolutionsIQ. “Students are very excited about the course and motivated by the fact that they can accelerate the process of earning their CSD by taking all of the Agile training required courses in one place – here at SolutionsIQ.”
The addition of Essential Practices for Agile Developers to their extensive list of course offerings and workshops is yet another example of SolutionsIQ’s ongoing commitment to providing cutting-edge Agile software training. Look for more exciting developments from SolutionsIQ as the company works to develop new Agile courses and curriculum to meet the evolving needs of the software development industry.
About SolutionsIQ
With more than 30 years of experience, SolutionsIQ has a deep understanding of software delivery excellence. The company’s broad range of consulting and training services are essential to any Agile development project or transformation, and gives customers the tools and collaboration they need to succeed. SolutionsIQ is uniquely equipped to help organizations leverage modern Agile software development and project management methods to deliver solutions more reliably, with less risk and at lower cost.
Posted on Wed, Mar 30, 2011
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ, a premier provider of Agile coaching, consulting, training, and distributed Agile software development based in Redmond, Wash., delivered vital Agile coaching and process improvements for PowerAdvocate, the company announced today. The organizational transformation has significantly improved PowerAdvocate’s time to market by delivering software more reliably, with less risk and at lower cost.
“We tried unsuccessfully for six months to adopt Agile methods for software delivery”, said Gary Fortier, Vice President of Operations, PowerAdvocate. “SolutionsIQ came in and taught us Agile principles, which then spread organically across all of our teams. Scrum has become a pretty significant point of pride for the company. To be honest, I expected turnover; the reality is that we’ve not lost a single person as a result of the change from waterfall to Scrum. Now we’re excited about how we make software. It’s kind of unbelievable.”
Four PowerAdvocate Scrum delivery teams are now delivering and supporting six products. The time required to prepare a release for production is now six working days, compared to the three-week timeframe required a year earlier, and no issues are encountered during deployments to production. The company's in-house Agile coach now provides training and support for new employees and existing teams, while facilitating retrospectives, planning processes, and delivery tracking for business groups outside of the software development group. A year after the initial engagement began, PowerAdvocate filled an entire (previously empty) floor with co-located and cooperating Scrum delivery teams that regularly and frequently release to their growing customer base.
“We were pleased to help PowerAdvocate implement Agile processes and delivery improvements”, said Michael Tardiff, Senior Consultant and Agile Coach, SolutionsIQ. “By the end of six months, the company had seen so much value from SolutionsIQ’s presence that the engagement had been extended twice. Production time has been significantly reduced, and the entire development process is now seamless, agile, and faster thanks to the successful reengineering efforts.”
With more than 30 years of experience, SolutionsIQ has a deep understanding of software delivery excellence. The company’s broad range of consulting and training services are essential to any Agile development project or transformation, and gives customers the tools and collaboration they need to succeed. SolutionsIQ is uniquely equipped to help organizations leverage modern Agile software development and project management methods to deliver solutions more reliably, with less risk and at lower cost.
SolutionsIQ’s case study about the project is available on the company’s website.
About PowerAdvocate
PowerAdvocate provides global supply market insights and solutions to energy companies to optimize financial results. The company combines best-in-class information, innovative technology, and expert services to help its customers make better informed decisions. PowerAdvocate’s Energy Intelligence Platform and advisory services span the energy value chain, in wind, solar, fossil, oil and gas, and transmission and delivery.
About SolutionsIQ
SolutionsIQ is a leading provider of Agile consulting and training. The company offers a full array of technical consultng, softwre delivery, and talent acquisition services that together form a complete software development solution. For more than thirty years, SolutionsIQ has combined a hands-on approach with deep technical expertise to serve clients that range from the early stage startup to the Fortune 500.
Posted on Fri, Feb 11, 2011
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ recently had the great fortune of co-hosting a talk by Joe Justice. He spoke before a special joint meeting of SeaSpin (Seattle, Eastside Area Software Process Improvement Network), the local IEEE Compter Society, and SASQAG (Seattle Area Software Quality Assurance Group) held at our Agile Learning Center in Redmond.
Joe mesmerized the crowd as he described how he and his international, highly collaborative team built a 100 mpg road car in 3 months. He shared how he ported software-team best practices back to their roots to compete for $10 million in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. Driven by a desire to optimize automotive performance while minimizing cost and environmental impact, Joe formed WIKISPEED, a small, volunteer-driven team. They are manufacturing a revolutionary gasoline powered, four-seat car with a target price of $17,995. Joe walked us through how they are accomplishing the seemingly impossible and how the application of Agile practices is key to his team's success.
Read more about this special project on TechFlash and in The Agile CEO, a SolutionsIQ blog authored by our CEO, Charlie Rudd.
Posted on Wed, Dec 01, 2010
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ, a premier provider of distributed Agile software development, and Agile coaching, consulting, and training, today announced it has delivered vital Web site improvements for the Washington Scholarship Coalition. The enhancements to theWashBoard.org have streamlined the process for students in the state of Washington to find and apply for scholarships and funding for higher education.
“Working with the SolutionsIQ team was a very high-quality experience,” said Jeff Nicholls, project manager, Washington Scholarship Coalition. “Because of our close partnership there was a high percentage of ‘getting it right the first time’. The fact that the team was very quick to become familiar technically with the application enabled us to run very quickly and efficiently. SolutionsIQ’s Agile development methods are a great way to incorporate changes and deliver results quickly.”
The new site, backed by local media coverage and a focused marketing effort to get more providers to list their scholarships, has attracted many new student-seekers (a 14 percent increase) and providers (+5 percent) since its deployment in late October. The Phase Two enhancements have generated excitement among providers who are looking forward to posting their scholarships for the upcoming academic year: nearly two-thirds of registered providers surveyed reported a “very good” or “great” experience on theWashBoard.org, and they consider the most important features of the site to be the fact that it is free, Washington-focused, and now has a range of flexible administrative options.
“We were pleased to help the Coalition with functionality improvements,” said David Wylie, director of Agile Development Services for SolutionsIQ. “It’s very important to match students with available scholarships, and the technical improvements we delivered have enhanced the process of searching and applying for funding. It’s especially rewarding to reach low-income students and those who are the first in their families to seek a higher education.”
With more than 30 years of experience, SolutionsIQ has a deep understanding of software delivery excellence. The company’s broad range of consulting and training services are essential to any Agile project or transformation, and gives customers the tools and collaboration they need to succeed. SolutionsIQ is uniquely equipped to help organizations leverage modern Agile project management and software development methods to deliver solutions more reliably, with less risk and at lower cost.
More information about this initiative and theWashBoard.org is available in the Seattle Times article. SolutionsIQ’s case study about the project is available from our Web site as a Resource.
About the Washington Scholarship Coalition
The Washington Scholarship Coalition is a public/private collaboration among foundations, state government, financial aid experts, and higher education professionals, established to improve access to higher education for students in Washington State. The Coalition seeks to ensure more students apply for scholarships; that the process of finding scholarships is made significantly simpler, more effective, and more engaging; and that data about both the supply of and demand for scholarship dollars becomes better understood.
About SolutionsIQ
SolutionsIQ is a leading provider of Agile consulting and training. The company offers a full array of technical consulting, software delivery, and talentcition services that together form a complete software development solution. For more than thirty years, SolutionsIQ has combined a hands-on approach with deep technical expertise to serve clients that range from the early stage startup to the Fortune 500.
Posted on Mon, Aug 16, 2010
Redmond, WA —
SolutionsIQ, a premier provider of Agile coaching, consulting, training, and distributed Agile software development, today announced its strategic partnership with the Scrum Training Institute (STI) to offer Agile training and consulting for companies seeking to maximize results from Scrum and Agile development. SolutionsIQ is a partner to STI in the North America and Asia Pacific regions.
"The Scrum Training Institute is widely respected for helping well-known companies throughout the world employ the full benefit of Agile software development practices," said Charlie Rudd, CEO, SolutionsIQ. "By joining STI’s global partner network, we strengthen our ability to serve clients throughout North America and the Asia Pacific region. One thing that makes this partnership such a good fit is that we are both committed to maintaining the highest quality services as we scale our capacity to meet ever-growing worldwide demand."
With more than 30 years of experience, SolutionsIQ has a deep understanding of software delivery excellence. The company’s broad range of consulting and training services are essential to any Agile project or transformation, and gives customers the tools and collaboration they need to succeed. The new partnership with the Scrum Training Institute enables both organizations to reach out more broadly to clients as they seek to adopt and scale the Scrum method of Agile project management.
"I'm delighted to welcome SolutionsIQ to our global partner network, and we look forward to working with them to deliver the highest-quality Agile training and consulting solutions available," said Pete Deemer, a founder of the Scrum Training Institute. "SolutionsIQ has helped hundreds of companies successfully adopt and scale Agile development practices. Their knowledge and expertise is a valuable asset to the Scrum Training Institute as we extend our global reach to help organizations succeed with their Agile implementations."
Information about the Scrum Training Institute’s full range of industry-standard and specialized courses, including Certified ScrumMaster training, Test-Driven Development, Extreme Programming (XP), Agile estimating and planning, and Agile management skills, is available at scrumtraininginstitute.com/classes. For a complete schedule of the SolutionsIQ training curriculum - appropriate for any role within delivery teams such as programmers, testers, architects, and ScrumMasters, as well as business leaders, product managers, and executives - please visit solutionsiq.com/training. More information about SolutionsIQ’s world-class consulting services - which ensure that teams maximize the benefits of Agile and realize its full potential - is available at solutionsiq.com/consulting.
About the Scrum Training Institute
The Scrum Training Institute (STI) is the premier global provider of certified Scrum training and consulting. Founded by Jeff Sutherland, the co-creator of Scrum, and leading international Agile experts Gabrielle Benefield, Pete Deemer, and Jens Østergaard, STI provides a complete solution for companies seeking high-impact results from Scrum and Agile development.
About SolutionsIQ
SolutionsIQ is a leading provider of Agile consulting and training. The company offers a full array of technical consulting, software delivery, and talent acquisition services that together form a complete software development solution. For more than thirty years, SolutionsIQ has combined a hands-on approach with deep technical expertise to serve clients that rae from the early stage startup to the Fortune 500.