Calendar of Events

Cecil ‘Gary’ Rupp is a distinguished author and IT professional with over thirty years of experience in the software industry. His expertise in IT program management includes successfully managing over twenty IT projects, and coordinating efforts of up to 250 employees and contractors, with project values reaching up to $52 million. Gary is acclaimed for his proficiency in rescuing failing projects, having revitalized eight troubled software programs to meet delivery requirements within schedules and budgets.

As a software product manager, Gary led the development of an integrated computer-aided systems engineering (I-CASE) suite. He also established a flourishing IT professional services practice, growing it from zero to 200 people in three years. A dedicated Lean-Agile practices coach, Gary has trained over 600 IT specialists, integrating concepts from Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, and Nexus. Additionally, he has authored five books, including The Lean-Agile Way (2024), Driving DevOps with Value Stream Management (2021), and Scaling Scrum Across Modern Enterprises (2021).

Presentation Description

Title: Optimizing Efficiency and Agility: The Lean-Agile Way

In today’s fast-paced business and IT landscape, efficiency is crucial for success. This presentation will guide you through essential tools and strategies from Lean, Agile, and Value Stream Management (VSM) to optimize processes, reduce waste, and deliver exceptional value to customers. You will begin with foundational Lean and Agile practices, understanding the importance of digital enhancements in modernizing business processes. Discover VSM techniques to identify and prioritize work for maximum customer value and learn how Lean-Agile practices promote team collaboration and continuous product delivery. Gain executive-level insights on accessing timely information for decision-making and fostering a culture of continuous business transformation. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be empowered to drive meaningful change, optimize resources, and maintain a competitive edge in the evolving marketplace.

Learning Objectives

After this session, attendees will be able to:

• Explain how Lean principles streamline processes and remove inefficiencies.
• Understand the benefits of Agile practices in addressing complex problems and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Introduce the BLAST (Basic Lean-Agile Solutions Teams) framework to foster collaboration and accelerate problem-solving or development activities across multiple small teams.
• Implement the BASE (Business Agility System for the Enterprise) framework to drive business value to external customers by incrementally synchronizing and integrating work across multiple BLASTs.

Join us to gain invaluable insights from Gary’s extensive experience and learn how to implement Lean-Agile practices to enhance efficiency and agility in your organization.