Our guests today are Tony Solomita Director of Innovation, and Trent Hone, Fellow at Excella.  By now, everyone reading this has heard about agile software development.  In this interview we discuss how to apply agile to federal IT projects.

Both gentlemen have years of experience in the area of software development for federal projects. The discussion ranges from discussing certifications, compliance implications, and what to know before your agency kicks off an agile project.

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Tony and Trent expand upon the concept of starting with “Why.”  This is a classic question popularized by  Simon Sinek.  In other words, before a team starts a project, they all should be cognizant of what the long-term goal actually.  From there,  the experts from Excella talk about scope, communications, skills, and filling the team with appropriate people.

The discussion includes topics like the difference between a scrum master and a project manager.  Tony opines on the types of agile certifications and what value they have for the federal government.

Trent Hone has authored Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy 1898 – 1945.  That puts him in a unique position to contribute to applying agile principles to software projects at the Department of Defense.

If you would like to learn more, there is an event called AgileDC where you can ask specific questions about applying agile principles to federal projects. You connect to the Washington DC agile community here.