E080: Using Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) to Transform Government and Nonprofits with Michael Areola

In this podcast, I interview Michael Areola, who is a Product Development consultant and Agile Coach at Cenmic Management in Katy, Texas (near Houston). He uses Agile processes and frameworks to streamline development processes, increase team efficiency, drive collaboration and reduce wasted time. He is a Project Management Professional and Agile Certified Practitioner from PMI, and holds numerous SAFe certifications from Scaled Agile. He has a masters degree in Management Information Systems from Texas Southern University (along with a Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification), and has a bachelors degree in Accounting from Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (Nigeria). Prior to his current work with Cenmic, he worked in large organizations like SAP and Bank of America, as well as government agencies like North Carolina Department of Information Technology and nonprofits like the Houston Center for Literacy. If you’re not familiar with Agile or SAFe or DevOps, here is a quick summary of these terms: * Agile – A method to break product development work into small increments that minimize the amount of up-front planning and design through the use of frequent “sprints.” These sprints typically last from one to four weeks, and involves a cross-functional team working in all functions. At the end of the iteration, a working product is demonstrated to stakeholders and customers, which minimizes overall risk, and allows the product to adapt to changes quickly.* SAFe® – Acronym for Scaled Agile Framework, which is designed to help businesses continuously and more efficiently deliver value on a regular and predictable schedule. It uses the principles of Lean.* DevOps – Short for Development Operations. More specifically, software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It attempts to shorten the systems development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality. Several DevOps aspects came from the Agile methodology.* Business Agility – The ability of an organization or business to rapidly adapt to market and environmental changes in productive and cost-effective ways. Agile is an extension of this concept that uses key principles of complex adaptive systems and complexity science to achieve success. You can watch the full video of his presentation here… Links * Cenmic Management – provides Agile training and consulting, and advocate for Sustainable Development of the Environment, Society and Economy.* Contact information for Michael Areola* LinkedIn* Work Email: [email protected]* Personal Email: [email protected]* Phone: +1-832-746-0909* Agile Positive Crew Group: