Practices

What is the Open Sourcing Checklist? It’s a an outline (not definitive) list of things to consider if you are looking to open source an existing software projects. You might want to use the list to put together some metrics to measure progress of the project. Why use it? Because it’s a good place to start Suggested Time Ongoing. The Checklist Phase One: Discovery Meet with initial key stakeholders from BU and engineering to determine what success looks like for the community post-launch, vet with other stakeholders including executive team Ensure plan for project success supports success of subscription/product offering Ensure that the project is viable as an open source project from community perspective if a community project. [Read More]

What is a Discovery Session Report ? Short report template for Discovery Sessions. The problem with some discovery sessions is that the documentation takes too long to produce and can be too extensive. Using templates ensures a succinct, easy to read report with the key findings. A Discovery Session usually last for 1 day or less and the report should be written with this in mind; it should be short, concise and relevant to the workshop. [Read More]

What is the Open Decision Framework ? For the past few years Red Hat, have been grappling with the challenges of growing an open organization and sustaining our culture along the way. One tool we’ve been developing and testing is the Open Decision Framework, a collection of best practices for applying open source principles to business projects and decisions. The Open Decision Framework contains the collective wisdom of an organisations staff, compiled into a flexible framework that helps decision makers and leaders seek out diverse perspectives and collaborate across teams and geos, to make better decisions. [Read More]

What is a Business Priority Exercise? The business priroity exercise is a method for structuring a conversation with a customer around their strategy and business priorities. Using 12 magnetic cards which contain generic priorities, the facilitator asks the group to select their top 3 from a business perspective. As the group are working out which 3 to select, the facilitator should be asking probing questions about their thought process. [Read More]

What is a Prep Call (or Preparation Call)? Prior to any onsite or face to face meeting, a preparation call looks to provide an initial introduction to the project and identify an opportunity and an initial view of the stakeholders. This should be with all parties that are to be involved with the event, internal and customer / external. Run 30-60 minute conference call with customer, going through the Workshop Preparation Guide. [Read More]

What is a Maturity Model ? A Maturity Model can be used to describe a whole host of technology based environments. Rather than focusing on a specific software product they will look at Technology Process People For example, a Maturity model can be used to assess current System Management / Data Centre Management and is a useful tool to determine the current position of an organisation, especially in relation to Standard Operating Environment (SOE) and the related areas of Unix to Linux migrations or Continuous Delivery. [Read More]

What is a Client Preparation Document It’s a document that maps out the prerequisites for a Discovery Session or other presales workshop. It ensures that all the key elements needed are actually in place prior to the meeting taking place. The Document should be sourced around a particular theme, then edited to reflect customer details and passed on to the customer. It should outline a framework agenda for discussion and finalisation in the Prep-Call as well as potential outcomes from the one day Discovery Session. [Read More]

What is an Infrastructure Architecture Workshop? This is an activity which is designed to elicit requirements and propose an architecture for an infrastructure-type engagement. The outputs from the workshop are: A list of requirements A High Level Design document A Low Level Design document A task backlog The outputs can then be fed to an implementation team who should be able to implement a solution that meets the requirements. [Read More]

What is Agile Delivery ? Agile delivery is an approach for delivering consulting or pre-sales projects, based on the Agile methodology. It involves a range of Agile activities and approaches and the style of delivery varies significantly. See the Agile Manifesto for more information on Agile techniques. Why use it? Because it’s Agile ? If you are a practitioner and live Agile then this is the approach for you. [Read More]

What is a Business Strategy Engagement? The Red Hat Strategy Engagement takes business leaders out of their day to day environment to explore their future business strategy and position Red Hat as technology partner of choice. The outputs from the workshops are: Day 1 Understanding of what a Journey Map is Agreed topics to take into the Journey Mapping Workshop Output document containing: Customer Strategy Business Priority Output RTI Assessment document Day 2 [Read More]