Training Agenda:
In this section, we will introduce the benefits that Infrastructure as Code (IaC) can bring to organizations and how IaC fits within modern DevOps best practices.
This section provides an overview of Terraform concepts and vocabulary and instructs how Terraform manages infrastructure configuration in cloud environments.
Hands-on Labs:
In this section, participants will get hands-on practice using Terraform to create a simple application environment in AWS and learn the essential constructs in Terraform for defining resources.
Hands-on Labs:
This section introduces programming constructs within Terraform that enable you to add more control and flexibility in defining resources.
Hands-on Labs:
This section shows how modules can be used to create reusable components in Terraform and teaches best practices in organizing Terraform code.
Hands-on Labs:
This section wraps up the course with reviews to reinforce what you have learned.
Businesses have historically been plagued by many problems, including inadequate requirements, which lead to products that customers aren’t happy with and sometimes can’t use. We start the class by making the case for a shift to an Agile approach to solve the problems and to gain an overall understanding of the basic principles, and benefits of Agile approaches.
Team Exercise: As a class we will discuss the various problems that the class has experienced in their own projects so that we can then understand how Agile will help them address these problems. The class will understand from this exercise that they are not alone with a set of problems that others also experience.
We will understand the Agile Manifesto and Principles. We first visit Lean which is foundational and influences all other Agile methodologies. Then we will have an overview of Scrum. Scrum is the most popular Agile methodology and is great for projects. Scrum or Scrum variants are being used by about 75% of those using Agile, but Scrum is not the only Agile approach. We’ll then see how Kanban might be a better answer for other types work (e.g. operations and sustainment).
Review Agile methodologies practiced in organizations today (e.g. Scrum, Kanban).
Team Exercise: Teams will engage in a fun exercise that will reinforce the importance of, and power behind, self-organizing teams. As with sports teams, individual roles are important, but even more important is the need to work toward a common goal together. At times that means blurring the lines of traditional roles. Great teams will not define themselves by their individual roles.
Agile focuses on creating a team that can deliver results over and over. In this section we will discuss what makes a high-performing team and how to build that team. The section will also cover the team roles associated with an Agile approach.
Team Exercise: We will discuss as a class what makes a great team based on teams we've participated on that were great.
In this section, we will review the Scrum framework and the various Scrum techniques. Scrum provides a great framework for building new products, especially when all the requirements are not known. Scrum techniques can also be used with other Agile methods like Kanban.
Agile Project Planning
Team Exercise: Teams will practice turning User Roles into full fleshed personas.
Team Exercise: Each team will conduct a brainstorming session for creating a product backlog in the form of user stories. Each team will present some of their user stories and the instructor will lead discussion about where teams hit the mark and areas for improvement (Instructor will not have all of the ideas, this is a great opportunity for team dynamic).
The power of Agile comes from the fact that continuous improvement is built into the Agile system. In this section we will review how People, Product and Process improve themselves through a frequent inspect and adapt process. We will discuss the main Agile ceremonies that help us accomplish this: Iteration Review/Demo and the Retrospective.
Team Exercise: Teams will discuss what things they can do the day after class ends to take what they've learned and implement it immediately so that they don't lose what they've learned.
Not all work fits well into a Scrum framework. Kanban is an Agile method that helps us to improve a delivery process with a focus on continuous improvement. We will cover the foundation of Kanban concepts, properties, and terminology. We will also understand the philosophy behind the Kanban framework and how it originated.
Topics covered:
The best way to understand Kanban is to go through the process of implementing it. This section goes through the various techniques and ceremonies associated with Kanban.
Topics covered:
Team Exercise: Kanban boards are an invaluable communication tool. Each team is tasked with coming up with their board that clearly communicates their commitments and progress against those commitments.
Kanban uses metrics a little differently than other Agile methods. In this section we will understand how metrics and reporting are leveraged with Kanban.
Topics covered:
Applying Kanban techniques to other types of efforts. How to track requirements, decouple work, and leverage the Minimal Marketable Release.
Topics covered:
Learn how to recognize opportunities for improvement in your Kanban system and what to do about them.
Topics covered:
Team Exercise: Teams will build a cadence calendar to use with their teams to organize work, share learnings, and build a focus on continuous improvement.
Agile Adoption can be accomplished with different approaches and at different speeds. In this section, we will review the best practices of Organizational Change Management as it applies to Agile adoption and considers the primary reasons for adoption failure.
Topics covered:
Team Exercise: We will wrap the course up and end with a discussion on “Where do you go from here?”.
Part 1: Exploring the Release Train Engineer (RTE) role and responsibilities
Part 2: Applying SAFe Principles
Part 3: Planning a Program Increment (PI Planning)
Part 4: Executing a Program Increment
Part 5: Fostering Relentless Improvement
Part 6: Serving the Agile Release Train (ART)
Part 7: Continuing Your Learning Journey
