Serena Ness
Talk: Agile Infrastructure Projects at HBO
Agile project management methodologies are used almost exclusively by application development teams. Yet the growing complexities of providing top quality support in the ever growing complex infrastructure environment of HBO has made the traditional project management processes not always the right solution. The challenges faced by the infrastructure team include the fact that in addition to projects and new work orders, they need to be alert and respond to emergencies.
HBO decided to embark on an unusual journey and introduce its own version of Agile into the heart of the infrastructure environment: level II support. This session will describe HBO’s solution and answer the questions: What is Agile? How does it address the needs of the team and the business alike? Why SCRUM? What components were implemented? Has this been successful in addressing the problem area(s)? What have been the challenges? What are the benefits for the individual contributor? How would another team get started?
Using examples from the trenches, this session will expound upon the value of change within an organization for better productivity and quality work; with the focus on enhanced transparency up the chain for overall strategic plan alignment.
As the Manager for IT Infrastructure Project Planning at HBO, Serena is in charge of leading cross functional and departmental IT projects as well as establishing Project Governance and Standards for Infrastructure. Additionally, Serena sits on several IT steering committees working on initiatives to bring Project Management Best Practices across all of IT. She’s leading the evolution of HBO IT into a dynamic, modern and effective technology organization via the introduction, adjustment and integration of tools such as Agile, and other best of class disciplines.
Ms. Ness’ career included leading global projects for Deutsche Bank; balancing business and technology needs and overseeing staff across three continents. Prior to DB, Ms. Ness was leading projects in both the Health Care and Legal fields
Ms. Ness is a PMP, Certified in Project Management and is a frequent speaker at Pace & Fordham Universities BA & MBA programs.