SEPG Europe: Passion for Processes

(This article was first published on SEPG Conference blog)

Hola was the first Spanish word, I learnt after my paper was selected for presentation at 17th Annual SEPG (Software Excellence Process Group) Europe Conference 2012, 5-7th June. Madrid, capital city of Spain, played the role of a perfect host with its ebullience and beautiful architecture. Archaic monuments, like Egyptian Temple of Debod, brushing alongside the modern skyscrapers, like Torre Espacio, are the perfect antithesis of the city.

Three days of SEPG conference, by the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, featured more than 160 delegates from 26 countries to share a common theme ¡Passion for Processes! 40 technical sessions in 9 tracks involved lot of discussions among seasoned CMMI practitioners and professionals, who have a flair for process improvement. These tracks covered topics like multi-model process, agility, software and systems engineering innovation, high maturity, organizational change, risk and resilience, professional development and more.

I made my presentation titled, ‘A Systems Thinking approach to articulate value of IT Services in an Enterprise in its pursuit of Business Excellence’. It talked about the Systems Thinking approach for the life-cycle of value, Value Trac™, developed in our Innovation lab – BS&CC (Business Systems and Cybernetics Centre) and how to achieve business excellence by making the understanding of IT and business more holistic.

My session, under high-maturity theme, was well received by the audience. There were interesting comments and observations from the audience. Fabrizio Pellizzetti of Systonomy LTD in the UK, who won the Best Paper Award at the conference, remarked, “For system thinkers, reality is a complex set of interactions and we do not pretend to know all the answers and we simply strive to improve our understanding and reduce our ignorance”. He appreciated my passion and enthusiasm, which he said were evident during my presentation.

Says one of the feedback comments logged into conference portal, “Interesting presentation on ensuring value is clearly identified and tracked through engagements/projects. More ‘Advanced’ than many of the topics those were classified at that level, though this was just ‘Intermediate’. The interactions during the conference were thought provoking and appetite to learn more”.

Day 2 was marked by an interesting session by TCS GCP team, led by Richard August and Donal O’ Donoghueon ‘Intercultural Differences: Implications for IT process Improvement’. It observed how differences in national cultures should be an important factor to be reflected upon during process improvement initiatives.

Apart from being a speaker at the conference, I could also showcase my prowess as a prolific blogger. My blog ‘Spain: A Traveler’s Odyssey to Discovery’ was published on the conference website, which was commented and appreciated by many delegates.

I was an instant recognizable face at the conference, courtesy my blog. It received citation from Jeff Dalton, President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board, who was one of the speakers at the conference. In his blog titled, ‘Reason #1 to attend SEPG Europe 2012 in Madrid!’, he mentioned “After reading Suyash Kumar Chopra’s beautiful post, I was inspired. What colorful images! I wanted to go NOW!After reading Suyash’s post, do you know what did I do? I changed my plans and now I’m leaving TODAY (May 31st)”.

Jorge Marquez Pacios, Director at EstudNET eQualyTIC and lead CMMI appraiser, tweeted, ‘Thank you for your great Spain vision’. I really wish that this culturally-rich and resplendent country comes out of its biggest economic crisis and again trigger the adrenaline rush like similar to Real Madrids and Barcas of the world.

As my flight took off from Barajas airport and over the magnanimous Iberian Peninsula, my lips fluttered to say ‘Gracias’ to Mr. MGPL Narayana VP and Head of BS&CC Group, who provided me this opportunity.

Hasta Luego, Madrid.

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