Serena Ness, PMP
Project Management Lead for HBO
As a lead project manager, Serena is in charge of leading cross functional IT projects for HBO. She is 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 healthcare and legal fields
Ms. Ness holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and is a frequent speaker at Pace & Fordham Universities BA & MBA programs.
Session:
Practical Agile: Lessons from the Trenches
PMI PDU Eligible
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 an incomplete 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 while answering 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.
