One of the exciting announcements at the Serena TAG conference was the progress and introduction of the forthcoming Serena Agile on Demand product. Although attendees only got a brief glimpse at the product, it was enough to draw a lot of excitement for what it will accomplish in the Agile development space. Agile is a huge part of the company’s strategy, with the Agile on Demand product being the cornerstone of that strategy. It’s interesting to note that this product is also the FIRST SaaS only release from Serena and the third in a series of SaaS products released over the course of this year. While much of the current excitement is around Business Mashups, which was released this week as a SaaS offering, Agile and Agile on Demand certainly isn’t taking a complete back seat to all the attention. Post TAG, Serena is offering a two-day training opportunity on Agile conducted by Valtech. The training, normally $2000 per person, is being offered completely free of charge, and thus has attracted close to 600 attendees hoping to become future scrum masters and agilistas for their respective companies.
In the center of all the buzz and training around Agile is Valtech. Valtech was announced as one of newest strategic partners for Serena. They bring to the table a tremendous amount of expertise on Agile and will be handling a number of responsibilities as Serena’s partner, including a “Live” help type of function where people can request to chat with a Valtech expert, similar in concept to the Apple Genius Bar. In addition, Valtech will also provide expert coaching and training support for the Agile product and Agile in general.
I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Valtech folks on the last night of the TAG conference. Any apprehensions around whether or not I’d have fun with these guys was quickly dismissed. I can honestly say, they were some of the warmest most genuine “tech” people that I’ve had the pleasure to hang with. I already knew that they were incredibly smart, as I’d spent some time previously with two of their most senior Agilistas and was very impressed. But this wasn’t as much of a business meeting as it was a social meeting, and you sometimes wonder if there will be chemistry amongst your new friends. In no time flat, I saw an group of people who not only were passionate about their company, product, and services, they also liked each other, A LOT! It felt more like going to an old reunion of friends or close family. There was playful banter and teasing amongst each other, and since I am no stranger to verbal jabs, I quickly joined in the fun, which was openly received. All-in-all, these were my kind of people. But more importantly, they were Serena’s kind of people; smart, passionate, domain experts who liked to have a good time with each other as well as their newly formed business friends.
After a delightful evening with my new friends I had a new found level of excitement towards the latest efforts of the company around Agile. We’ve got a tremendous product that, when launched, will be a game changer for Agile development shops all over the world. But in addition, we’ve got an amazing new partner that we can bring into the fold of the Serena family of partners. It’s going to be a FUN year and a FUN ride as this stuff unfolds….be sure to check out the latest news both with Valtech and Serena!
Filed under: Agile, TAG | Tagged: TAG Valtech Agile
