#agile for it services

[benzneconsulting]

Know Spotify's Agile Transformation Journey with Benzne Consulting

Spotify is a music streaming company that has been praised for its agile transformation. The company has adopted a number of agile practices, including:

Scrum: Spotify uses Scrum to manage its projects. Scrum is an iterative and incremental framework that breaks down projects into smaller, more manageable tasks.

Kanban: Spotify also uses Kanban to manage its work. Kanban is a visual framework that helps teams track their work and identify bottlenecks.

Continuous delivery: Spotify practices continuous delivery, which means that it releases new software to production on a regular basis. This helps the company to quickly respond to customer feedback and improve its products.

Spotify's agile case study has been successful in helping the company to:

Increase innovation: Spotify has been able to release new products and features more quickly than before.

Improve customer satisfaction: Spotify's customers are more satisfied with the company's products and services.

Reduce costs: Spotify has been able to reduce its development costs by adopting agile practices.

If you are considering an agile transformation for your own organization, Spotify's experience can be a valuable resource.

Planning an Agile Transformation by Benzne Consulting with Utmost Ease

An agile transformation is a complex undertaking that requires careful planning. Here are some key steps to consider when planning your agile transformation:

Assess your current state: Before you can start planning your transformation, you need to assess your current state. This includes understanding your current processes, culture, and challenges.

Define your goals: What do you hope to achieve with your agile transformation? Once you know your goals, you can start to develop a plan to achieve them.

Choose the right agile framework: There are many different agile frameworks available. Choose the one that best suits your organization's needs and culture.

Get buy-in from stakeholders: Your agile transformation journey will be more successful if you have the buy-in of all stakeholders. This includes your employees, customers, and management.

Start small: Don't try to change everything at once. Start with a small pilot project and learn from your mistakes.

Be patient: Agile transformation takes time. Don't expect to see results overnight.

Get Better Agile Estimation and Planning with Benzne’s Approach

Agile estimation and planning are essential for any agile team. These practices help teams to estimate the time and resources needed to complete a task, and to plan their work accordingly.

There are many different agile estimation techniques available. The best technique for your team will depend on the size and complexity of your projects.

Some popular agile estimation and planning techniques include:

Story points: Story points are a relative unit of measurement that teams use to estimate the size of a task.

Planning poker: Planning poker is a group estimating technique that helps teams to arrive at a consensus estimate.

Timeboxing: Timeboxing is a technique that limits the amount of time that can be spent on a task.

Agile estimation and planning are essential for any agile team. By using these practices, teams can ensure that they are delivering value to their customers on a regular basis.

Know More:-https://benzne.com/

[sergle]

Honestly I love goldens they are like the white bread of dog breeds. Basic bitch (complimentary)

NO NO, SAY IT, UR NOT WRONG!!! there's a reason why they're literally the Basic Upperclass White People Dog. the Two Kids And An InGround Pool Dog. They're the AP flour of dog. They become the shape of whatever mold you put them in.

[samarecharm]

Man. Goro being in strikers wouldve been soooo fucking good. Especially w the surprisingly good writing and plot??? You have to live w the consequences of your mistakes? You dont get to just Die and leave the mess you made behind? You have to confront the people youve hurt and accept that they may never forgive you? That people who care about you and love you will support you even when youre at rock bottom as long as u show a willingness to change and do better? This wouldve been a perfect way to tie up Goros whole story in neat little bow 😔😔😔

[fayeandknight]

I'm still working through the near miss from agility practice. It's been taking a big toll on me and as much as I am loath to admit it - it's because of my disability.

My rambling is going under the cut but that's what this post is. Me trying to sort through why it's shaken me so badly.

There's a few factors all stemming from the same source so I'm going to try to parse them out.

First is the fact that my disability sometimes causes me to lose the ability to move independently and/or speak. I'm lucky that the incident only caused me to be unable to speak. If I'd been unable to move I strongly believe that other dog would have seriously hurt Forte. And it's frightening to know that I can't count on myself to always have the ability to advocate for mine and his safety. It makes me feel incredibly helpless and frustrated in a useless way.

The second is that it dead on hits the mindset I deeply struggle with. This persistent and deep seeded belief that the world is dangerous and I must always keep my head on a swivel and my guard up. That when shit goes down, no one will help me. Logically I know that's not true. I've had plenty of good interactions with others and the vast majority of people are not out to get me. And I have had scenarios where things go sideways and someone does step in to help. But a situation like this preys on my fears that help cannot be counted on. It sends me into a tailspin of feeling like the world is dangerous and the only way to remain safe is to retreat entirely.

The last is that Forte is my big investment into combating that feeling of needing to hide from the world. He's tasks are centered around helping me safely navigate those moments where my disability renders me helpless. So on top of the normal devastation anyone would feel if something bad happened to their beloved dog - I would be losing a big part of my ability to be out in the world at all.

The whole thing sucks and I hate that I'm often pulled to conclusions by twisted reasoning based on fear. But I also can't deny that there is a real basis for said fears when things like this happen. I don't want to give up agility. Both Forte and I enjoy it so much for a multitude of reasons. But part of my brain is screaming that I'm being reckless and shortsighted if I continue. That everything he and I have worked so hard for will end up ruined.

To be clear, I don't think anyone acted maliciously towards me. I think that because the dog was quiet in it's aggression that no one, the handler included, was paying attention. But lack of malicious intent doesn't change that the consequences of my being unable to advocate for myself/dog would have far reaching consequences.

Can I really keep taking the risk in pursuit of something that is, at the end of the day, just for fun? Am I letting my trauma wired brain steer me into a small, isolated life if I quit based on this incident?

I really don't know. And it sucks.

[softwarereviewforall]

Review of JIRA Software by Atlassian

JIRA Software by Atlassian: A Comprehensive Review

Overall

Rating: 4.5

JIRA Software by Atlassian is a powerful tool for project management and issue tracking. Users have found it to be an invaluable asset for their organizations. The overall rating of 4.5 reflects its effectiveness and utility in various scenarios.

Ease of Use

Rating: 4.1

While JIRA is praised for its user-friendly interface and ease of use in setting up different help desks or ticket requests, some users have encountered difficulties, resulting in a rating of 4.1. However, its versatility and user-friendly aspects still make it a solid choice.

Customer Service

Rating: 4.1

Users highly appreciate JIRA's customer service, rating it at 4.1. The support received from Atlassian has been described as amazing, enhancing the overall user experience.

Features

Pros:

Efficient Task Management: JIRA is excellent for creating tasks and logging issues.

Customization: Users can set up different help desks tailored to specific departments.

Integration: It seamlessly integrates with other tools like BitBucket and Zendesk, saving time and streamlining workflows.

Cons:

Task Cloning Issues: Cloning tasks when they are marked as "Done" can be problematic.

Learning Curve: Some users find it challenging to use, leading to misunderstandings and mistakes.

Costly Licensing: The licensing structure, particularly related to plugins, can be costly.

Productivity Impact: In some cases, JIRA has been noted to slow down productivity, requiring permissions for document access.

Value for Money

Rating: Varies

The value for money with JIRA largely depends on the specific needs and budget of the organization. While some find it to be a cost-effective solution, others mention concerns related to licensing costs and limitations.

Likelihood to Recommend

Rating: Varies

The likelihood to recommend JIRA varies, with users providing ratings between 7 and 10 out of 10. It is often recommended for agile teams and project management, but the learning curve and user experience may influence recommendations.

Alternatives Considered

Trello: Some users switched from Trello to JIRA due to JIRA's wider user base and additional features.

Microsoft Project: The transformation to agile practices led to a switch from Microsoft Project to JIRA for some organizations.

Azure DevOps Services: Azure DevOps was replaced by JIRA due to cost considerations and user management issues.

Reasons for Choosing JIRA

Users have chosen JIRA for its flexibility, scalability, and extensive user base. The ability to manage multiple projects seamlessly and the availability of a strong community for support were key reasons for selection.

In summary, JIRA Software by Atlassian offers a powerful solution for project management and issue tracking, with its user-friendly interface, integration capabilities, and exceptional customer service. However, potential users should be aware of the learning curve and potential cost considerations when choosing JIRA for their organization's needs.

[sukimas]

i wonder if danmakufu could incorporate fast fourier transforms. like, just for a (mostly) single-frequency function where there's a boundary on the screen that the function passes and after that boundary you get the fast fourier transform. i know you can do weird stuff like youkai polygraph in C but idk of a program that does FFTs in a C-derived language?

[avalontec]

Life Cycle Management

Electronic Manufacturing Services Across the Product Life Cycle

Avalon the top-rated EMS companies in India renowned for their quality services, technical expertise, and customer satisfaction.

[sixtoesaint]

Big dog little tunnel!

[emorphistechno]

Employing dedicated software teams has many advantages, including reasonable costs, professional dedication, high skill levels, and more. According to the report, outsourcing is frequently done to cut costs. Many organisations are under stress due to a lack of talent or other problems. As a result, businesses have discovered that outsourcing is the best way to address this problem. The best way to maximize benefits is to hire a team of software app developers, which can be done in order to make educated selections. Discover the types of software development, benefits, and things to consider before hiring a dedicated software and app development company.

[benzneconsulting]

Accelerating agile for Healthcare Transformation Fueling Innovation and Efficiency with Benzne

Embrace the potential of agile for healthcare with our customized rapid change solutions. Our team of experts will provide guidance, enabling swift adaptation to evolving needs, fostering seamless collaboration among healthcare professionals, and enhancing patient care delivery. Embrace a culture of innovation and efficiency as you confidently navigate the dynamic landscape of healthcare for remarkable success.

[kyaruun]

i knew it

my professor just said "be sure to read about elon musk and twitter for tomorrow's test on agile methodologies"

he can't expect me to talk about this man in a good light. i physically can't :)

[jarrodcummerata]

Continuous Integration Services New York

Streamline your development process and deliver high-quality software faster with our expert Continuous Integration (CI) services in New York. Our CI pipelines automate testing, building, and deployment, ensuring consistent code quality and reducing errors. Benefit from faster feedback cycles, improved collaboration, and increased productivity. Partner with us to implement efficient CI practices and achieve faster time-to-market.

[fayeandknight]

Last week our agility instructor said she wanted Forte to trial soon. There's an AKC trial at our club in May and there are CPE trials in March and April. She wants us to do one of the CPE trials to get real trial experience without worrying about a Q and then trial for real at the AKC event.

My initial thought was oh shit, I'm not sure we're ready for that. Forte runs nicely most of the time but gets sniffy when I'm unclear on our next move (aka me getting lost on the course). He also still gets distracted when dogs/people come or go. Not enough to pull him off course but I can see the attention shift.

My biggest fear is that he finds a trial too much and bails like he did last year at the ACT. In that instance he ran three times, not cleanly - we NQed, but stayed with me for the most part. Mid fourth run members of my household showed up in a well meaning way, but they brought Faye and he heard her complaining in the car. He slipped through a gap in the fencing ring and went to run circles around their car. Compounded on that fear is anxiety around what might happen if he leaves the ring. Will he run past the wrong dog who in turn has a go at him?

As horrible as our first instructor was, I cannot unhear her telling me to be extra careful with Forte. If anything happens between dogs, the Belgian will be blamed regardless of him actually being the aggressor or not.

So I was nervous for our first run tonight and got lost on the course and in my mind. Forte responded by alerting and then going for a sniff when I brushed it off and tried to cue him to the next obstacle. We did the whole run but it was bad. Honestly we haven't had such a disjointed run in almost a year.

As we waited for our next run I waffled between confirming that we definitely are not ready and trying again to see if I could pull myself together. Our second run was indeed better because I didn't get lost but it still wasn't great. I still wasn't fully there with him mentally.

So for our third run I said fuck my anxiety. It is just him and I here in this ring. I trust our relationship and both of our skills and we absolutely have this. And just like that we had the cleanest, smoothest run we've ever had, even with the next class coming in. He never even flicked an ear in their direction.

I was on cloud 9 all the way back to our seat. Until a person and dog from the next class I've not seen before came in. Dog stepped into the room and immediately targeted Forte, body low and forward with teeth fully bared and low growling. I expected them to give us space. But no, the handler strolled pretty much right up to us - with less than a foot between the dogs.

I felt like I was moving in slow motion, watching Forte get stiff when this dog just kept coming into his space. I thought about how this is different from the overly reactive dogs he is fairly frequently called upon to play neutral dog for. This dog had serious intent to hurt him. I gestured for Forte to move to my other side to create more space, he did without hesitation but I could feel his weariness. The other person/dog moved behind us, closing the distance between dogs again. I had Forte come around the front of me and to the other side, again trying to create space. As Forte moved away this other dog shot forward to make a grab for him. I stood up to be more of a barrier and while Forte was clearly tense, he continued to not react and follow directions.

The other handler did then finally move away from us. It felt like the whole thing went on for five minutes at least but was probably much shorter. I can't say for sure because of the way time gets distorted when I'm that stressed.

And while I give Forte all the props for letting me handle the situation I'm not really sure how I feel about potentially going to trial. On the one hand, I do believe if I have my internal shit together he'll do well. And he's proven, again, that he will not engage with reactive and/or aggressive dogs - at the very least if I'm supporting him but probably even without that.

But I'm worried about a full trial experience because I don't want to put him in a situation where he's in danger from another dog. No ribbon or title in the world is worth having another dog go after him. We both worked so hard to get through his own reactive phase and I would hate to send us back to that. But I also know that when I'm stressed/worried I tend catastrophize and my perspective gets warped by it.

We will keep showing up to classes, because we both enjoy agility. But I feel more mixed up about potentially trialing than I did last week. Hopefully between getting my thoughts out here and having some good weeks going forward I'll feel more confident entering a trial. But if not, I won't.

As much as I would really love to earn an agility title my mindset is very much dog first, sport second. Though in our case it's more like dog first, service work second, and sports third.

[jcmarchi]

Nabil Hannan, Field CISO at NetSPI – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/nabil-hannan-field-ciso-at-netspi-interview-series/

Nabil Hannan, Field CISO at NetSPI – Interview Series

Nabil Hannan is the Field CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) at NetSPI. He leads the company’s advisory consulting practice, focusing on helping clients solve their cyber security assessment and threat andvulnerability management needs. His background is in building and improving effective software security initiatives, with deep expertise in the financial services sector.

NetSPI is a proactive security solution designed to discover, prioritize, and remediate the most critical security vulnerabilities. It helps organizations protect what matters most to their business by enabling a proactive approach to cybersecurity with greater clarity, speed, and scale than ever before.

Can you share a bit about your journey in cybersecurity and what led you to join NetSPI?

I’ve been programming since I was seven years old. Technology has always excited me because I wanted to know how things worked, which consequently led me to take a lot of things apart and learn how to put them back together at a young age.

While studying computer science in college, I began my career at Blackberry, where I worked as a product manager for the Blackberry Messenger Platform and became interested in hardware design. From there, I was recruited to join a small company in the application security domain – I was so passionate about it that I was willing to move to a new country to get the job.

When I consider my journey in cybersecurity, it started from the bottom up. I began as an associate consultant doing penetration testing, code review, threat modeling, hardware testing, and whatever else my bosses threw my way. Eventually, I worked my way up to building a penetration testing service for Cigital, which later got acquired by Synopsys. All of this led me to NetSPI to help support its growth trajectory in the proactive security space.

How has your experience in the financial services sector shaped your approach to cybersecurity?

While working at Synopsys, I helped build the strategy for selling security services and products to the financial services industry. So, while I wasn’t directly working in financial services, I was responsible for building strategies for that sector, which required diving deep into that vertical to understand its drivers and pain points.

Growing up in the technology space, I spent quite a bit of time working with large financial services organizations across the globe. Having that background, I focused my time and skills on developing a strategy for targeting and building services tailored to the financial services industry as a whole.

The biggest thing I’ve learned from exposure to the financial services sector is that hackers go where the money is. Hackers are not in this just for fun; it’s their source of income. They go where there’s the most financial impact – whether it be actually stealing money in some form or causing financial harm to an organization. That mindset has helped shape my understanding of cybersecurity and led me to be successful in my current role as a Field CISO.

With cyber threats evolving rapidly, what do you see as the biggest cybersecurity challenges organizations face today?

The biggest challenge today is the speed at which every organization needs to operate to combat evolving threats and keep pace with emerging technology, like AI. Historically, there was a waterfall methodology for building software, which wasn’t necessarily a fast process compared to how quickly software is deployed today. Now, we have a much more agile methodology, where organizations are trying to build software and release it to production as fast as possible and do more bite-sized implementations.

The last 10 years have shown rapid change and acceleration in the security ecosystem. This is causing many issues for large organizations, like shadow IT, making it harder to gain insight into their attack surface and assets. You can’t protect what you can’t see.

Cloud adoption adds to this fire – the more people adapt, adopt, and migrate to the cloud, the more elastic the software systems and assets become. The ability to scale software and hardware up and down in an elastic way makes change even more difficult to manage. As systems are built with elastic potential, you cause challenges where assets change ownership more frequently and create opportunities for bad actors to find ways into an organization.

How do you think the cybersecurity landscape will change over the next five years?

The need for greater visibility into both external and internal assets will continue to be important over the next five years and change how customers work with vendors. It’s already an area we’re heavily focused on at NetSPI. In June, we acquired a cyber asset attack surface management (CAASM) and cybersecurity posture management solution called Hubble Technology. Adding CAASM to our established external attack surface management (EASM) capabilities enables our customers to continuously identify new assets and risks, remediate security control blind spots, and gain a holistic view of their security posture by providing an accurate inventory of cyber assets, both external and internal – something that was missing in the industry up until this point.

Merging our EASM and CAASM capabilities into The NetSPI Platform allows us to provide customers with the tools they need to address ongoing visibility challenges. This also enhances the ability to accurately prioritize risks associated with assets and vulnerabilities. Additionally, it helps security leaders assess the exposure of their most important assets in relation to these risks.

How does NetSPI’s approach to vulnerability management differ from other companies in the industry?

Recently, we unveiled a new unified proactive security platform, which marries our Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS), External Attack Surface Management (EASM), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), and Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) technologies together in a single solution. With The NetSPI Platform, customers can take a proactive approach to cybersecurity with more clarity, speed, and scale than ever before. This new proactive approach mirrors trends we’re seeing in the industry, and the shift away from disparate point solutions, and toward the rapid adoption of more holistic, end-to-end platform services.

How is AI being used to enhance cybersecurity measures at NetSPI?

Like any cybersecurity leader will tell you, AI has the potential to catalyze business success, but it also has the potential to feed adversarial attacks. At NetSPI, we’re trying to help our customers stay ahead of the curve by implementing AI/ML penetration testing models, which ensures security is considered from ideation to implementation by identifying, analyzing, and mitigating the risks associated with adversarial attacks on ML systems, with an emphasis on LLMs. In cybersecurity, AI capabilities have enhanced and adopted our ability to monitor and remediate threats in real time.

What are the potential risks associated with AI in cybersecurity, and how can they be mitigated?

Based on conversations I’m having with other cybersecurity leaders, the biggest AI risk is organizations’ lack of basic data and cybersecurity hygiene. As we know, AI solutions are only as effective as the data the models are trained on. If organizations don’t have a firm grasp on data inventory and classification, then there’s a risk that their models will suffer and be prone to security gaps.

When people see the word “intelligence” in AI, they mistake it for being “inherently intelligent” or even having some type of sentience. But that is not the case. Security practitioners still need to program AI models to make them understand what assets are personal, private, public, and so on. Without those mechanisms, AI can descend into chaos. That, in my opinion, is the biggest concern among CISOs right now.

Can you elaborate on how NetSPI’s Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) helps organizations maintain robust security?

Penetration testing is critical to an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture because it gives teams greater context into vulnerabilities specific to their business.

Penetration testing is also a great litmus test to see how effective other security controls, like code review, threat modeling, Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST), and others that you may have implemented previously, are.

Regular penetration testing fosters real-time collaboration with security experts which can bring another perspective that adds more depth to data. At the end of a successful pentest, organizations will have better insight into which parts of their IT environment are more susceptible to breaches. When a pentest detects vulnerabilities, they will often highlight gaps in controls earlier in the lifecycle or controls that are missing altogether. They’ll also understand how to achieve compliance, where to focus remediation efforts, and how IT and security teams can work together to stay on top of potential business implications.

By working with vendors that specialize in PTaaS to supplement a robust security posture, organizations can be more prepared to proactively prevent security incidents.

How do you integrate both technology and human expertise to provide comprehensive security solutions?

NetSPI believes you need both technology and humans to provide a sound strategy to stay ahead of known and unknown threats. Humans must be in the loop to validate, prioritize, and contextualize the outputs that tools generate. We’re not in the business of giving people false positives or generating noise, leading them to spend more time figuring out what really matters. In other words, you can have great technology, but you need someone to actually use it and interrupt it to be successful.

There are a lot of mundane tasks that AI can do faster and more accurately than humans. If technology can be built in a trustworthy manner, then that will allow us to automate certain tasks and free up time for security teams to turn their attention to more creative thinking and critical problem-solving that AI simply can’t replace.

What strategic advice do you typically offer clients to strengthen their cybersecurity posture?

A common trap people fall into is investing in things they understand. For example, a company may bring in a leader with a cloud security background. Naturally, they then focus on building out a cloud security team, instead of, say, compliance, network security, application security, and so on, where the organization might actually need the support.

It’s better to have a more well-rounded program that focuses on everything holistically. Then, you start building defense in depth and have controls that mitigate other failures you might have in different parts of the organization. Building a well-rounded program is better than investing more time, effort, and tooling into one particular sector.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit NetSPI. 

[internett1line]

What is XaaS? The Future of Business Services in the Cloud

The evolution of cloud computing has given rise to a new paradigm in how businesses consume and deliver services. XaaS, or Anything as a Service, refers to the broad category of cloud-based services that deliver various IT resources and functionalities via the internet. This model allows businesses to adopt, scale, and manage services more efficiently and cost-effectively, replacing the need for…