Presentation Abstract:

Sharon will discuss the development of software with distributed teams including the following issues:

• Communication
• Cultural issues
• Organization
• Team skills/profiles
• Team member skills/profiles
• Standards
• Schedules
• Risk
• Objectives
• Expectations and results (quality, productivity, cost savings, staffing)
• Methods of software distribution/configuration

Presenter Bio:

Sharon Lawyer has worked at EDS for 20 years in the various roles of systems engineer, supervisor, project leader, program manager and various management assignments. For much of that time she has worked on projects which involved software development by distributed teams. Some of her experiences have been:

• Development of material control systems for two GM truck assembly plants. Resources from various organizations were brought to a single site for development then returned to the their home base during implementation and production support. Software was supported centrally then distributed to multiple remote locations.
• Enhancement and maintenance of material control systems for 30+ GM vehicle assembly plants. Requirements were obtained from IT personnel in the field, software was enhanced centrally then distributed to the field. One site was used for beta testing. Upon successful completion of the beta test, software was distributed to all other sites.
• Development of material control systems for Saturn. Key resources were brought in to a single site during requirements and analysis phases, then returned to remote locations for development and testing. They returned during system/UAT testing. For ongoing support, a team was formed seeded by developers who relocated to the plant site.
• Implementation of a common process specifications system for 20+ GM assembly plants. Gap analysis needed to be performed between old systems and the central system for each plant. Implementations were performed by a central team coordinating with local teams at the plants.
• Development of a common material system for GM component plants. First time EDS as a corporate worked in India. Development headed by Minnesota team with system integration in Detroit.
• Development of common material system for GM assembly and component plants. Teams coordinated out of Minnesota were in Brazil, India, Ireland, Italy and Arizona. Chief users were in Detroit and Germany.

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