Poised for Change: Making and Keeping IT Systems Ready

A major point of contention between IT departments and their business counterparts is the lack of responsiveness to change in IT systems. How these systems got to this condition is one question, but this talk addresses the issue of how to change the situation. Making a system maintainable requires new tools and processes. This talk will describe the various techniques that transform a system to one that can be readily enhanced and provide the warning mechanisms that prevent inadvertent drift back into the mud.

About the Speaker

Dr Rebecca Parsons, CTO ThoughtWorks Inc.
In 2010 Rebecca was recognised by Fast Company as one of the most influential women in technology. She was described as “one of the world's most sought-after sources of innovation.” A catalyst of innovation and growth for ThoughtWorks since joining the firm in 1999, Parsons’ leadership role with ThoughtWorks is underscored by 20 years of application development experience in industries ranging from telecommunications to emergent internet services. Rebecca has published in both language and artificial intelligence publications, served on numerous program committees, and reviews for several journals. She has extensive experience leading in the creation of large-scale distributed object applications and the integration of disparate systems.