CIO says Telstra becoming 'best IT shop in APAC'

Telstra’s CIO has boldly claimed that the carrier’s ongoing Agile IT transformation will soon be one of the most successful stories of enterprise Agile at scale in the world. Speaking at the Agile Australia 2012 conference in Melbourne, Telstra CIO Patrick Eltridge said that his team was also “busy building the best IT shop in …

[Anonymous Coward]

can't tell you haw many times they have tried to ram this down my throat that they can do it better when we are a global company. If its run anything like the ISP side of the business then I'll take no part.

[Hakenpuc Hepek]

A bit different

This year was the first time I have seen Telstra people in numbers attending Agile IT. If only from that, one can see the things are changing.

What I found interesting is lack of SunCorp and SMS representation. Why would two of the most prominent promotors of Agile in Australia be so obviously missing from AgileAustralia 2012? We did all have SMS lanyards, but SMS were not there. SunCorp and their agile academy were even more obviously missing. Some representation from SunCorp was there among delegates, not that many among presenters.

I might be the fact that a lot of people changed employers, Nigel Dalton is now with REA Group, so they were there in force, while his previous employer, Lonely Planet was not represented at all. Philip Abernathy is no longer in SunCorp, but with Purple Candor.

[3vi13d]

Re: A bit different

Hakenpuc Hepek that's incorrect.

I presented at 11:25 in Ballroom 3 on Thursday -> http://www.agileaustralia.com.au/topics.html#how-lonely-planet, I'd sugget the clue to my employer is in the title.

My colleague, Fiona Siseman, presented in the Stradbroke room shortly before that -> http://www.agileaustralia.com.au/topics.html#agile-board-hacks

Since you clearly missed my presentation - you can catch a copy of it here -> http://lunatractor.com/not-just-an-it-thing-our-book/lonely-planet-sap-team-radical-team-transformation-through-leadership-and-agility/

Enjoy

Ed Cortis

Director of IT

Lonely Planet

[Hakenpuc Hepek]

D'oh, missed your presentation

@Ed,

You are right, I missed your presentation. I apologiese. Still, out of more than 50 presentations lonely planet had 1.5. that is a lot less then last year in Sydney, where Nigel Dalton alone had two. this year I had a feeling that The conference could be known as ThoughtWorks on Agile.

Anyhow, it is good to see LP is doing the right things and reading El Reg :) Thank you for pointing out my mistake, I will try to have a look at your presentation as soon as I can.

Cheers

Hakenpuc Hepek

[3vi13d]

Re: D'oh, missed your presentation

Hakenpuc,

I totally agree that this year was dominated by TW and to a lesser extent by REA - although I don't think this has anything to do with Nige going there as you suggested - his move to REA was announced on 3rd of May - submissions closed to speak at the conference on the 31st of Jan.

And at risk of being pointed out as a nit-picker - I respectfully disagree with you again *grin*. Last year at AgileAustralia 2011, strictly speaking there were 1.5 presentations by Lonely Planet - Nigel Dalton at 11:45am on the 15th of June. Same time/date as Nick and Fiona aka the Agile Board Hackers. Nick had left LP by then, as had James Pierce who was representing Lunar Tractor. Nigel was also in a panel - not sure that counts.

I'm embarrassed that I forgot Brent Snook presented this year, he's an LPer - so in 2012 Lonely Planet had 2.5 talking spots that's certainly not "a lot less" no matter how you cut it. This year Nigel curated a stream and would tell you himself he didn't present, although he was in a panel, and did present to the Uni students after the conference on day 1.

What I note is that despite Patricks desire for Telstra to be Australia-leading in Agile - other than Carolyn on a panel, Patrick was the only standalone speaker from Telstra, let's hope that next year we see more ground-roots presenters from Telstra.

Cheers

Ed

[Big-nosed Pengie]

One thing you never hear from Telstra

is how they're going to provide great customer service.

Avoid like the plague.

[Graham Wilson]

Re: One thing you never hear from Telstra

Right, the world's worst customer service bar none.

Trying to explain to those who've never experienced "Telstra Customer Service" just how bad it is is like trying to explain to a person blind from birth what the colour yellow is like. It's just not possible.

Compared to Telstra, British Telecom is truly a shining beacon.

[Hakenpuc Hepek]

@Ed

I recycled my program from the last year and website does not list employer, so I have to agree with you on everything.

So if we agree that your presentation was the best, which one was the worst? I hated some of presentations, like that ********* thing. That was pure horror.

[Rather Notsay]

Cross promotional. Deal mechanics. Revenue streams. Jargon. Synergy.

I've applied Agile methods to my running training out of competitive market necessity. It's a way of working that drives a more productive and enjoyable experience. With the upcoming Olympic Games and the rapid change that we are seeing in running technology I have no hope of thriving in the 21st unless I become much more adaptable and am able to respond faster than my competitors in meeting the spectators demands. Through the power of jargon and the most currently fashionable methodology, I'm busy becoming the fastest sprinter in the Asia-Pacific Region.