NETD Training

Java Deep Dive 11 Week Boot Camps Soup to Nuts Recipe from NETD Training

2011-08-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

By Carol Merriman, Director of Technology, NETD Training.

A successful boot camp program relies on a well-defined method conducted in a high-quality learning environment with continual monitoring and review by vendor representatives and the client. Courses of instruction should be varied and interactive to keep attention levels high, promote individual skills and teamwork between the students, and solidify knowledge through hands-on learning.

Boot Camp Methodology

Methodology should assure that all requirements are met and adhered to. Any exceptions, such as students having difficulty with a concept or language comprehension issues, must be recognized and resolved quickly. Training managers should be apprised each day of any student issues. NETD has developed, tested, and adjusted the methodology used in conducting boot camps over the past 10 years.

Concept

The best approach uses a spiral concept in conducting boot camps. Briefly, students start with learning the very basics of their discipline and continue adding concepts while reusing what was previously learned. This technique allows the instructor to re-enforce aspects of earlier learned concepts while learning new material and assess students who may have difficulties and give them extra assistance.

Testing

Testing is a major feature and different types of tests should be used. Tests are given and graded using our LMS and the results are recorded online for viewing by the training manager. After completion of a testing segment, the results/answers are explained and discussed with the students.

Testing consists of:

• Quizzes – These test for terminology and concepts.

• Code tests – Code sections are presented and students must “find the bug” and correct it or complete the code section.

• Section labs – This lab work requires the student to demonstrate their ability to use and comprehension of newly learned concepts.

• Cumulative exam – This is a test given at the end of a topic and may cover any material learned to that point

· Workshops - Intensive coding projects requiring the student use knowledge obtained in previous subjects and topics (inclusive). Students are given a project, usually in the form of a written set of requirements that stress time management and set deadlines for completion. Students must then implement (develop and code) a solution within the given amount of time. For example, students should be required complete a project based on a given set of requirements within a time frame (4 hours, 2 days, etc.). The project will simulate a “real world” environment and may require team work. Multiple workshops will cumulate with a finished, working application.

Homework

Additional assignments (usually reading) may be assigned to complete outside of class time. Students should be prepared to discuss the material during the next class.

Seating

Students may be assigned or reassigned seats to facilitate pairing a student having difficulties with a student who is advanced and has a better grasp of the material. Seating may also be rearranged to change the dynamics of the classroom. This is at the discretion of the instructor and will be noted in the management feedback.

Time Management

Students must be required to complete their projects by set deadlines. As some projects span multiple days, they will be required to manage their time and resources. It may also be necessary for the students to work beyond the normal class hours to meet their deadlines. Time management will be discussed to assist the student in learning to manage their time and resources to complete a project.

Team Work

Some projects will require students to work with team members to complete a solution. Team members may be selected by the students or assigned by the instructor. The instructor will monitor the teams for co-operation, delegation, leadership, and participation.

Development vs. Maintenance

Students will be developing new code for their projects. In addition, to simulate a “real world” environment, students will also be required to debug and update existing programs that were written by another student or the instructor.

Case Study

A hands-on case study is integrated throughout the curriculum. Assignments are of increasing complexity and designed to be pieced together such that the final result is a well-designed, documented, functioning application.

Extra Work

Students who demonstrate a solid grasp of the material and complete their projects ahead of time will be assigned extra projects to build on their experience. Students who are having difficulties with the material will be assigned additional reading and/or remedial projects to help with their understanding.

Mentoring

Mentors may be assigned a mentor who will be available after hours for one-on-one mentoring sessions. Students requiring mentoring will be noted in the daily feedback.

Feedback

In order to assist in monitoring the boot camp, an online feedback system is available. The instructor will provide daily attendance as well as feedback on each student to the training manager 3-5 times per week.

Feedback consists of:

• Notes/comments on individual students – exceptional students; student with difficulties, etc.

• Student progress/overall placement in class

• Test results and scores

• Follow-up on students with difficulties

• Results of mentoring

In addition, students will complete a weekly evaluation online. The results of all feedback evaluations will be accessible to client designated users and the training team.

Incentives

When attending an extended boot camp, students’ attention can wander. To help maintain alertness and achieve expectations, the instructor presents various incentives for achievement.

At the completion of the boot camp, each student will receive a Certificate of Achievement or certification.

Each student is given a Project Book in which to maintain their assignments, solutions, notes, additional handouts, code samples and examples, scores, etc. The Project Book can then be used for future reference.

Many vendors provide stand-alone Java training or string together classes as “boot camps”, but few offer the Boot Camps as described above.

The Agile Burn-Down Chart

2011-03-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Visit our website for AGILE Courses

Beyond Burn Down

Janis Rizzuto

February 9, 2011

Project managers can report progress on agile projects using metrics that may appeal to stakeholders steeped in more traditional practices. Two approaches gaining appeal are agile earned value management and iteration status reports.

A burn-down chart is a graphical representation of work left to do vs. time. And in the

world of agile software development, it is the primary metric that everyone on the

development team uses to gauge progress toward completing an iteration.

But what about for others who may not live in that agile world? What about all those

stakeholders you communicate with as the project manager? How can you share a

sense of project progress with them?

Nancy Neehas an answer or two. As the executive director of project management and

business analysis programs at ESI Internationalin Arlington, Va., Nee gave a highly

rated speech at the 2010 PMI Global Congress suggesting that project managers can

adapt data from the familiar burn-down chart and apply it differently to provide

meaningful measurements to a broader audience. In particular, she suggests that

putting an agile twist on tried-and-true earned value management calculations can

reveal progress and creating an iteration status chart can track shifting priorities.

“The notion of agile in the project environment isn’t new,” says Nee, who holds PMP and

CBAP designations. “A lot of organizations are looking to use the principles and

practices of agile, thinking that they can deliver better, faster and cheaper. However,

along the way, leaders in organizations who have grown up in the waterfall approach

tend to want to know how projects are going from traditional perspectives. They have a

hard time shifting their mindset to the new types of metrics that agile has to offer. So

we saw the need in the marketplace to help stakeholders and sponsors of these agile

projects understand progress on the projects.”

Read on for details about the two measurements.

AGILE EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT

Traditional tools, such as status dashboards showing red, yellow or green, are not

typical in the agile environment. Therefore, Nee says, agile project mangers usually

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monitor progress with burn-down charts, but increasing numbers of managers are

pushing beyond those singular charts to use that data for Agile earned value

management (AgileEVM). These calculations can show stakeholders the value delivered,

costs, resources consumed and future expectations, she says.

“A burn-down chart can only tell you progress for that particular iteration,” Nee says.

“What the burn-down chart doesn’t tell you is how well you are doing in the iteration

considering the number of iterations in a release. That’s where the value of AgileEVM

comes in. It answers the question, ‘Am I going to achieve what I said I was going to

achieve by the time of the release?’ It is the same theory of earned value, but it is

applied to the release.”

The point about AgileEVM being tied to planned releases is important, Nee says. “The

concept of earned value in agile is essentially the same as earned value in the traditional

project management space, except for the reporting structure and the timeframe, which

has to be done based on the iteration as well as the release. You are doing it at a

chunked-up level vs. earned value in traditional project, which is measured across the

entire project schedule, which could be two or three years long.”

To create useful AgileEVM data, project managers need careful and current burn-down

charts as well as a number of initial baselines, such as number of planned iterations,

number of planned story points in a release and planned budget for a release. Here’s a

sample calculation:

AgileEVM Example

The budget for the release is $100,000 for the completion of 100 story points. At

this time, you have completed 25 of the story points at a cost of $20,000.

Actual percent complete: 25 complete story points/100 story points = 25 percent

complete

Earned Value = actual percent complete X total budget = $25,000

Nee says there are different ways to show AgileEVM depending on what the project

manager would like to have the stakeholders or sponsors understand about how the

project is moving forward. Calculations of value can be based on the number of planned

iterations, the number of story points in a release cycle or the number of planned

releases, she says.

There are skeptics about AgileEVM the same way some are unconvinced with EVM in

waterfall projects, Nee admits. “Acceptance of EVM in agile projects is going to be very

similar to how EVM is applied in the traditional space,” she says. “There are lots of

organizations using traditional project management that don’t report earned value. It’s

a matter of comfort and maturity level.”

Further, Nee predicts that the new concept will be tested. “There will be more scrutiny

applied in the agile community when it comes to earned value, because it is a different

way of thinking about how you are showing value or progress, when you are only

talking about certain components of a project. It may be hard for the community to

make a shift to say, ‘I can understand that we are achieving proper, balanced value

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from a release standpoint.’ Once they get over the initial uneasiness, they will start to

see the value that earned value brings, especially when they have chosen to execute

major initiatives in an agile setting. They are going to need more metrics to help them

understand how things are going.”

ITERATION STATUS CHART

An iteration status chart collects a list of features that are planned for the iteration and

compares it with the list of features completed and moved to future iterations. It

provides visibility of what the original plan for the iterations looked like a few weeks ago

and how it looks today.

“The iteration status chart is a high-level overview that gives the stakeholder a

comparison of how the team did with the iteration against the plan,” Nee says. “It

answers the questions, ‘Did we complete the items we said we were going to complete?

Did some of the story points move to another iteration? And, if they have moved, how

much will it affect that iteration?’”

While these charts provide fairly straightforward information, they can support an

organization’s shifting priorities, according to Nee. “The value of the chart is to provide

a mechanism for the ever-changing requirements that a business goes through and that

agile development methods are designed to handle,” she says. “We can have the active

dialogue about requirements priority and adjust the iterations so high priorities are not

at the bottom. This status chart is a good place to spark that type of conversation with

stakeholders.”

Nee says the tool is unique to the agile environment. “The whole concept of agile is that

we will always adjust the schedule and the requirements per iteration based off of

stakeholder priority and need. Project managers can use the chart as a means to have

that discussion of priorities. We can reaffirm that the priorities are still the same or

adjust if we need to. Either way, it shows how we are doing with the forward

momentum to a release.”

Training magazine Names 2011 Top Young Trainers | trainingmag.com

2011-03-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Training magazine Names 2011 Top Young Trainers trainingmag.com

Microsoft SharePoint is Changing Business Project Productivity

2011-03-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

One application that has been receiving a lot of publicity for business purposes is Microsoft SharePoint. Although it is certainly not a new technology, users may find it hard to learn. This is because of the many new wrinkles that have been added to try and stay ahead of the influence of search engine giant Google in this niche. This application was first offered in 2007, but the upgraded version has many improvements for 2010 that attempt to keep it ahead of competitors.

The newest innovations are designed to make it easier for business people. It is now easier than ever to create websites specifically for business needs. There are ways to create a page for Internet clients as well as intranet sites for internal use. This makes it easy for people that are comfortable with website development to order to implement a more streamline look throughout the company. Employees can be more easily trained in-house by the information technology (IT) department.

Another key feature regarding SharePoint is that it allows instant access to all of the other Microsoft applications. This includes saving Microsoft files on the website, which has been a problem in the past. There is also no longer the need for the traditional editing of documents before uploading to the World Wide Web.

Programming is also expedited because the SharePoint program allows users to easily creates their own apps specifically for business purposes without having to know how to produce code. The IT department does not have to share in this process once the regular associates are up to speed on how to use this software package. This is possible both online and offline, since a valid connection isn't necessary to produce output, only to sync up with the online portion.

The sharing of files is what separates this model from others, and employees are bound to be more productive since they don't necessarily need to create unique presentations on their own. Associates are free to share with one another, leading to a more team oriented approach. With the built in flexibility, permissions and access levels can be easily assigned. The user friendly interface means there is no need to learn a complicated software system.

Many business people want to know how SharePoint compares with comparable models. Actually they are remarkably similar, and now all of the features that have been available online are now included in the package offered by Microsoft as well. This makes Sharepoint an easy choice for most enterprising businesses.

With the new upgrades, SharePoint 2010 is better than ever before. The installation however is time consuming and will typically call for an outside IT service. Launching the product and having employees use it to its full potential takes training. Fortunately, there are many great vendors who offer Microsoft SharePoint training for reasonable prices.

Originally posted by TrainingGuru at /www.ittrainingblog.com

When you think of e-learning, what comes to mind?

2011-02-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

When you think of e-learning, what comes to mind? I think everyone now uses e-learning in some form and most of us do so without realizing it. In the simplest possible terms, just hooking onto the Internet and reading how to use a piece of software you recently purchased is e-learning because you’re using an electronic means to learn something. Get it? Now, that’s not exactly what I’m talking about, but maybe you’re getting the idea of just how much you may be using e-learning unwittingly.

In reality, individuals use e-learning to learn new software or take university or accreditation courses. Imagine how many more people can gain qualifications by using their computer at home! The stay-at-home mother who wants to be able to gain more skills for the day she returns to work, or the high school leaver who needs qualifications to get his first job, or the pensioner who wants to supplement his income with a part-time job need to get familiar with new technology or update their knowledge. The number of individuals who could benefit from e-learning in one way or another is almost limitless.

On the corporate and governmental fronts, e-learning can be the way to standardize training and be able to offer training simultaneously to all personnel, regardless of their geographic location. If a company has a rolling induction schedule (like in the construction industry), carrying it out via e-learning would be a smoother, uninterrupted process, compared to constantly having to schedule trainers and venues that are limited by space. E-learning opens the floodgates as to what can be offered to employees in a more cost-effective manner.

We all need to continually learn and expand our skill sets professionally and this is where I think e-learning is most beneficial for the employer and employee. Employers who offer continuing education tend to have a higher employee retention rates because:

Employees feel valued by their employer, so they stay
Let’s face it, the employer doesn’t have to continually train new staff which can be expensive for an organization.

The problem lies in offering the continuing education cost-effectively without compromising productivity. This is where e-learning comes to the fore.

Imagine being able to train employees in a new procedure without having a significant drop in productivity. I can hear some say, “Tell her she’s dreaming!” No, it is possible! E-learning is a means of providing the training to all our employees efficiently manner in this new procedure we’ve just made up. Our employee doesn’t have to sit in a boring, usually too warm, classroom environment, but rather he or she can continue working as normal and, as time allows, can take the course at his or her own pace at the individual’s own workstation. This means the employee will have a much higher retention of the course, the advantage being that he or she can go at his or her own pace, review information when he or she needs and take the time to absorb the material, not to mention sitting in familiar and comfortable surroundings.

It’s a well-known fact that people have an average attention span of about 20 minutes, so if they are sitting in a 60-minute classroom, a minimum of two-thirds of that information is going in through one ear and out the other! Yes, you are usually presented with half a tree’s worth of paper outlining everything that was reviewed during the course, but honestly, who reads that stuff?? E-learning courses have the capacity to engage the employee in a variety of ways (visual, aural and cognitive) which will hold the learner’s attention and can then assess how well the knowledge was absorbed and given in the form of feedback to the employer.

So, an advantage of e-learning in business is that you can actually gauge your Return on Investment (ROI) by a physical means. While e-learning can cost more upfront, it is actually less expensive in the long term because the company maintains a higher retention rate, more productive staff and fewer ongoing training expenses.

In the final analysis, e-learning is a very flexible tool that can be used in a myriad ways. It is only limited by one’s imagination. So, instead of feeling daunted by the notion of jumping into the e-learning waters, we need to embrace it and dip our toes in because, really, what do we have to lose? We may learn more about ourselves as well as gain some new knowledge in the process.

Learning Delivery 2011: Classroom Is Still King - Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity

2011-02-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

During a time when virtual learning and blended solutions are the rage it is surprising to learn that classroom instructor led training is still king.

Read more http://clomedia.com/articles/view/learning-delivery-2011-classroom-is-still-king

Learning Delivery 2011: Classroom Is Still King - Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity

NJ State Training Grants Available!

2010-11-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

NETD Training partnered with a number of New Jersey businesses to provide New Jersey’s Competitive Customized Training Grants.

New Jersey's Workforce Development Partnership (WDP) Program was established in 1992. One provision of the WDP law provides grant funding for customized skills training for employees located in New Jersey. WDP is funded through a dedicated assessment on workers and employers and is a key component in the Governor’s Economic Growth Strategy.

Competitive Customized Training Funds are available to upgrade the skills of workers to ensure that New Jersey employers are more competitive in the global economy. This competitive grant program is made possible under the New Jersey Workforce Development Partnership, and is administered by the Office of Grants Operations (Customized Training Unit). All awards are made subject to the availability of funds.
Applications must meet specific business needs, with an emphasis on training front-line workers. In accordance with the WDP law, most of the individuals receiving customized training will be trained primarily for work in the direct production of goods and services.
The Customized Training program is designed to benefit both employees and businesses by enhancing the skills of workers, thereby increasing their productivity and the competitiveness of the employer. This investment by the State is expected to result in the creation of new jobs, the retention of jobs and/or an increase in wages for the trained workers.

Please take our poll regarding social networking

2010-10-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Morristown-NJ/NETD-Training/157311740965509#!/pages/Morristown-NJ/NETD-Training/157311740965509

Is social media allow at your place of business? Take our Poll

2010-10-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Morristown-NJ/NETD-Training/157311740965509#!/pages/Morristown-NJ/NETD-Training/157311740965509

ITIL V3 Lifecycle

2010-10-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

In addition to ITIL V3 “Lifecycle” classes we provide NETD also offer ITIL V3 “Capability” classes as well! We encourage customers to consider these Capabilities courses. The Capability courses span more functional process areas and teach how these processes are integrated across the lifecycle. The Lifecycle courses tend to be more theory based and focus on one area within the lifecycle. The lifecycle courses are good, but students tend to gain more from the Capabilities courses.

Ultimately, the choice is yours as to which course(s) are best! Check our website for details

Lifecycle Courses: (3 Days)

ITIL v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Strategy

ITIL v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Design

ITIL v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Transition

ITIL v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Operation

ITIL v3 Intermediate Qualification: Continual Service Improvement

Learn about Microsoft Certified Architects, who form an elite, world-class community of experts in IT architecture. And see what it takes to become a Microsoft Certified Architect.

2010-09-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

The Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) program helps enable the highest-achieving professionals in IT architecture to distinguish their expertise. If you have proven experience designing and delivering IT solutions for enterprise customers, and technical and leadership skills that surpass those of your peers, consider earning the MCA certification. By doing so, you can validate your advanced proficiency and join an exclusive, world-class community of experts!

The Microsoft Certified Architect Program

Setting the super user account on SharePoint 2010 and getting Access Denied errors afterwards

2010-09-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

By Andras Gaaly ( From Sharepoint Adventures)

By default after installing SharePoint 2010 you will probably soon encounter the following two error messages in the Application log:

Object Cache: The super user account utilized by the cache is not configured. This can increase the number of cache misses, which causes the page requests to consume unneccesary system resources.
To configure the account use the following command ‘stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname portalsuperuseraccount -propertyvalue account -url webappurl’. The account should be any account that has Full Control access to the SharePoint databases but is not an application pool account.
Additional Data:
Current default super user account: SHAREPOINT\system

Object Cache: The super reader account utilized by the cache does not have sufficient permissions to SharePoint databases.
To configure the account use the following command 'stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname portalsuperreaderaccount -propertyvalue account -url webappurl'. It should be configured to be an account that has Read access to the SharePoint databases.
Additional Data:
Current default super reader account: NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE

Source of the error is as the Technet documentation says:

By default, the Portal Super User account is the site’s System Account, and the Portal Super Reader account is NT Authority\Local Service. There are two main issues with using the out-of-box accounts.
The first issue is that some items get checked out to System Account, so when a query that includes these items is made, the checked out version of the item is returned instead of the latest published version. This is a problem because it is not what a user would expect to have returned, so the cache has to make a second query to fetch the correct version of the file. This negatively affects server performance for every request that includes these items. The same problem would occur for any user who has items checked out, if that user’s account was set to be the Portal Super User account. This is why the accounts configured to be the Portal Super User and the Portal Super Reader should not be user accounts that are used to log into the site. This ensures that the user does not inadvertently check items out and cause problems with performance.
The default Portal Super Reader account is NT Authority\Local Service, which is not correctly resolved in a claims authentication application. As a result, if the Portal Super Reader account is not explicitly configured for a claims authentication application, browsing to site collections under this application will result in an “Access Denied” error, even for the site administrator. This error will occur on any site that uses any feature that explicitly uses the object cache, such as the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure, metadata navigation, the Content Query Web Part, or navigation.

So keeping these values on their default value on an intranet/extranet portal is not such a good idea. Let’s go ahead and set these two, according to the suggestions in the error message!

stsadm -o setproperty -pn portalsuperuseraccount -pv DOMAIN\user -url http://webappurl
stsadm -o setproperty -pn portalsuperreaderaccount -pv DOMAIN\user -url http://webappurl
iisreset

After doing so, you’re either done, or – in case you are in claims mode – will see Access Denied on all pages on the webapplication you set the accounts.

Moral of the story: if you are in claims mode, you will need to use the claims user name (i:0#.w|domain\user).

Relevant sections of the Technet article:

14. Make note of how the names for the Object Cache Super Reader and Object Cache Super User accounts are displayed in the User Name column. The displayed strings will be different depending on whether you are using claims authentication for the Web application.

Copy the following code and paste it into a text editor, such as Notepad:
$wa = Get-SPWebApplication -Identity "<WebApplication>"
$wa.Properties["portalsuperuseraccount"] = "<SuperUser>"
$wa.Properties["portalsuperreaderaccount"] = "<SuperReader>"
$wa.Update()
Replace the following placeholders with values:
- <WebApplication> is the name of the Web application to which the accounts will be added.
- <SuperUser> is the account to use for the Portal Super User account as you saw it displayed in the User Column field mentioned in Step 14 of the previous procedure.
- <SuperReader> is account to use for the Portal Super Reader account as you saw it displayed in the User Column field mentioned in Step 14 of the previous procedure.

Andras Gaal is a consultant at Microsoft Consulting Services