As I walked up to the Centre for Innovative Technology in Herndon, VA for the first time, I should have realized that it was just another start to an interesting day. While I was there for the [2015 Agile Executive Forum](http://execforum.agilealliance.org/), I was unsure as to where I was and where to go. The building may achieve high marks for aesthetics, but parking and entry are more than a little puzzling. Luckily, there were two familiar faces circling the building with similar looks of confusion: Mark Schwartz and Jeff Sutherland. It didn’t take long for us to talk and obtain guidance on where to park and how to proceed (Thanks Mark for ‘holding the button’).

As we settled in and grabbed a cup of coffee, Mark and I started discussing some of the unique Federal opportunities underway, specifically 18F’s Agile Delivery Services BPA as well as some US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) solicitations. The focus was on the changes they represented in procurement strategy and what I categorize as a ‘Show me … Don’t tell me’ acquisition approach. As we talked, additional people stopped by, introduced themselves, and said hello.

The morning was on an upswing.

The 2015 Agile Executive Forum, sponsored by the [Agile Alliance](http://www.agilealliance.org/), was a one-day event targeting C-suite and senior leaders in large organizations to come together to discuss the latest strategic thinking in Lean/Agile and share insights into adopting agile at scale.

Last week, Brydenn’s Chris Donahue participated in the 6th annual AWS Government, Education, and Nonprofits Symposium held in Washington DC. The event focused on bringing together leaders from across the world to discuss and share how cloud services are helping them achieve their missions.

The event consisted of three primary activities: keynotes, educational sessions, and vendor exhibits. While Chris was unable to join the various educational sessions, he found the keynotes and vendor discussions very informative.

**A house divided against itself cannot stand!**  
An amazing event! Distinguished speakers! Wonderful venue! Impressive turnout! Incredible energy and passion! Collaboration at its finest!

The inaugural DevOps Days DC was held at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Alexandria, Virginia on June 11th and 12th. The focus was to bring together a diverse audience of professionals and industry leaders from both the public and private sectors to discuss and share DevOps practices and principles.

The two day schedule included a series of keynotes in the mornings, Ignite talks directly after lunch and Open Space collaborations in the afternoon.

In a continued effort to invest in the delivery of customer value while exploring opportunities to further develop IT expertise, Chris Donahue, Brydenn President, achieved the Lean IT Association’s (LITA) Lean IT Foundation certification. To do so, Chris participated in a two-day, instructor led course conducted by Pink Elephant and then successfully demonstrated Lean expertise by passing the associated knowledge-based exam administered by APMG International. This training compliments and builds on previous certifications such as Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Product Owner, and Agile Certified Practitioner.

Per the Lean IT Association (LITA), “Lean IT is an extension of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Services principles to the development and management of information technology products and services. Its goal is to continuously improve the value delivered by IT organizations to their customers and the professionalism of IT people.”