2-Pro Mentor specializes in providing world-class services to enterprises challenged by the traditional software development problems, such as high cost development, unpredictable project execution, budget overruns, failure to meet customer expectations, to mention a few. This page describes in brief the different services offered.

Project management consulting

We have expertise in managing projects according to an iterative & incremental lifecycle model, as described in the IBM® Rational® Unified Process (RUP®). We can help your in-house project manager become successful, as well as stepping in to the project manager role in your RUP driven project - small or large.

Our expertise include areas like risk management, estimation (based on use-cases), project and iteration planning, change management, monitoring progress and measurements.

Process management consulting

Managing the corporate processes and methods properly, is a crucial step towards software engineering excellence. Most development organizations have a strong desire to improve their software development capabilities to enable projects to deliver higher quality software within schedule and budget, and according to specifications.

2-Pro Mentor has extensive experience in the process engineering disciplines in general, and in the management of the RUP in particular. Sigurd Hopen of 2-Pro Mentor was the main author of the initial release of IBM Rational's Process Engineering Process (PEP) and having played a major role in the development of the RUP Plug-in technology, we have the required expertise to help your organisation tailor and implement the RUP and set up an improvement program around the adopted process.

Process tailoring

Software development processes are often described as bureaucratic, academic or even as being of hindrance to the project's progress. 2-Pro Mentor recognizes this problem and stresses the importance of tailoring the development environment to the exact needs of the project in question. Each project is unique and needs its own variant of selected processes and tools.

We have extensive experience both from commercial plug-in development as well as in-house tailoring of the RUP at the organizational and project level. From the time with IBM Rational, Sigurd developed the 2 day hands-on workshop "Creating RUP Plug-ins with the Rational Process Workbench (RPW)". RPW is the tool used to extend the RUP 2003 process framework.

Process Implementation

Implementation of a new or changed development process should be treated as a project in its own right, with dedicated budget and resources, as well as proper management commitment. We recommend an incremental approach to process adoption, supported by pilot projects set out to trial parts of the process in real projects.

A successful pilot project is typically a real project, staffed using the best people available. These should be key resources willing to act as mentors for later projects and becoming champions in their disciplines. And of similar importance, the pilot project should have access to expert mentors in the chosen process in general, and in project management and architecture in particular. A realistic project schedule should allow for the project members to learn a new process alongside their development activities.

Another important aspect of a process adoption effort is the training of staff. Never underestimate the importance of proper training. As a general rule, all staff should receive an introduction to the new process. The length and focus of this introductory education depend on local factors such as previous exposure, seniority of staff and timing of projects. Specialist training in the various software development disciplines should be considered as "just-in-time" training.

Communication is a third corner stone of any process or technology adoption effort. Top management should have visibility into the progress of the projects, and development staff should have an appreciation of the business goals of the change program. 2-Pro Mentor's experience is that openness at all levels is a key success factor.

2-Pro Mentor has significant experience mentoring management and key technical resources in significant process implementation efforts.

Process Improvement

Not all good practices need to be efficient in every environment. The result of using the prescribed process in projects must be fed back to the process engineering authority in the organization, to continuously improve the process and make it fit the environment in which your projects operate. A process implementation never finishes. You reach milestones in your adoption effort, but the focus on improving the development environment should continue as long as there are projects to support.

Reaching a certain degree of agility is an important goal also for the process engineering authority. Being able to quickly plug holes in the process as reported by the projects, and re deploy the modified pieces is very important for the progress of the project and the motivation of its staff.

Providing mentoring services for technical project execution

In addition to providing mentoring services in the management disciplines of a project, we also have significant experience in many of the technical areas of a development process such as the RUP, and we offer consulting services in the following areas:

Business Analysis
Requirements Management using the Use-Case Modeling technique
Object Oriented Analysis & Design using the Unified Modeling Language (UML)
System and Enterprise level architecture

Training Services

2-Pro Mentor is certified to deliver training courses from IBM Rational Software, and has successfully delivered training to numerous clients in the areas of iterative project management, use-case based requirements management, object-oriented analysis and design using UML, architecting software systems, and of course, introductory and advanced courses and workshops around the Rational Unified Process.

From previous employments, Sigurd Hopen has experience both from the development of commercial courseware, as well as from the management of a professional training department. See Resume / Training experience for more details.