We owe a tremendous amount of thanks and gratitude to many people who have helped us with the writing of this book.
First, there is our family with all their unwavering and unconditional love and support.
Next, we would like to thank the team at Course Technology PTR. And to begin with, there is Mitzi Koontz, senior acquisitions editor, who believed in our book from day one; next Sandy Doell, copy editor, who did a wonderful job in making the book flow much better than when we first started; and finally, Jenny Davidson, project editor, who made it all happen by ensuring a remarkable co-ordination between all of us.
Next, we would like to extend a technical thank you to:
David K Pham, Formerly CTO with KTD Media Corporation and Founder of 7billion, LLC, for having tested all the ideas in this book and helped improve them even more.
Scott Booth, MCP, Manager with Pariveda Solutions, a Texas-based consultancy, who not only attended Andrew’s presentation on the Influence of Architecture Vision on Team Velocity and Software Quality at the DFW Scrum User Group, but also took quite a lot of time to review the book for us.
Sameer Bendre, CSM and PMP, a Senior Consultant with 3i Infotech Consulting, who was so enthusiastic about the book and who also put some of his friends in contact with us.
Mike Vizdos, a Certified Scrum Trainer based in Richmond, Virginia, who took time to give us his feedback despite his busy teaching schedule.
Linda Rising, author, who did not hesitate to take time out of her busy schedule to give us some quick feedback for an early draft on her way to catch a flight to Germany.
Henrik Kniberg, author of Scrum and XP in the Trenches and a Certified Scrum Trainer, based in Stockholm, Sweden, who was the first one who made us think of a better title for the book.
Anwar Bardai, a Senior Computer Specialist with Compucom, Inc., who worked with Andrew Pham a few years ago in successfully using some elements of Scrum and Agile to implement an ERP package in record time for a large computer retailer.
Benjamin Oguntona, Senior System Manager with AT&T, who worked with Andrew Pham when Andrew was Technical Director with SBC and then Principal and Chief Architect with Cingular Wireless, for enthusiastically taking the time to review and to edit the book.
Dennis Palmer, a product owner with Esquire Innovations, Inc., a software company based in California, who took time to review the book when it was still at an early stage.
Dennis Simpson, IT Rescue Mission Specialist, based in Dallas, Texas, who not only took time to review the book at length but also helped edit the book to make it more polished.
Harold Thomas, CBAP, a Business Analyst with the Ohio State Department of Job & Family Services, who did not hesitate to take time from his own writing schedule to review our book and help edit it.
Sanjiv Augustine, Certified Scrum Trainer, co-founder of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN), and author of Managing Agile Projects, who not only took the time out of his busy schedule to review the book but was also very kind in writing a foreword for our book.
Dan Pilone, author of Head First Software Development and Head First iPhone Development, and Managing Partner with Element 84, LLC, for having taken the time to review the book and for writing the foreword for it.
Last but not least, our thanks also go to all the authors whose works we have cited here. To those we have not mentioned, please know that we have made every effort to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, please let us or our publisher know so that we can make the necessary amendments at the earliest opportunity.
Andrew Pham
Phuong-Van Pham