about me



I help growing companies how to organise their software product development so they build the right thing and build it in the right way. I specialise in software development management, practices and business alignment. I'm passionate about creating great software, I believe creating great software can help create great businesses: either its the software products you sell or the software that allows the business to be great.

My expertise is in the application of Agile Software Development methods, their introduction and improvement. Each organization needs to adapt Agile methods to best suit their needs and expand on the methods to fit with their business.

I believe software systems done well can help us grow and learn as businesses and as individuals; done badly they can hold us back. Software alone is not enough: you have to learn and change, this is how we create knowledge.
allan

The immediate problem we see is:
  • How do we make our software development better?
  • How do we improve the team?

Yet this is only the start of the problem, the deeper problems are:
  • How do know what the right thing to build is?
  • What is the right way to build my product?
  • How do I make my business better?
  • How do I improve my products and services?
Answering these questions is non-trivial. It is because these answer are hard that software development is valuable.


Changing Software Development

Changing Software Development: Learning to be Agile by Allan Kelly, published by John Wiley & Sons, 2008.


With over 15 years commercial experience in software development I now work as an independent consultant and helping companies grappling with these problems.
In addition I provide consulting and training for software development management, Agile software development and design patterns. I am a partner in London Software Partners which specialises in Agile Software Development in banking and financial institutions.

I have written extensively on: Agile Software Development, Software Development Management, Design Patterns and the technical aspects of software development.

Writing and events


Changing Software Development: Learning to be Agile was published by John Wiley and Sons in January 2008. You can buy Changing Software Development at Amazon now.

Encapsulated Context design pattern was included in Pattern Languages of Program Design (5).

My series of business design patterns for software companies are a popular download from this site and increasingly look likley to become another book.

More writing on software design and software development management of software teams, and Agile software development. Also allan's blog is here.

I am a regular conference speaker and a list of past and future events is on this page. I will be the conference chair for EuroPLoP 2008.

Education and awards


I hold a BSc degree in Combined Science (Computing) from Leicester University and an MBA at Nottingham University Business School. I was awarded the Best Overall Student prize in my MBA class.

Professionally I am a qualified PRINCE 2 Practitioner Project Manager and have completed Product Manager training with Pragmatic Marketing.

I am an active member of the ACCU and Hillside Europe (the organisers of the EuroPLoP Patterns conference). I have twice been honoured with the Neil Harrison Shepherding Award, at EuroPLoP 2005 and VikingPLoP 2007.