What Is Virtual Scrum and How Is It Applied?

Virtual scrum is an education tool used to help teach the scrum methodology to undergraduate students in the field of software engineering. Because this has become such a widely used agile practice in the software industry, it's important that students get a feel for this experience in a hands-on manner. The ISISTAN-CONICET Research Institute located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has developed a virtual scrum program and conducted a case study to evaluate its effectiveness.

This study provided an educational and hands-on approach to scrum methodology. This virtual training tool allowed students to familiarize themselves with programs and elements of scrum like blackboards, web browsers, document viewers, charts and calendars. This study followed 45 students using this program to complete their capstone project, as well as those not following the virtual scrum methodology. The results of the study confirmed that virtual tool is an excellent and efficient way to teach students the fundamentals and navigation of the scrum methodology.

Agile Software Development and the Scrum Methodology

Annual surveys have found that agile methods like scrum have been increasing every year. The 2007 State of Agile Development Survey found that 37 percent of respondents use scrum. And today more than 50 percent of surveyed companies have adopted scrum as their main agile methodology. This methodology is a dependable, collective approach to software development that can be implemented in any office. This also leverages communication and team work to successfully manage product development.

So while this study has established the importance of virtual scrum, it is important to understand how virtual scrum can be applied in your individual or workplace life. This study was established to help users understand the framework and capabilities involved in the scrum methodology. Virtual scrum allows users to get a 3D experience inside the world of scrum development. This program helps users become involved in the scrum process by taking members through an incremental life cycle or sprints. These users are also able to become avatars with specific roles including: Product Owner, Scrum Master and Scrum team.

It's important to familiarize oneself with the basics of this methodology before experiencing the virtual scrum world. This secondary tool, used to help people understand the process and actions involved during the scrum methodology, helps illustrate first-hand the benefits of this methodology. While reading and writing about the scrum methodology is a good way to learn, it's especially helpful to get real exposure to the scrum process.

Virtual scrum not only allows users to take on important roles inside the scrum process, but it also helps people experience other aspects of scrum development including organizing and creating user stories, planning the sprint backlog, monitoring sprint work and finishing the sprint. All of these key steps to the process can be understood through virtual scrum. This teaching tool is extremely valuable to the software engineering world and many great companies are searching for engineers well-versed in this area. For those looking to get a better understanding of scrum and its processes, using the virtual scrum program is an excellent option. The simulated scrum environment may be the next major trend in scrum education.

David Easterling has been leading software development companies for more than 15 years. Starting his technology career as a partner with Everest Technologies, David decided to open his own company named Prosoft in 2003. Prosoft quickly became a leading software development and IT staffing firm in Louisville, Kentucky. Recognizing a need to offer more efficient and affordable custom software, agile programming, and web design solutions to growing businesses, David founded Prosoft Nearshore in 2008, with offices in Louisville, KY, and San Jose, Costa Rica. He holds a degree from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. David is a Certified Scrum Master and is an active member of the Scrum and Agile User Group. He is also a member of the National Vistage CEO Leadership Group.

Increasing Security With 2 Factor Authentication Solutions

The Advantage Of 2 Factor Authentication Solutions

The two-factor authentication or 2FA process is used to identify all users in the most unambiguous way. There are two components used which should be known to the user, possessed by the user or inherent to the user. Presently multiple factors are used in this authentication system. Biometric data of the user is the recent addition to the existing two-way authentication system. Two Factor Authentication is the best way for an Enterprise Security Solution to secure and protection to your data.

The success of the system

Company data cannot be fully protected by passwords only when there are billions of users who can access any data while being online. Some of the many benefits provided by an ideal system are:

• The software is either managed by a solution provider or is present on the premises of the organization.

• The phone or the mobile device is sufficient for authentication.

• The experience of logging on is very easy.

• Deployment is done automatically with the help of the membership identification provided by LDAP groups.

• Deployment of more than 100,000 users is possible within an hour.

• Each user is charged annually with no hidden costs.

• The user can move seamlessly from one device to another and can have full control.

• A significant reduction in the cost of using hardware tokens is possible.

• Re-use of the AD (LDAP) is possible.

• The types of token-less operation are quite wide.

• The integration with web, Cloud and VPN providers is very easy.

Solution implementation considerations

There are some considerations that every organization should keep in mind when it tries to implement the system with the help from a 2 Factor Authentication Solutions providers:

• "Turning on" a two-factor authentication may not be easy - The implementation of this system needs user participation for a successful implementation.

• The vulnerability of the system - The two-factor authentication system is not totally perfect.

• Implementation problem - Presently only one device is sufficient to implement the system.

• The similarity of various systems - Present day two-factor systems are more sophisticated than earlier ones that depended on tokens and OTPs.

• The benefit of the system - This system is a required not only for compliance but also to reduce fraud.

No worthwhile alternative

This system is the best alternative available to organizations to prevent, fraud, sip hackers from stealing vital information and preventing unauthorized access. All organizations should ask a 2 Factor Authentication Solutions provider to incorporate the solution in the existing systems if they are to sleep peacefully at night. Though this solution may not the only one for tackling various problems, it is the best one available till a better one arrives.