After his successful session last year on Agile Scrum, our resident Scrum White Robe Gerard Beckerleg is at it again, except this time he’s taking on one of the most divisive topics in software development: Estimation.

In this video recorded at the Sydney SSW offices, Gerard Beckerleg takes a dive into the depths of how to estimate in software development and extracts the most interesting ideas and raises some very difficult questions about the big white elephant in the room that is Software Estimation.

After examining the pros and cons of estimation Gerard lays the blueprint for a better way to help you and your clients get what they are really looking for.

This is a must watch for developers and business people alike.

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More great content from Gerard

How to Implement Scrum Using Team Foundation Server 2012 with Gerard Beckerleg

In this video Gerard provides a practical demonstration of how to use the new Agile project management tools in TFS 2012 and many other best practices.

‘Agile in the Enterprise – Lessons Learned in the Real World’

Great overview of lessons learned using Scrum in a real life Enterprise project. This video is hosted by Adam Cogan – Chief Architect at SSW, who is joined by Keith Longworth – the Product Owner for the project, and Gerard Beckerleg – lead developer on the project. They talk candidly about the problems and issues that crept up during the 28 weeks of development. It’s a great watch for business people and anyone who wants to know the benefits and possible pitfalls of the Agile development practice.

‘Mastering Scrum – The Common Pitfalls and How to Overcome Them’

In this video Gerard and Marlon Merescia, Sales Manager at SSW, talk about the common pitfalls faced by teams working with Scrum and how you can overcome them.

‘What are the Dysfunctions of Scrum?’

In this short video Gerard is interviewed by Adam Cogan who discusses the main points of pain that teams face when using Scrum. Examples include; taking on tasks mid sprint; teams not understanding the acceptance criteria and teams not performing (or incorrectly performing) the Daily Standup. This is a must watch for developers who are working in Scrum teams.

‘Best new features of SharePoint 2013 + top tips from 4 SharePoint experts’


Taking a break from Scrum; in this short video Gerard interviewed 4 SharePoint experts at an SharePoint Saturday event held in Sydney. They share their thoughts on SharePoint 2013 and provide some top tips for developers.

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About the speakers

About the speakers

Scrum White Robe

Scrum guru Gerard Beckerleg has been a Solution Architect at SSW in Sydney since 2011. Although he specialises in Web applications, Gerard has extensive experience in Microsoft.NET and loves working with C#, MVC, SQL Server, Umbraco, Kendo UI and SharePoint. He also lists Scrum and agile practices as a passion. Using these skills and frameworks, Gerard has brought to life a raft of successful projects, such as Toll, Sydney Airports, McDonalds, Event Cinemas, and National Australia Day Council.

An established and confident speaker and trainer, Gerard has delivered numerous courses including SharePoint 2010 and .NET MVC at the University of Technology in Sydney, and is also a regular speaker at the Sydney and Canberra .NET User Groups.

Check out Gerard's blog Tales of a White Robe for more Scrum goodness. Also check out his SSW employee profile if you'd like to contact him.

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