Agile Project Management with Scrum (Microsoft Professional),   ISBN:9780735619937

Customer Rating: 

The book is good because it shows a lot of real examples but it gets very repetitive and even though i recommend it, I also recommend to keep reading about this because you will need to see more points of view and angles from different people.

Customer Rating: 

A great primer for those trying to better understand Scrum and a useful case study based aid for those currently practicing. For the former this book provides a solid foundation for Scrum terminology, practices, and value. Through consistent utilization of real-life case studies in a variety of environments, the author is able to show how Scrum was implemented to reap business and IT value while also showing some stumbles along the way. These case studies will be of particular importance to the latter group mentioned above as the specifics can either help to get your implementation "un-stuck" or at least provide some thought around the differing ways Scrum can be utilized.

As the author of this book is also the co-developer of Scrum, one might think that the case studies and ascribed values might be coming from too biased a source. There is no question that Scrum takes on a bit of an omnipotent air in this text. However, after myself questioning Scrum's potential value in a particular circumstance, I was gratified to find the author admitted (although without strong conviction and in the appendix) that Scrum might not be the best technique to handle this.

Cheerleading aside, this book in an excellent read to better understand the power of Scrum and its place within an organization's project methodology.

Customer Rating: 

I purchased the book hoping it would provide real content about the rules and practices of Scrum. Instead, the author appears intent upon using the book to drive business to his Scrum certification business. He touts platitudes about "the rules of Scrum", but provides little substance. Outside of the basics -- that can be learned by simply searching for "Scrum" in a search engine -- the book offers little insight into how Scrum Masters conduct themselves differently than Project Managers. If you're looking for valuable insight into Scrum, skip this book. It was a waste of my money. One last gripe: The author wastes no opportunity to slam traditional Project Managers and projects run under the procedures of non-agile methodologies. Clearly, he has never worked for a good technical Project Manager on a well-run project. Contrary to his opinion, both do exist.

Customer Rating: 

Unfortunately just reading about Scrum won't result in a successful transformation of your company; Scrum is a methodology that you have to adopt, actively iterate on and adapt to your environment. For this reason, the format of Ken Schwaber's "Agile Project Management with Scrum" should be very helpful to teams in many stages of this cycle. Instead of reiterating the Agilista dogmas, Ken focuses on the key aspects of Scrum (planning, retrospectives, product owner, etc.) and provides hands-on examples illustrating how Scrum has benefited each company and how it was adapted to fit the culture and sensibilities of each team.

It's a quick and easy read, filled with a lot of insights. Highly recommended it.

Customer Rating: 

Process defined by "stories"?... Where is the "Scrum process" formally defined? I cannot find. I can find only stories about fictitious companies, level of disorder at these companies, and magical Silver Bullet named (but not defined) "scrum" that automatically, through long meetings, brings the order and happiness. Probably the level and style of presentations fits well to the level of "expertise" and education of average American programmer. And illustrates the trend: departing from rigorous formal methods towards "blah, blah" methods. PLAIN NONSENSE!