Software Architect and Agile Development Coach
Greater Philadelphia Area
- Current
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- Software Architect and Agile Development Coach at Immuexa (Self-employed)
- Chief Architect at Fire Planning Associates
- Past
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- Agile/Pragmatic MDA Evangelist at Compuware
- Director Quality Assurance at TogetherSoft
- VP Internet Products at TogetherSoft
- VP Professional Services at TogetherSoft
- President, Co-founder at Lightship, Inc
- Aero Systems Program Manager, et al at Veda, Incorporated
- Project Engineer (GS-12) at Naval Air Propulsion Center
- Education
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- The Ohio State University
- Recommended
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15 people have recommended Jon - Connections
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259
connections
- Industry
- Computer Software
- Websites
Jon Kern’s Summary
Jon is passionate about helping clients deliver business value through software. Jon constantly seeks better ways for teams to accomplish their goals through technology, process, and collaboration. He routinely delivers outstanding business value through great insight and innovative approaches.
His varied career has spanned jet engine R&D, flight simulators, object-oriented "evangelism" (C++/Java), to agile mentoring.
He first published his lightweight iterative development methodology in 1997. He was motivated heavily by his friend/mentor Peter Coad's mantra to deliver "frequent, tangible, working results." He put his techniques to work on DoD projects for 10 years. Then at his own company (Lightship, Inc.), with major projects completed for IBM, Ingersoll, etc.
In Sep. 99, Jon joined Peter Coad as the VP of Professional Services for the start up of TogetherSoft. Jon mentored hundreds in OO and Java development, and trained a dozen Coad-Certified mentors. Jon guided Product Management and led the development/QA team in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Jon was a co-author of Java Design with Coad, and worked with Coad and Jeff De Luca to help shape the chapter on Feature-Driven Development (FDD) in Java Modeling in Color with UML.
In Feb. 2001, Jon was part of the gathering that created the Agile Manifesto for Software Development (http://agilemanifesto.org).
From 2003 to 2006, Jon worked with Compuware's OptimalJ team, promoting best practices, solid architecture, agile development, and quality by design. He started a blog and a newsletter his final year at CPWR. There were 31000+ views the last month (with a 12 minute avg time) with steady growth of subscribers (~2K/mon). And there were 6730+ opt-in subscribers and 900/month visiting the newsletter site.
Since October 2006, Jon has been consulting with teams to solve business challenges in the medical, insurance, and fire pre-planning industries.
Jon Kern’s Specialties:
agile development, domain modeling, architectural solutions that meet business needs, leading distributed teams, highly varied domain expertise, leadership by example
Jon Kern’s Experience
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Software Architect and Agile Development Coach
Immuexa (Self-employed)
(Self-Employed; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)
October 2006 — Present (3 years 3 months)
Work with distributed teams and organizations to promote and instill agile practices, pragmatic processes and tools. Helps teams to architect and implement well-engineered solutions that routinely beat expectations -- and always deliver tremendous business value.
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Chief Architect
Fire Planning Associates
(Computer Software industry)
2003 — Present (6 years )
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Agile/Pragmatic MDA Evangelist
Compuware
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; CPWR; Computer Software industry)
May 2003 — October 2006 (3 years 6 months)
Director-level position with varied roles to promote better software development through tools and practices: speaking at industry events and to technical groups, working with clients on OptimalJ projects and agile training, providing input for product direction, working on sales processes and collateral, writing monthly newsletters (6700+ opt-in subscribers) and blogging frequently (up to 34K views per month after one year).
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Director Quality Assurance
TogetherSoft
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)
May 2002 — July 2002 (3 months)
While focusing on the 2nd product line, Ver 6.0 of the flagship product was being developed. It soon became clear to management that there were major quality issues. I was asked to jump in and work some miracles.
o Developed customer-centric “Quality Attributes” to guide the development and testing. This quickly showed its worth in improving the quality of product releases.
o Established a Quality Review Board cross-functional team to rapidly deal with critical customer issues.
o Established criteria and process for determining severity of bugs, and setting priority to more efficiently handle customer concerns and to effectively reduce the mountain of backlogged change requests.
o Ensured that development of the critical, next-generation Java platform was in right direction. Played a key role in fighting for this work to get the proper attention and schedule.
o Overall modernization or QA process and team -
VP Internet Products
TogetherSoft
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)
September 2000 — May 2002 (1 year 9 months)
Developed a new product line that blended process, project management, workflow, versioning, and resource tasking (team support). Product was distributed, Java-based, rich-client, and with a server component.
o Had primary vision and “big picture” for ground-breaking new product expected to take TS to next level.
o Chief architect, designer, and product manager; led team of 25 (mostly in Russia).
o Created/gathered/confirmed requirements from potential clients.
o Used agile development process (blend of XP and FDD).
o Market/competitive research and analysis. Innovative product had no equal in the marketplace.
o Developed pilot program (external customers and internal usage).
o Product was on schedule, and had great customer feedback.
o Technologies: Java, XML, WebDAV, Servlets, HTTP, JSP, SVG. -
VP Professional Services
TogetherSoft
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)
September 1999 — August 2000 (1 year )
Hired by Peter Coad to create the professional services organization and infrastructure. Instrumental in helping form TogetherSoft and to grow it from 35 in Sep 99 to over 400
o Instrumental to clinch major client deals (critical for our corporate image)
o Hired and trained top-flight mentors across the USA and UK
o Guided development of flagship product (Together ControlCenter)
o Created scheduling system and collaborative e-community to deliver $Ms in workshops
o Developed courseware, new courses, updates; created sales demo format for ControlCenter
o Developed training, growth, and promotion strategy for mentors
o Developed marketing techniques, sales process, FAQs, website content, etc
o Designed delivery and feedback process to ensure workshops met client’s needs
o Provided custom mentoring and workshops
o Extensive experience across varied problem domains
o Provided fresh, innovative ideas to provide tactical and strategic solutions -
President, Co-founder
Lightship, Inc
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Defense & Space industry)
July 1995 — December 1999 (4 years 6 months)
President. Founder, chief strategist, marketer, and leader of ~$1M/yr software development firm. Highlights include:
o Led dozens of on-site OO workshops, Java training, project start-up mentoring.
o Chief architect/modeler for IBM's next-gen Manufacturing Execution System (C++, thin-client, message-driven, fault-tolerant).
o Architected OO solution for developing an engineering rules-based product configurator and proposal generation system for Ingersoll-Dresser Pump’s complex product lines.
o Lead designer on a state-of-the-art embedded low-cost, Java-based, "video phone appliance," collaborative white board, & VoIP.
o Designed an in-home tele-health medicine system that linked to a remote office server, sending video and vital sign sensor signals (designed to work over dial-up).
o Developed a configurable solution to control a direct mail sorter system. Included real-time controls, integration with customer's order system, and “intelligent” multi-pass sorting. -
Aero Systems Program Manager, et al
Veda, Incorporated
(Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Defense & Space industry)
November 1986 — July 1995 (8 years 9 months)
As an aerospace engineer, Jon worked with software to help solve problems (like real-time data acquisition, control of hardware-in-the-loop, and flight simulation). He did research into fighter agility, HUD symbology, EKG/GLOC, and helmet-related technologies. By the late 80s, Jon was probing the new object-oriented paradigm, and he quickly adopted C++. By the early 90s, he was doing object modeling (with PowerPoint and Excel), following Peter Coad’s methods. As one of four PMs, he managed a group of ~10 engineers and a few $M in projects.
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Project Engineer (GS-12)
Naval Air Propulsion Center
(Computer Software industry)
1981 — 1986 (5 years )
Jon Kern’s Education
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The Ohio State University
BS , Aeronautical Engineering , September 1977 — June 1981
Worked as a TA junior year, teaching ~60 sophmore-level aero labs, grading papers, etc. TA during senior year, teaching ~120 sophomores, and ~60 juniors). Also held part-time job cooking at a local restaurant.
Additional Information
Jon Kern’s Websites:
Jon Kern’s Interests:
skiing, mountain climbing, hiking, traveling, wine
Jon Kern’s Groups:
AgileManifesto.org, Agile Alliance, International Association of Software Architects, http://twitter.com/JonKernPA
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International Association of Software Architects -
iCMG Architecture World
Jon Kern’s Honors:
PUBLICATIONS
* www.AgileManifesto.org, February 2001.
* Contributed to "Java Modeling in Color with UML," Peter Coad, et al, 1998
* "Java Design, 2nd Edition," Peter Coad, Mark Mayfield, Jon Kern, Prentice Hall, 1998
* "Lotus Notes R5 Unleashed," D. Lynd, S. Kern, Jon Kern, et al, SAMS Publishing, 1999,
* "Lotus Notes and Domino 4.5 Developer's Guide," S. Kern, Jon Kern, et al, SAMS, 1997
PATENTS
* US Patent 6,938,240 "Methods and systems for improving a workflow based on data mined from plans created from the workflow."
Jon Kern’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
