ABSTRACT:  Writing code is fun, but deploying to production is not.  Production releases are scary events that last all weekend, and you find yourself worrying about how it will go.  Did we miss a configuration file?  Is the database schema the same as the one in the test environment?  Does the last minute hot fix we just applied break any other features?  Did I forget to include an installation instruction for the system administrators?

Continuous Delivery is a collection of principles and practices aimed at addressing the problems teams typically face when releasing changes to production.  By applying rigorous automation, testing and configuration management, teams are able to confidently and consistently deploy changes from version control to production without fear.  

In this talk, Mike McGarr will provide listeners with an introduction into the world of Continuous Delivery. After an introduction into the concepts and principles of Continuous Delivery, he will discuss many of the techniques for implementing Continuous Delivery and recommend some tools that can be used on your development project.

SPEAKER:  Mike McGarr is a software engineer who recently joined BlackBoard as the Director of DevOps for Learn, their flagship product. Prior to joining the Learn team at Blackboard, worked as a consultant in DC building and deploying production systems for both federal and commercial clients.  Mike has helped teams implement Agile engineering techniques such as Test Driven Development, Continuous Integration, Acceptance Test Driven Development/Behavior Driven Development, etc.  Mike is passionate about building high quality software solutions rapidily.  Mike lives in Chantilly, VA with his wife and 6 month old daughter, Maya.  When he is not out on the golf course, Mike also enjoys learning as much as possible about Agile, Lean and eXtreme Programming techniques.