Profile: Dan Rawsthorne

Dan Rawsthorne has worked in software for more than 25 years in many capacities, from coder to product/project manager. He has worked small (3 people working on an e-commerce web site) and large (500 people working on aircraft avionics) projects, and has learned many things about what works and what doesn't. He has worked in small "hack it out" companies and big CMM and ISO organizations and has been involved in process improvement in most of them.

At Danube Dan is a transformation agent who helps organizations change themselves through application of common sense and agile techniques. His formal training (PhD in mathematics) guides him to look for underlying problems rather than focus on surface symptoms; his military background (retired reserve officer) helps him understand the importance of teamwork and empowerment; and his common sense tells him that change must happen in small manageable bites.

Dan is a Certified Scrum Trainer with knowledge of many software processes, procedures, and techniques, and brings them all to bear on the problems he sees. He is a firm believer in agility, having been introduced to eXtreme Programming (XP) by Kent Beck in 1995, and to scrum by Linda Rising soon after. It was these experiences that led him to move from government contracting to become a coach, trainer, and consultant.