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Architecture Journal Profile: Faisal WarisIn this issue, we catch up with Faisal Waris, an architectural consultant at Ford. The Architecture Journal asks him about the role, what some of his challenges are, and his views on architecture.
Diego Dagum's giving us some tips to get into Software architectureWe had a great conversation with Diego, a Software architect, about the way that we can become a software architecture. Tools, tips and his own experience. Everything started with a game for him. Step by step guidance and a good picture on how can we...
Communicating and Relationships in ArchitectureAs a solutions architect, you need to gain the cooperation and support of three audiences: Business Stakeholders (the people who commission the work), Architects, Project Managers, Developers (the technical people who accomplish the work) and End Users...
The Total Solution Life CycleThe total solution life cycle includes the business strategy and business planning activities that precede the software development life cycle (SDLC), as well as the deployment and ongoing operations that follow. We examine the tools used to create...
Write Code Once For Both Mobile And Desktop AppsThere are many reasons you might want to share business logic across both platforms, regardless of whether the original application was written for Windows or Windows Mobile. You can start from either, and port to the other. The techniques and principles...
MSDN Webcast: DinnerNow Technical OverviewIn this session, we break down the architecture of DinnerNow, the flagship Microsoft .NET 3.0 sample application. We discuss the use of technologies such as Windows CardSpace, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows...
MSDN Webcast: Visual Basic .NET Soup to Nuts: Building a Multi-Tier Business ApplicationIn this Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Soup to Nuts webcast series, we have covered the basics of building applications with Visual Basic. Join this final session to see how you can build a multi-tier business application with Visual Basic. Do not miss this...
MSDN Webcast: The Role of the Software ArchitectIn this session, we explore the role of the software architect-from defining what the job role actually entails, what it takes to be successful at it, and what steps you can take to become a software architect (or a better one) today.
Jean-Paul Boodhoo on Demystifying Design Patterns Part 4Jean-Paul is back to help us grow more brain cells in learning about patterns in .NET. In this installment JP uses the Specification Pattern to give almost unlimited extensibility to our example contacts list application.
Transitioning from a Developer to an ArchitectAre you a developer who would like to learn more about becoming an architect? Or how to get formally recognized as one (since you already wear the design and architecture hat along with the developer one)?. During this session we will discuss how you can...
Scott Stanfield on the Importance of AestheticsScott Stanfield from Vertigo Software is back (see show #11) to talk about cultivating an aesthetic sense around software, media, and user experience.
Services Orientation and Other Architectural ApproachesOne of the hottest topics in software architecture is the services oriented approach to building solutions and how this can provide agility, flexibility and reuse. This session will give an overall description of service orientation and how it differs...
ARCast.TV: Training - Architect as DesignerFor those aspiring architects among us, this week we consider the role of designer. Frank Lloyd wright is the most famous American architect but what did he have to say about design? Join me on this trip around the world to Los Angeles, Boston and...
ARCast.TV: Presenter First Pattern (Part 1)Remember way back in the day when you first heard of the Model View Controller pattern (MVC) ? Or perhaps you have heard of Model View Presenter (MVP). While preparing for my Tech-Ed presentation this year I ran across the Presenter First pattern. I was...
Miguel Castro on ExtensibilityOur old friend Miguel Castro is back to give us a fresh look at software architecture. This show will be helpful for both beginners and veteran developers. Miguel uses some well known and perhaps not so popular patterns to make your project flexible and...
Software Development Lifecycle and MethodologiesOver the years the various approaches teams have used to develop software have evolved. Join Dave Remmer in the second of a series focused on aspiring architects where we will discuss the various stages projects go through and sample some of the...
ARCast: 2012 and Network ConvergenceInfratructure that is not only stadiums and sports venues but also a great deal of IT Infrastructure. Today we are chatting with Alf Raju who is working on a plan to insure that the infrastructure that remains will produce value for the community for...
MSDN Webcast: Visual Basic .NET Soup to Nuts: Custom Windows Forms ControlsJoin this session if your applications require a user interface (UI) that is unique or different than the standard Windows Forms. In this webcast, we explore some advanced features of Windows Forms development, such as Windows GDI+, that enable you to...
Microsoft Office Live Seminar: Michael Gerber presents, "Awakening the entrepreneur within"Entrepreneurs are inventors. But their inventions are not products, but new companies that organize the world in unique and compelling ways. Their companies add value to their customer's lives, provide solutions to the problems that confront us at every...
Architecture 101Architecture is the balance between art and engineering, it requires a certain mindset and approach to solving problems. Architects often function as a bridge between the business users and development groups and are increasingly being recognized as a...
Microsoft Office Live Seminar: ?Delegation is not a dirty word."For some of us telling someone else what to do is one of the most uncomfortable aspects of being an entrepreneur. But in order to be a successful business owner you have to master the art of delegating because you can't do everything yourself. We will...
ARCast.TV: Exploring Disney Studios with Steve DavisDisney Studios is without a doubt a highly successful an influential player in Hollywood. Actually, they are in Burbank right near the NBC studios. While I was in LA checking the place out for the Architecture Training videos about Architect as Explorer...
Making Governance Work at a Developer LevelThis article will show you how to implement business policies without creating a bureaucratic nightmare.
Quality-Attribute Auditing: The What, Why, and HowSoftware quality is a key factor in the long-term success of any company. Quality software will increase profitability, reduce maintenance cost, and achieve higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Software-quality audits will help ensure that the...
Monitoring Quality AttributesThis article covers how to apply architecture statements to a real-world environment.
Modern CRM SolutionsThis article covers how a modern customer-relationship management system solved the business loss faced by Humongous Insurance.
The Role of Architecture in Business AnalysisUnderstand the architecturally significant aspects of business analysis on which a project architect should focus.
ContractsThis article covers what architects should know about contracts and why. Its objective is to enable an architect to identify the clauses in a contract that could affect the design and implementation of a system, and, conversely, how system design might...
Beyond Keywords: Structure and Intelligence from TextThis article reviews key concepts in text analytics. Text processing for business intelligence involves a variety of tools, with many applications that can be of great value. Keyword search is just a start. Beyond keyword search, the relevance of a...
Mentoring: A Natural Element of Architectural LeadershipAs an experienced architect, I would encourage you to make the choice to perfect our profession by mentoring a hopeful new architect. It's worth the journey. With mentoring, everybody wins.
Device Management and ProvisioningThe term "provisioning" for a device means to evolve a device to a state in which it can be handed-off to an end user, or end-user team, for their specific use in a functional manner. The device could be a desktop, laptop, server, or mobile device.
Are We Engineers or Craftspeople?What is software engineering, and should we care?
ARCast.TV: Training - Architect as AdvocateHave you ever been in trouble with the law? I hope not, but if you ever were arrested in the US they would tell you that you have "...the right to remain silent" and "...You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during...
Eric Evans on Domain Driven DesignEric Evans offers his insights on good software development using Domain Driven Design techniques.
ARCast.TV: Training - Architect As ExplorerImagine standing on the shore of a new discovery and looking out to a cloudless horizon. Who will chart the path? Who will lead the team to the undiscovered country? The Architect - that's who!
Jean-Paul Boodhoo on Demystifying Design Patterns Part 2This week Jean-Paul Boodhoo continues his design pattern series. Jean-Paul shows us two more patterns, Monostate and Strategy.
Architecture: Description Really MattersArchitecture description can affect the "life and death" of the software system that it describes.
Jack GreenfieldJack Greenfield is an architect for enterprise frameworks and tools at Microsoft. He was previously chief architect, practitioner desktop group, at Rational Software Corporation, and founder and CTO of InLine Software Corporation. At NeXT Computer, he...
Software-Engineering Asset ManagementWhen users ask for what they need, it's not enough to tell them what you have. When someone looks for the answer to a problem, users will (hopefully) understand what the problem is, but probably will not understand the solution yet. Software-engineering...
Software Architecture: Past, Present and FutureJunior and senior developers are asking about software architecture and software architects. In this article we discuss the history of software architecture and address the forbidden question: "Can a developer become software architect?"
Layered Versus Client-ServerBeware: Architectural advice from local experts might not be correct. Each architecture style has a distinct purpose for communicating a specific understanding. An architect has the responsibility to understand the styles and employ them by representing...
Compliance: What Architects Must KnowCompliance is a complicated domain that is built upon a simple concept: doing what you said you were going to do.
"Are We There Yet?" Estimation and Tracking on the Road to Software Development and ImplementationCost estimation and tracking are two very important elements in software development and implementation, but the relationship between them is even more important.
What is an Architect?Imagine two architects sitting together at a technology conference ? one is clearly very interested in the impact of architecture on the long term IT strategy of the company, the other is interested in how best to use SQL data access patterns in an...
Diplomatic Software: Customer RelationsSometimes, your biggest architectural challenge is the customer's technical staff.
The Customer: The Missing LinkUnderstanding business processes requires working with the customer to understand their business fundamentals.
Follow Me!A leadership approach that is based on principles is flexible and widely applicable to many situations. You should make an attempt to understand and apply the 10 principles of leadership that are presented in this article.
Business-Process Engineering (BPE) and Business-Process Management (BPM)Learn about Business-Process Management (BPM), and get ready for the future. What is right about IT is that we recognize the value of full collaboration with our business customers and, finally, we are developing tools that enable us to realize that...
Keys to the KingdomThere are four keys to an architecture that unlocks business value; to know them is good, to use them is great.
Jeff Atwood on the Human Side of Software DevelopmentJeff Atwood from codinghorror.com tells Carl and Richard what's on his mind, including his recommended reading list, and above all the human side of software development.
ARCast: Architect Panel - Tel AvivI love to hear about the mistakes people make. Why? Because it is our mistakes that make us into experienced architects. If I can learn from the mistakes that others make - perhaps I can avoid making them while still learning their lesson. In this episode...
Jean-Paul Boodhoo on Demystifying Design Patterns Part 1Jean-Paul Boodhoo starts a multi part series on design patterns that can be applied in any environment. This week Jean-Paul explores Factories and Singletons in ways you may not have thought of.
Tutorial 21: Implementing Optimistic ConcurrencyFor a Web application that allows multiple users to edit data, there is the risk that two users might be editing the same data at the same time. In this tutorial, we'll implement optimistic-concurrency control to handle this risk.
Tutorial 24: Paging and Sorting Report DataPaging and sorting are two very common features when displaying data in an online application. Listing all on one screen can lead to information overload for the user perusing the data. To help make the results more manageable, we can break up the data...
Architecture Journal Profile: Don FergusonDr. Donald Ferguson is a Microsoft Technical Fellow in Platforms and Strategy in the Office of the CTO. Don focuses on both the evolutionary and revolutionary role of information technology in business. Prior to joining Microsoft, Don was an IBM Fellow...
Tutorial 23: Limiting Data-Modification Functionality Based on the UserA number of Web applications support user accounts and provide different options, reports, and functionality based on the logged in user. In this tutorial, we'll examine how to adjust dynamically the data-modification capabilities based on the visiting...
A Tale of Two, Three, Four (or More) InterfacesThis article covers the art and science of identifying an application's need for common services.
Solution ArchitectureSolution architecture starts with an understanding of the problem, and this is where so many projects fail. Too many people have the idea that solving a problem is all about coding. The coding is the easy part.
Murphy?s Law Manifests on Manic MondayThe Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an integrated series of best practices in IT service management that conform to the British Standards Institution standard (BS15000), with over 1,00,000 certified practitioners worldwide. ITIL's...
From Stakeholders to Models: It Is All a Matter of ViewpointsAn article on viewpoints and views, the differences between them, and why you should care.
Strengthen Access Control with Enterprise Identity Management ArchitectureWithout robust identity management, we can never be confident of our security.
Tutorial 17: Examining the Events Associated with Inserting, Updating, and DeletingExtend the built-in inserting, updating, and deleting capabilities of ASP.NET data Web controls, and customize the editing interface to update only a subset of the product fields, with this tutorial from Scott Mitchell.
Tutorial 16: An Overview of Inserting, Updating, and Deleting DataIn this tutorial, Scott Mitchell explains how to map the Insert(), Update(), and Delete() methods of the ObjectDataSource to methods of classes in the BLL, as well as how to configure the GridView, DetailsView, and FormView controls to provide...
Design Skills: The Practice of DesignTo meet the challenges placed on us by both the customer and our IT leadership, we must understand the whole system of interconnected elements that participate in, affect, and influence the design process. Design is about understanding "the whole system."
Validating ASP.NET Query StringsRecent statistics show that cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks are gaining momentum and they claim the lion's share of discovered attacks. Successful XSS attacks are always due to unvalidated or improperly validated input data, and more often than not,...
Have Your Layer Cake and Eat It, TooAs a design pattern, layering is an established best practice, but it can be used for more than just providing structure to an application.
The IT EnvironmentLike good actors, architects play many roles?from archaeologist to inventor to mediator to security agent to leader?but often it seems as if technologist were the least of them.
Conflict ManagementArchitects must understand that business leads, project managers, and developers consider them as alien. One of the reasons for this is a conflict of interests. Relationship management and clearly defined and communicated architecture-service offerings...
Human DynamicsBeing an architect is all about relationships, and one relationship for which you are responsible is the one that you create between leadership and learning.
The President's Dilemma: Business and Technology Strategy RationalizationHow does an architect get approval and money from a business executive? Not by being an architect, but by thinking like the executive.
Infrastructure ArchitectureAn introduction to a new branch of architecture that is urgently needed to support modern organizations, and needed to help architecture to mature as a whole.
The Software Architect and Organizational ReadinessTo be successful, an architect must be able to assess an organization's readiness to change. Implementing organizational-readiness activities in your project plan is above and beyond the technical process of software architecture. The good thing is that...
Implementing System-Quality AttributesBuild high-quality software, leverage industry practices, and plan to build quality into your solution; but be sure to prioritize carefully.
Business-Capability Mapping: Staying Ahead of the JonesesBusiness-capability mapping enables adaptive, sleek architectures that can respond quickly to changes in today's competitive business landscape.
Overview of Visual Basic 9.0Visual Basic has always centered on building pragmatic, data-oriented, line of business applications. The next release of Visual Basic includes a set of features that result in a profound affect a developers productivity when building data-oriented...
Mark Dunn on Streams in .NETMark Dunn is back on DNRTV and he's screaming about streaming this time. Getting to know and loves streams in .Net is fundamental. Mark walks us through doing basic file I/O and delves into some advanced topics like using network, memory and buffered...
Paul Sheriff on Providers in .NETOur friend Paul Sheriff speaks to us from Sunny California about Providers in .NET. Paul shows us how to build and use your own providers and gives some examples of common yet powerful provider models that come with .NET.
Perspectives on ASP.NET AJAXMicrosoft ASP.NET AJAX (formerly referred to as "Atlas") adds many new capabilities to ASP.NET 2.0, all of which are geared towards making it easy to add AJAX-based functionality to your Web sites. In this column, we examine ASP.NET AJAX, looking closely...
The Service Factory for Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)Web Service Software Factory (WCF Release) is featured in the Service Station column in the February 2007 edition of MSDN Magazine. This article discusses how to customize the guidance package, and provides a suite of code recipes that integrate with...
Extend The 2007 Office System With Your Own Ribbon Tabs And ControlsThis article discusses: an introduction to the Ribbon; RibbonX controls and features; upgrading add-ins to use RibbonX and; building add-ins for Word and Excel
Build a Queued WCF Response ServiceWindows Communication Foundation (WCF) enables disconnected work between clients and services. The client posts messages to a queue and the service processes them later. Such interaction permits a different programming model from the default...
Develop Add-Ins For PowerPoint And Visio Using VSTOThis article discusses: extensibility for Microsoft Office applications; PowerPoint object model and Visio object model
Introducing Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database ProfessionalsDatabase development has gotten easier, thanks to Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals (or DB Pro edition, for short). If you need to create, manage, or build solutions that connect to SQL Server, this tool is for you. This article...
MSR Technical Education Series: Designing .NET Class LibrariesThis class presents best practices for designing reusable libraries. The guidelines are applicable to frameworks ranging in size and in their scale of reuse from large system frameworks to small components shared among several applications. This...
Architecture Journal Profile: Scott GuthrieScott Guthrie is a general manager in Microsoft's Developer Division. He runs the development teams that build CLR (Common Language Runtime), ASP.NET, WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), "WPF/E," Windows Forms, IIS (Internet Information Services) 7.0,...
Team Foundation Server Version ControlVisual Studio Team System provides extensibility options for almost every area of the product, and the Version Control service is a shining example. Using the rich APIs, we create a simple add-in that lets you put Word documents into the Team Foundation...
Client-Side Web Service Calls with AJAX ExtensionsThere were certainly places where ASP.NET would generate client-side JavaScript, most notably in the validation controls and more recently with the Web Part infrastructure, but it was rarely more than a simple translation of server-side properties into...
The Server Side of ASP.NET PagesAs an ASP.NET developer, you probably have a pretty good idea about how ASP.NET handles code in an .aspx resource, how that markup is parsed and transformed into a Visual Basic? or C# class on the fly, and so forth. But what happens next? Where are the...
TechNet Webcast: An Overview of Windows PowerShellJoin this webcast to experience Windows PowerShell, the way everyone will be automating Windows and other Microsoft server products in the years to come. Scripting guru Don Jones shows you how to start making Windows administration faster and easier when...
MSDN Webcast: Enabling a New Generation of Dynamic Applications Through SOAThe Microsoft vision for service-oriented architecture and how Microsoft supports it by way of an integrated platform. Learn how you can use your existing line-of-business applications and data exposed as services (using the .NET Framework and adapters)....
Inside Diagnostic Tools for .NETMany diagnostic tools use the CLR Profiling API-even those that aren't strictly profilers. So if you've ever wondered how these tools work, a look at the Profiling API is a good start. In this column, you'll see how they work and look at some useful tips...
Simplify Data Binding In ASP.NET 2.0 With Our Custom ControlA flexible and intuitive approach that provides consistent behavior for data binding and unbinding, validation, error handling, and error display in forms-based Web interfaces.
The Client Side of ASP.NET PagesIn this column I'll analyze the client-side source code that ASP.NET pages generate. I'll cover hidden fields such as the well-known view state, but also little known ones such as control state, event validation, event target, and argument and...
Single Sign-On: A Developer's Introduction To Active Directory Federation ServicesADFS solves a number of problems?one of the most obvious and compelling being business-to-business automation. In this article I'm going to take a look at ADFS from the perspective of a developer who is building a Web application and wants to allow other...
Documenting And Evaluating The Security Guarantees Of Your AppsThis article discusses: Analyzing the security of application features; A deeper look at security requirements; A top-down security design extension to SDL; and Disclosing details to users and experts.
8 Simple Rules For Developing More Secure CodeThis article discusses: Using analysis tools and experts to review your code; Reducing risk using fuzzing and threat modeling; Keeping bad input out of your applications; and Learning all you can about security concepts.
MSDN Webcast: SharePoint Workflow Development and ModificationsIn this webcast, we explain the concepts behind workflows in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and show how you can enable users to modify the workflow while it is running on an item. We demonstrate how to create two workflow modifications in...
MSDN Webcast: Extending the Web Content Management Features of Office SharePoint Server 2007Find out how to extend the Web content management authoring and rendering features in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Topics we cover in this webcast include extensions to the navigation system, creating new document to page converters, and...
MSDN Webcast: Building Collaborative Applications Without Code Using Office SharePoint Designer 2007Learn how to use Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 to build productive and efficient solutions on Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies. In this webcast, we explain how you can use SharePoint Designer 2007 to create and deploy interactive...
MSDN Webcast: Developing, Deploying, and Hosting Rich Office InfoPath 2007 Client and Browser FormsDid you know that you can design a single Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 form for both the rich client and for the browser? This webcast presents this design-once process, provides best practices for debugging and deployment, and explains how to improve...

IT Metrics and Productivity Articles ( From ITMP Institute)

An Effective Paradigm for Outsourcing Management with Measurement Lessons learned through outsourcing successes and failures of the past indicate that a "critical failure factor" of an outsourcing agreement is the selection of a set of performance measures to manage the agreement. The author of this article, Dr. Howard...
Managing Outsourcing by Using Functional Metrics To effectively manage outsourced software development, an organization must have a set of service-level measures that can accurately predict and monitor the cost of the software deliverable and measure the value of the service provided to the customer....
How to Measure IT Value No corporation should initiate or prolong an IT system without a clear business reason for doing so. Only in the context of that business priority can the value of a system be measured. The author of this article, Dr. Howard Rubin, identifies business...
Site of the Week David Consulting Group
Book of the Week Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects by David Garmus and David Herron From the Back Cover: "Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects" is a comprehensive...
Real CHAOS, Two Wrongs May Make a Right The common view of IT is that projects are notoriously late, over budget and fail to meet customer's expectations. These outcomes are supported by the Standish Group's CHAOS long standing 1994 report. In his article Robin Goldsmith examines what is really...
ROI is Deceptive Without REAL Requirements and Quantified IntangiblesROI is intended to provide valid and objective information for making business decisions. However, not quantifying the intangible benefits leaves a gap in the ROI analysis that can lessen the value of the calculation. In this article Robin Goldsmith...
Low Overhead REAL Software Process ImprovementILow-overhead software process improvement initiatives can offer significant benefits compared with the more formal branded initiatives. In this article Robin Goldsmith reveals the key to identifying the 'low hanging fruit' improvement issues. Short cut...
Site of the WeekGo Pro Management, Inc.
Book of the WeekDiscovering Real Business Requirements for Software Project Success by Robin Goldsmith From Amazon: "While a number of books on the market deal with software requirements, this is the first resource to offer you a methodology for...
The Future of Software Engineering: Part VThis is the final in a series of five columns by Watts Humphrey on the future of software engineering. This column covers overall trends in the industry and probable scenarios of the future, focusing on the forces at work on software-intensive businesses...
A Personal Commitment to Software QualityMuch of the following paper is an excerpt from one chapter of the book, A Discipline for Software Engineering (Addison Wesley) by the author. This textbook describes the personal software process (PSP) and provides a step-by-step program for its...
Watts Humphrey on Software QualityFrom the Computer World interview with Watts Humphrey conducted in March of 2004: "Watts S. Humphrey is a fellow and a research scientist in the Software Process Program of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University in...
Site of the WeekThe Watts Humphrey Archive
Watts Humphrey: The Changing World of SoftwareSince the early days of software development, our industry has been the outstanding example of poor performance. Even today, few expect software to be delivered on time and, when the products finally arrive, they often have lots of defects. How long will...
The Future of Software Engineering: Part IIIIn this article, the third in a five part series, Watts Humphrey explores trends in systems programming, including the nature of the systems programming business. By necessity, this must also cover trends in computing systems. (5 pages)
The Future of Software Engineering: Part IVThis is the fourth in a five part series by Watts Humphrey on the future of software engineering. The first two columns focused on trends in application programming, particularly related to quality and staffing. The previous column covered systems...
Book of the WeekWinning with Software: An Executive Strategy by Watts Humphrey From the publisher: "Humphrey, drawing on his own extensive executive and management experience, first demonstrates the critical importance of software to nearly every...
He Wrote the Book on DebuggingFrom the Business Week interview with Watts Humphrey from May of 2005: "Outside of the software world, few know of Watts S. Humphrey. But within, he's a bit of a rock star, known as the "father of software quality." Now a fellow of Carnegie Mellon...
The Future of Software Engineering: Part IIn this column, the first in a series, Watts Humphrey discusses the future of software engineering. He focuses on trends in application programming, particularly as they concern quality. In the subsequent columns, He also addresses programming skills,...
The Future of Software Engineering: Part IIThis is the second of several columns by Watts Humphrey on the future of software engineering. While the first column focused on trends in application programming, particularly related to quality, this column reviews data on programmer staffing and then...
Book of the WeekManaging the Software Process By Watts. S. Humphrey From the back cover: "The author, drawing on years of experience at IBM and the SEI, provides here practical guidance for improving the software development and maintenance process. He...
Requirements Risks Drown Software ProjectsSoftware requirements management is often viewed as a stand-alone task in terms of life-cycle activities. Of course, some of the major risks to project completion are incomplete, inaccurate, or vague requirements. In this article by Theron Leishman and...
Writing a Software Requirements DocumentThis paper by Tanya Berezin discusses the purpose and contents of a requirements document for a business application. It will help you write a professional requirements document. At the conclusion of the paper, the author includes a bibliography for...
Writing Software Requirements SpecificationsWriting top-quality requirements specifications begins with a complete definition of customer requirements coupled with a natural language that incorporates strength and weakness quality indicators- not to mention the adoption of a good SRS template....
Book of the WeekMore About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice By Karl Wiegers From the Book Description: "Have you ever delivered software that satisfied all of the project specifications, but failed to meet any of the customers'...
Do: Take Time Getting FasterDisciplined planning and execution significantly reduce the variability of project results. They also establish a solid foundation for getting projects done faster, the organization's ultimate goal. Since you are unlikely to achieve sustainable cycle time...
Do: Align the Reward SystemThe reward system provides the most tangible evidence of what senior management wants the organization to be when it grows up. If senior management truly wants to transform the organization, they have to take a hard look at the existing reward system and...
Do: Become a Learning OrganizationSMany organizations religiously capture "lessons identified" and then carefully place these pearls of wisdom into a seldom-accessed file cabinet or write-only database. Aldous Huxley told us, "That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is...
Book of the WeekCreating a Softare Engineering Culture by Karl E. Wiegers From the Publisher: "Written in a remarkably clear style, Creating a Software Engineering Culture presents a comprehensive approach to improving the quality and effectiveness of...
Software Testing as an Art, a Craft, and a DisciplineUnderstanding software, faults and failures is the ?rst step to treating software testing as a discipline. Treating software as a discipline is the ?rst step toward mastering software quality. And there is more, always more to learn. Discipline is a...
Tell Me About Your Organization's Quality Assurance and TestingThis article by Gary E. Mogyorodi presents 20 questions used to determine and understand how mature the quality assurance and testing environments are within an organization. The questions are ordered to begin with those easiest to answer and become...
Site of the WeekSTORM
Growth of Human Factors in Application DevelopmentThirty, twenty, or even 10 years ago, "gestalt, round-trip, spiral development", "management by walking around", and "lo-tech design" were not acceptable phrases on an application development project. Hiring a psychologist to do ethnographic or cognitive...
The Camel Has Two HumpsLearning to program is notoriously difficult. A substantial minority of students fails in every introductory programming course in every UK university. Despite heroic academic effort, the proportion has increased rather than decreased over the years....
The Influence of the Psychology of Programming on a Language DesignResearch in Psychology of Programming (PoP) and related fields over the past thirty years has identified many important usability issues for programming languages and tools. However, when new programming languages are designed these findings do not seem...
Book of the WeekThe Psychology of Computer Programming By Gerald Weinberg From the Back Cover: "Long regarded as one of the first books to pioneer a people-oriented approach to computing, The Psychology of Computer Programming endures as a penetrating...
The End of Software Engineering"Software engineering" was introduced as a model for the field of software development in 1968. This paper by Alistair Cockburn reconsiders that model in the light of four decades of experience, and finds it lacking in its ability to explain project...
No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software EngineeringIn this article by Fred Brooks, Jr., the author's premise is that there are there no silver bullets for the software engineering crisis now in view. He furthermore believes that the very nature of software makes it unlikely that there will be any- no...
The Business Case for Better Software PracticesSlide presentation by Steve McConnell of Construx Software that outlines the opportunity at the heart of software process improvement initiatives while providing an overview for getting started. (39 pages)
Site of the WeekAlistair Cockburn
Agile CMMI: No OxymoronIn the ongoing battle between traditional and agile methodologies, many proponents of each side exhibit a general intolerance to the other's ideas. However, this adversarial attitude is not just unreasonable, it's counterproductive to the task at hand:...
Stretching Agile to fit CMM Level 3Agile practitioners pride themselves on highly productive, responsive, low ceremony, lightweight, tacit knowledge processes with little waste, adaptive planning and frequent iterative delivery of value. It is often assumed that CMMI compliant processes...
CMMI Level 2 Within 6 Months? No Way!Global Analytic Information Technology Services, Inc. (GAITS) decided to receive a Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 2 rating within five months. The purpose of this article by George Jackelen is to...
Site of the WeekAgile CMMI Blog
Understanding and Improving Software ProductivityThe goal of this article by Walt Scacchi at the Institute for Software Research at the University of California is to review a sample of empirical studies of software productivity for large-scale software systems from the 1970s through the early 2000s in...
Software Development ProductivityThe time has come for serious efforts to increase productivity through more efficient use of labor and more effective value propositions for customers. This is how more mature economic sectors have been increasing productivity for decades. But first we...
Why Software is So Bad and What We Can Do to Fix ItThere is something fundamentally wrong with the way we create software. Contrary to conventional wisdom, unreliability is not an essential characteristic of complex software programs. In this article by Louis Savain, the author proposes a silver bullet...
Site of the WeekInstitute for Software Research
Book of the WeekSoftware Productivity by Harlan D. Mills From the Publisher: "In this masterful collection, the late mathematician and software methods pioneer Harlan D. Mills offers you twenty classic articles that document the technical and managerial...
An Interview with Pekka ForseliusPekka Forselius is a researcher and developer of project management methods and concepts, including FiSMA Scope Managemtnt, FiSMA 1.1 FSM method and the KISS Functional Size Measurement approach. He is currently business partner, CEO and project...
Software Development Program CharacteristicsTypically, very few software development projects in large organizations are delivered in time and within budget. Pekka Forselius in his article introduces Seven Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project types and a method for analyzing the...
Functional Size Measurement by KISSFunction Point Analysis is often said to be too difficult a method for software development estimation purposes. In this article, Pekka Forselius introduces the KISS approach to functional size measurement. With 28 questions about different base...
ICT Project Success with Scope ManagementWith two thirds of the world's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects deemed as failures, it seems that managing scope is not a common practice within Project Management. Pekka Forselius and Carol Dekkers recommend approaches and tips...
Why Software FailsThe business and societal costs of software failures—in terms of wasted taxpayer and shareholder dollars as well as investments that can't be made—are now well into the billions of dollars a year. Of the IT projects that are initiated, from 5 to 15...
What Engineering Has in Common with Manufacturing and Why it MattersSoftware engineering is more like manufacturing than most people expect. Once we spot their similarities, we can apply the lessons learned over the last 50 years in manufacturing to software development. This article by Dr. Alistair Cockburn picks six...
The Challenge of "Good Enough" SoftwareThis article by James Bach is a slightly updated version of the the original that was published in American Programmer magazine in 1995. The author's ideas are rooted in his experiences at Apple Computer in the late 80's, and Borland in the early...
Site of the WeekIEEE Spectrum
The Ongoing Revolution in Software TestingIn this article, Cem Kaner discusses paradigmatic shifts in development and how such changes must be applied to testing as well. (29 pages)
Experiences Teaching a Course in Software TestingThe authors of this article teach a class on programmer-testing with a primary focus on test-driven development (TDD) as part of the software engineering curriculum at the Florida Institute of Technology. As of this writing, their course has been offered...
Test Tools for FreeIn this short article, Danny Faught discusses some free test tools, along with the basics of 'freeware', and information on a testing freeware newsletter. (2 pages)
Site of the WeekSoftware Test & Performance
An Overview of Project ManagementEvery organization or program creates and implements projects to help it move toward its goals. Every assigned project manager wants to be successful in executing assigned projects, and a number of standard practices exist to assist and guide the project...
Project Management Best PracticesOrganizations continue to look for the key to unlocking the mystery of project management (PM) best practices, but the steps that go into successful project management are not mysterious at all — they are standard procedures that, if executed, will...
The Ethics of Software Project ManagementThis Software project management is the collection of techniques used to develop and deliver various types of software products. This developing discipline traditionally includes technical issues such as: the choice of software development methodology,...
Site of the WeekConstrux
Strengths and Weaknesses of Software MetricsThe software industry lacks standard metric and measurement practices. Almost every software metric has multiple definitions and ambiguous counting rules. There are also key topics with no metrics at all, such as quantifying the volume or quality levels...
Software Estimating Rules of ThumbAccurate software estimating is too difficult for simple rules of thumb. Yet in spite of the availability of more than 50 commercial software estimating tools, simple rules of thumb remain the most common approach. Rules based on the function point metric...
Geriatric Issues of Aging SoftwareMaintenance of aging software tends to become more difficult year by year since updates gradually destroy the original structure of the applications and increase its entropy. Aging software may also contain troublesome regions with very high error...
Book of the WeekEstimating Software Costs by Capers Jones From the Back Cover: "Get a handle on skyrocketing software costs. Are your software costs spiraling out of control? Do your projects chronically run late, exceed budget, and go out the door bug-laden,...
Executing the EstimateThe key to consistent project success is effective software sizing, but sizing is often the most difficult part of the project estimate. Project managers grapple with being able to accurately estimate the amount of code needed to satisfy product...
Software Reuse and Commercial Off-the-Shelf SoftwareOrganizations faced with the difficulties and costs associated with the development of software have turned to the reuse of existing software or using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software as an option. This article by Dan Galorath discusses some of...
Overcoming Cultural Obstacles to Managing RiskMany organizations create cultures that emphasize achievement of goals in the face of overwhelming challenges. This is an essential attitude for any successful organization, but if taken to extremes, this attitude makes it very difficult for management to...
Site of the WeekGalorath
Latent Defect Estimation with CRMDefect removal and defect prevention techniques are no longer good enough to inspire customer confidence in the quality of delivered software products. In this article Joe Schofield describes the "business case" for removing defects and demonstrates how...
Using Peer Review Data to Manage DefectsPeer reviews and software inspections, have become accepted within the software industry as a cost effective way of removing defects. In this article Steven Lett discusses how project managers can maximize the benefits derived from collecting and...
Myths and Strategies of Defect Causal AnalysisThe popular process improvement approaches (e.g., Six Sigma, CMMI and Lean) all incorporate causal analysis activities. In this article David Card explores some of the common misunderstanding associated with the concept of causality and suggests some...
Site of the WeekQ-Labs
Measurement for Successful ProjectsThe one attribute that remains constant in all successful projects is measurement. This is the key to successfully managing a project. Equipped with the right set of measures, software project managers can properly set expectations and maintain greater...
Agile and the Declaration of InterdependenceThere has been recent debate over the apparent incompatibility that is thought to exist between Agile Software Development and Software Process Improvement models such as the CMMI. Michael Harris takes the position that software process improvement...
Shedules, Costs, & Value of Software Process ImprovementsThe topic of software process improvement is now very popular in the United States, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Unfortunately the popularity of a topic is not commensurate with the quantitative data that is available about a topic. This report shows a 36...
Site of the WeekDavid Consulting Group
Book of the WeekMeasuring the Software Process: A Practical Guide by David Garmus and David Herron From Amazon: "Function point counting is one of the fastest growing software management techniques used in the software industry today. This book shows how to...
50 Questions a CEO Should Ask About SoftwareWhether Software is a critical factor in many aspects of corporate operations. Unlike most aspects of corporate operations, software has been difficult to bring under full executive control. Many chief executive officers (CEO's) have only a limited...
Conflict & Litigation between Clients & DevelopersSoftware development and maintenance outsource contracts may lead to conflicts between the client and the service organization. For a significant number of disputes, the conflict may reach the point of litigation for breach of contract. The root cause of...
Positive & Negative Engineering InnovationsThis article by Capers Jones puts forth the hypothesis that the main reason for the shortage of positive innovation in software development methods is due to a lack of understanding of the underlying problems of the software development domain. A...
Site of the WeekSoftware Productivity Research, Inc.
Book of the WeekEstimating Software Costs by Capers Jones From the Back Cover: "Get a handle on skyrocketing software costs. Are your software costs spiraling out of control? Do your projects chronically run late, exceed budget, and go out the door bug-laden, if...
Opportunity AversionFor better or worse, corporate governance activities have dominated executive decision-making in public companies over the past few years. Now that Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 has reshaped how companies report their financials, big accounting firms and...
Inside RisksThe benefits of applying risk analysis and management are obvious, but their hazards are often hidden. In this article by Dr. Robert Charette, the author outlined six risks inherent to risk analysis. (1 page)
The Competitive Edge of Risk EntrepreneursFor companies to prosper in competitive environments, merely improving the efficiency of processes will not substitute for lagging revenue growth.This is especially true for companies that depend heavily on IT. For them, it also means knowing how to take...
Site of the WeekThe ITABHI Corporation
The Practical Application of Software MeasurementIT has become an important part of organizations' strategy, competitive advantage and profitability. There is management pressure to build systems faster, better and at minimum cost. The return on investment that an organization can get from the money it...
Planning Projects- Role Effort RatiosAre you still providing quotations for projects, or planning projects, with only intuition as a guide for how much time each type of project resource is likely to spend? A recent question from a customer prompted the ISBSG to look into their data...
Functional Size Measurement and COCOMOThis paper by Tony Rollo proposes an alternative use of the COCOMO model to assist in the task of estimation. The generally accepted method of estimation using a functional sizing method is to base the estimate on previous project data, where those...
Site of the WeekISBSG
An Interview with Pat O'Toole, Visiting Scientist, SEIPat O'Toole is the Principal Consultant at Process Assessment, Consulting & Training (PACT) where he provides a full range of services to his process improvement clients. Pat is one of the most active CMMI lead appraisers, and has led appraisals spanning...
Eye on the PrizeWhy are your projects being so difficult and how can your process group achieve maturity level 2 if the projects dont get with the program? Why arent the projects helping you to achieve success? In this article by Patrick O'Toole, the first in a seven...
Do: Establish the Alignment PrincipleOkay, so what is the higher-level business strategy? And how do you define project success? And what do you do with senior managements directive to achieve maturity level 2? Patrick O'Toole, Visiting Scientist at the SEI, addresses these questions in this...
An Interview with Pekka ForseliusPekka Forselius is a researcher and developer of project management methods and concepts, including FiSMA Scope Managemtnt, FiSMA 1.1 FSM method and the KISS Functional Size Measurement approach. He is currently business partner, CEO and project...
Software Development Program CharacteristicsTypically, very few software development projects in large organizations are delivered in time and within budget. Pekka Forselius in his article introduces Seven Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project types and a method for analyzing the...
Functional Size Measurement by KISSFunction Point Analysis is often said to be too difficult a method for software development estimation purposes. In this article, Pekka Forselius introduces the KISS approach to functional size measurement. With 28 questions about different base...
ICT Project Success with Scope ManagementWith two thirds of the world's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects deemed as failures, it seems that managing scope is not a common practice within Project Management. Pekka Forselius and Carol Dekkers recommend approaches and tips...
Implementing an Organizational Software Process Improvement ProgramOrganizations must be prepared to accomplish key activities when implementing a software engineering process program. Beth Layman, in her article, focuses on describing the "meta-process" that allows an organization to create, use, and improve a set of...
Measurement Maturity and the CMMOrganizations using the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (CMM) or Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) often struggle with the apparent paradigm shift as the transition between Levels. In this article, Beth Layman and...
An Interview with Beth LaymanBeth Layman is Senior Director of Business Process Improvement at McAfee. Prior to joining McAfee, Beth worked as Senior Director at Borland and as COO of TeraQuest. Her work experience encompasses a wide range of markets and industris including...
Book of the WeekPractical Software Measurement: Objective Information for Decision Makers From the Foreword by Barry Boehm: "PSM provides you with a way to realize the significant benefits of a software measurement program, while understanding and avoiding the...
Integrating ITIL and Lean Six SigmaAs the awareness and penetration of Lean Six Sigma has increased significantly over the last several years, many organizations struggle to understand and leverage the relationships between Lean Six Sigma and several other approaches to software process...
Applying Six Sigma to Software Implementation ProjectsThis article, by Gary Gack, focuses on applications of Lean Six Sigma to software or technology implementation projects that may fall within the scope of the IT operations group and/or the software development group. (12 pages)
Mad Belt Disease: Certification- Form or Substance?Gary Gack discribes the increasingly frantic emphasis on "certification" as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt as a disturbing trend. He also discusses how we're losing sight of another LSS fundamental - the need to connect LSS projects to important business...
Site of the WeekProcess-Fusion
25 Years and Thousands of Projects LaterIn Most current software estimating models still implement fundamental relationships that are based on 25 year old data and assumptions. Data from many thousands of projects have since been collected. This article by Mike Ross, CEO of r2 Estimating,...
Software Size UncertaintyDeveloped by the Internal Control Institute, here are ten tough questions to help you make a quick self-assessment of your corporation's governance and control risk. (2 pages)
Project Portfolio Management PlanningThe pressure to demonstrate that each new IT project will either save money, increase sales, or result in enterprise-wide efficiencies is greater than ever. Mike Ross demonstrates how to analyze projects objectively so that they can be more effectively...
Site of the WeekR2 Estimating
QAI Innovation SeriesIn the IT industry, managers and supervisors must constantly stay on the leading-edge to attract and keep the best performers. This article by Michael Pregmon, Jr., Ph.D., has a specific focus on IT Innovation and improving the software development and...
Corporate Governance and Internal Control PracticesDeveloped by the Internal Control Institute, here are ten tough questions to help you make a quick self-assessment of your corporation's governance and control risk. (2 pages)
Metrics Based Project GovernancePam Morris, Ceo of Total Metrics, describes a rigorous approach to software development project control by introducing functional size measurement at the planning stage and objectively quantifying the status and scope of the project and its deliverables...
Site of the WeekQAI Worldwide
Surviving Global DevelopmentAlthough there are many good reasons to globally distribute development activities, success is not guaranteed by just opening a development center in another region of the world. This article by Cristof Ebert and Philip De Neve summarizes and distills...
Improving Validation Activities in a Global Software DevelopmentGlobal software development challenges traditional techniques of software engineering, such as peer reviews or teamwork. In this case study, Christof Ebert, Casimiro Hernandez Parro, Roland Suttels, and Harald Kolarczyk have evaluated experiences with...
4 Key Requirements of the Product Life CycleMany enterprises view time to market and schedule prerformance as the key differentiators between market leaders and followers. Cristof Ebert shows us that a field study involving many industry projects revealed that only those that took a requirements...
Site of the WeekVector Consulting
When Good Numbers Go BadWhether you are a function point specialist, project manager or metrics guru, one of your roles is to act as a steward of the numbers and a high priest of information. This article by Thomas M. Cagely Jr. combines stark realities of how measures can go...
Improved Performance Follows Process ImprovementImproved performance in software development can be achieved by investing in best software development practices. In this article from the March issue of the DACS Software Tech News, David Garmus and Stasia Iwanicki discuss how one organization identified...
The Challenge of Productivity MeasurementIn an era of tight budgets and increased outsourcing, getting a good measure of an organizations productivity is a persistent management concern. In an article from the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, David M. Card discusses the key...
Site of the WeekDavid Consulting Group
Successfully Exploiting Metrics and the COSMIC-FFP MethodIn this article, Charles Symons, Joint Leader of the Common Software Measurement International Consortium, examines the economic benefits that could be obtained by relevant parts of the UK software industry using a metrics program to help achieve...
A Method for Sizing All SoftwareTypically only the business applications layer is measured using Function Points. This article by Pam Morris, CEO of Total Metrics, Austrailia, introduces another more recent functional method known as COSMIC-FFP, which enables all the functionality that...
Primitive Counting SystemsIn this article, Charles Symons compares the IFPUG function point method to the most primitive counting method known to man, stating that software re-measured using the COSMIC-FFP method more properly reflects the increasing size and complexity of...
Site of the WeekThe Common Software Measurement International Consortium
5 Logical Components of Function Point ApproximationFunction Point approximations have proved to be helpful during feasibility studies and at project starts. In this article, Manfred Bundschuh, president of the German Software Metrics Association, demonstrates the results of such approximation. (13 pages)
A Holistic Dynamic Classification Framework for Software EstimationIn this article, Manfred Bundschuh outlines a holistic dynamic classification framework for improving your software project estimates. (8 pages)
Estimation of IT ProjectsIn this article, Manfred Bundschuh explains how to achieve expertise in IT project estimation. (11 pages)
Site of the WeekDASMA
Understanding the Roots of Process Performance FailureGiven all of our investments in process improvement, why hasn't program performance significantly improved? Robert Charette and his colleagues Laura Dwinnell and John McGarry try to answer this question in this 2004 CrossTalk article, based on their...
Liar, Fool or Both?IT projects are notorious for consistently being over-budget, late and not meeting customer or user expectations. Is the problem one of poorly practiced software estimation or is there something else at work? Robert Charette explores the possibilities in...
Failing SuccessfullyWe don't fail enough in IT. That is the provocative argument Robert Charette makes in this article from a 2004 article in Cutter consortium's IT Journal that looks at the difference between IT project failure and IT project blunders. Readers can find a...
Site of the WeekITABHI Corporation
Competing in the Software Industry - Will CMMI Certification Help?Foreign software companies are touting certification in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) as an important competitive advantage over local firms. This article by Ed Carroll explores the question, What should software engineers do in this difficult work...
Getting Started with CMMI AdoptionAre you interested in starting a process improvement program in your organization? Or just looking to learn more about CMMI? The following article put out by the SEI can help you get started with these questions. (2 pages)
Demonstrating the Impact and Benefits of the CMMISerious process improvement of any kind requires a considerable investment of time and money on the part of the organizations that decide to pursue it. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)-based improvement is no exception, and trustworthy...
Book of the WeekCMMI Survival Guide: Just Enough Process Improvement by Suzanne Garcia and Richard Turner From the Publisher: "The CMMI Survival Guide is an effective resource for multiple readerships. If you are just now considering a process improvement program,...
An Introduction to Agile Software DevelopmentThis paper by Victor Szalvay is an introduction to the Agile school of software development, and is primarily targeted at IT Managers and CXOs with an interest in improving development productivity. The author introduces the waterfall school and compares...
Should You Be More Agile?Agile software development techniques are an effective response to many of the problems that still plague development projects. Agile development has come into focus recently due to the popularity of its most widely known interpretation, eXtreme...
When to Be AgileNot every IT project lends itself to adaptive development. We must understand when adaptive development is appropriate and when predictive development is appropriate. The same question is facing many IT professionals around the world, as adaptive...
Site of the WeekCIO Magazine Research Center
POWER POINT: Software Process ModelsGood overview of waterfall and iterative models: advantages, disadvantages and how to choose a model that is right for you. (11 pages)
A Survey of System Development Process ModelsThis document, produced by the Center for Technology in Government, provides a more in depth overview of common system development process models, used to guide the analysis, design, development, and maintenance of information systems. There are many...
Site of the WeekThe Air Force Software Technology Support Center
ITIL DemystifiedAs IT becomes increasingly automated under the new data center architecture, more companies are embracing best practices procedures outlined in formal IT frameworks. At stake are service quality, security, regulatory compliance and other increasingly...
Better Management Through ITIL Best PracticesThe good news about adopting best practices is that corproations aren't limited to one method. The bad news is that companies will most likely need to adopt more than one best practice framework - or at least parts of many - if they want a complete,...
Common Myths About ITILCompanies around the globe are jumping on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) bandwagon. According to Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., 40 percent of $1 billion-plus companies will be implementing ITIL by the end of this year (2006). While...
Site of the WeekThe IT Infrastructure Library
Obedience Training for ManagersCapability maturity model-based process improvements bring about significant organizational change. Managers and change agents are always looking for methods to bring about this type of change. In this article, Virinia Slavin and Paul Kimmerly draw...
Manager, Heal ThyselfImplementing development improvements may require us to make a shift in our role as managers. Top-down management where the managers take all the responsibility - make all the plans, set all the schedules, specify all the work - and then check up on their...
Resistance to Process ImprovementIn this article by Joanna Rothman, the author discusses how various forms of resistance to process improvement can be negotiated or worked around. (3 pages)
Site of the WeekJoel on Software
Iterative and Incremental Development: A Brief HistoryAlthough many view iterative and incremental development as a modern practice, its application dates as far back as the 1950s. Prominent software engineering leaders from each succeeding decade supported IID practices, and many large projects used them...
Site of the WeekAgile Alliance Library
Book of the WeekAgile and Iterative Development: A Manager's Guide by Craig Larman From the Back Cover: "This is the definitive guide for managers and students to agile and iterative development methods: what they are, how they work, how to implement them - and why...
Making Software Measurement WorkA successful measurement process becomes a way of doing business. Measurement is embedded in the organization, and performance improves because people are making fact-based decisions. This article by Cheryl Jones of the US Army describes characteristics...
Measurement for Process ImprovementSpecific software process improvement measures need to be established that best suit an organization. This article from 2005 by Joyce Statz discusses and highlights some of the guidance on measurent provided by the Practical Software and Systems...
POWER POINT: Measures for SuccessExcellent presentation produced by the US Army on lessons learned from software measurement and software process improvement initiatives. (22 pages)
Site of the WeekPractical Software and Systems Measurement
Book of the WeekPractical Software Measurement: Objective Information for Decision Makers From the Book Description: "Objective, meaningful, and quantifiable measurement is critical to the successful development of today's complex software systems. Supported by the...
An Interview with Watts Humphrey, Founder of the SEIWatts S. Humphrey founded the Software Process Program of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Fellow of the Institute and is a research scientist on its staff. From 1959 to 1986 he was associated with IBM...
Pathways to Process Maturity: The Personal and Team Software ProcessesThe CMM, PSP, and TSP provide an integrated three-dimensional framework for process improvement. The CMM has 18 key process areas, and the PSP and TSP guide engineers in addressing almost all of them. These methods not only help software engineers be more...
VIDEO: Watts Humphrey on "Competing in the Software Age"In this video presentation, Watts Humphrey discusses the ROI of Software Process Improvement, risks and exposures of software development, opportunities ahead, and how the Personal and Team Software Processes can be used to address these issues.
Site of the WeekSEI: The Personal Software and Team Software Process
Book of the WeekThe Team Software Process by Watts Humphrey From the Back Cover: "'Leaders of software-development projects face many challenges. First, you must produce a quality product on schedule and on budget. Second, you must foster and encourage a cohesive,...
An Interview with Lawrence Putnam, Software PioneerLawrence (Larry) Putnam is a renowned authority on software estimation and measurement. Larry was the first recipient of "Freiman" award for sustained superior performance in parametric estimation covering a ten-year period. He is the founder and has been...
End Your Frustration With Software DevelopmentThe constant litany we hear from high-level managers about software development projects is that projects take too long and cost too much. Then they complain that they dont find out that projects are in trouble until it is too late to do anything about...
9 Keys to Successfully Managing Software ProjectsCan managing software development be as simple as reading a brief "to-do/not-to-do" list? No. All evidence indicates that software development is especially difficult to manage. Nevertheless, in this article by Larry Putnam, the author outlines 9 "keys"...
Site of the WeekQSM: Quantitative Software Management
Book of the WeekFive Core Metrics: The Intelligence Behind Successful Software Management by Lawrence Putnam and Ware Myers From the Book Description: "'To succeed in the software industry, managers need to cultivate a reliable development process. By measuring what...
An Interview with Grant Rule, Master Software Metrics PractitionerGrant Rule is a founder of Software Measurement Services Ltd, specialising in project and process appraisal, performance measurement, estimating, benchmarking and continuous improvement. Grant has some 34 years experience in IT. He is a recognised...
A Business Case for Software Process Improvement - RevisedMany companies in many different business sectors are reporting successful software process improvement (SPI) programs. They report return on investment (ROI) figures between 5 to 1 and 9 to 1. This article by Dr. Herb Krasner of the University of Texas...
Accumulating the Body of Evidence for the Payoff in Software Process ImprovementMost organizations do not think of themselves as military units, and they may not use the word "enemy" to characterize their competitors. But there are competitors, and they too are aware of the existence of simulations and war games. Just as an athletic...
Site of the WeekSoftware Measurement Services, LTD
Book of the WeekThe ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Managers and Software Engineers by David Rico From the Book Description: "'The ROI of Software Process Improvement' masterfully illuminates and simplifies otherwise complex topics in ROI. It...
An Interview with Ed Yourdon: International IT Consultant and Author of "Death March"Ed Yourdon is an internationally-recognized computer consultant, as well as the author of over 500 technical articles and 27 books, including Byte Wars, Managing High-Intensity Internet Projects, Death March, Rise and Resurrection of the American...
Surviving a Death March ProjectWhen was the last time you worked on a software development project that delivered everything the user wanted, on time and within budget and also involved a "rational" nine-to-five schedule? Most of us would consider ourselves lucky if our projects were...
Software War GamesMost organizations do not think of themselves as military units, and they may not use the word "enemy" to characterize their competitors. But there are competitors, and they too are aware of the existence of simulations and war games. Just as an athletic...
Site of the WeekEd Yourdon's Home Page
Book of the WeekDeath March, 2nd Edition by Ed Yourdon From the Book Description: "At an alarming rate, companies continue to create death-march projects, repeatedly! What's worse is the amount of rational, intelligent people who sign up for a death-march...
An Interview with Charles Symons: Creator of the Mark II Function Point and Founder, COSMICCharles Symons has 45 years experience in the use of computers for business and scientific purposes, in both public and private sectors, in all the major disciplines of the Information Systems function. He is currently joint project leader of COSMIC, the...
Sizing and Estimating for Real Time Software - the COSMIC FFP MethodIn this paper by Charles Symons, creator of the Mark II Function Point, the author describes the COSMIC FFP method and how it can be used for sizing real time software requirements, and hence be leveraged as the key ingredient for project estimating and...
Software Project Estimation BasicsIn this article by Kathleen Peters, the author provides an excellent introduction to the subject of software estimation. The core of the article consists of the author's analysis of the four key components of software estimation. Along the way, however,...
Site of the WeekCOSMIC: The Common Software Measurement International Consortium
Book of the WeekSoftware Sizing and Estimating: Mark II FPA by Charles Symons From the Publisher: "Software Sizing and Estimating" provides everything needed to implement Mk II FPA, which was previously available only under license. Mk II FPA represents a new...
An Interview with Dr. Barbara Kitchenham: Professor of Quantitative Software EngineeringDr. Barbara Kitchenham is Professor of Quantitative Software Engineering at Keele University in the UK; she is also a Senior Principal Researcher at National ICT Australia. She has worked in software engineering for nearly 30 years both in industry and...
Evidence-Based Software Engineering for PractitionersA recent report on the state of the UK IT Industry based most of its findings and recommendations on expert opinion. This paper, co-authored by Barbara Kitchenham, investigates what empirical evidence exists to support the view that the rate of IT project...
Large-Scale Software Engineering Questions Expert Opinion or Empirical Evidence?A recent report on the state of the UK IT Industry based most of its findings and recommendations on expert opinion. This paper, co-authored by Barbara Kitchenham, investigates what empirical evidence exists to support the view that the rate of IT project...
Site of the WeekThe 2006 CIO Symposium on Software Best Practices
Book of the WeekProcess Improvement in Practice: A Handbook for IT Companies by Tore Dyb, Torgeir Dingsyr, Nils Brede Moe IT companies are challenged every day to deliver faster, better and cheaper. The customer's expectations must be met in a world where constant...
An Interview with David Garmus: Author and Former IFPUG PresidentDavid Garmus is a Principal of The David Consulting Group (DCG), an SEI CMMI Approved Transition Partner and a PSM Transition Organization that supports software development organizations in achieving software excellence with a metric-centered approach....
Principles of Sizing and Estimating Projects Using IFPUG Function PointsThis article by David Garmus will consider the use of a basic estimating model utilizing functional sizing as one of the key components. As the author explains, the value to be gained from utilizing a functional sizing technique, such as Function Points,...
An Introduction to Function Point CountingThe function point method has proven to be an effective way to establish a meaningful unit-of-work measure and can be used to establish baseline costs and performance level monitors. Function point analysis centers around its ability to measure the size...
Site of the WeekThe David Consulting Group
Book of the WeekFunction Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects by David Garmus and David Herron From the Back Cover: "Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects" is a comprehensive presentation of...
IT Governance - What Is It Really? An Interview with Dr. Jeanne Ross, MIT Sloan School of ManagementDr. Jeanne W. Ross is Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Center for Information Systems Research. Her research focuses on the management of the IT unit, particularly on the management of the IT infrastructure and on changes in management demanded by...
How Effective is Your IT Governance?This study, by Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill of MIT, is based on a survey of CIOs at 256 enterprises and 50 case studies on how enterprises govern IT. While no simple formula offers specifications for implementing IT governance, Dr. Ross and Dr. Weill...
Recipe for Good GovernanceIn this article by Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill - published in CIO Magazein - the authors outline the ingredients for good IT governance (8 pages)
Site of the WeekCenter for Information Systems Research, MIT
Book of the WeekIT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results by Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill From Amazon: "Seventy percent of all IT projects fail- and scores of books have attempted to help firms measure and manage IT systems and...
An Interview with Steve McConnell, Author of Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art Steve McConnell is CEO and chief software engineer at Construx Software, where he oversees software engineering practices, teaches classes, and writes books and articles. Steve is the author of the computing industry classics Code Complete and Rapid...
Ten Best Influences on Software EngineeringIn this article from IEEE Software, Steve McConnell set out to get some perspective on the best influences seen during software engineerings first 50 years. After drafting an initial list of influences, he turned to his IEEE advisory board (IEEE Software...
The Business of Software ImprovementThe return on investment in improved software practices is well documented. Nevertheless, the software process improvement ROI figures found in published literature are based on operational savings; that is, on reducing development cost per line of code...
Site of the WeekSteve McConnell's Home Page
Book of the WeekSoftware Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art by Steve McConnell From Amazon: "Often referred to as a "black art" because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as hard or mysterious as people think. However, the art of...
An Interview with Barry BoehmBarry Boehm received his B.A. degree from Harvard in 1957, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from UCLA in 1961 and 1964, all in Mathematics. Between 1989 and 1992, he served within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) as Director of the DARPA Information...
Software Economics: A RoadmapSoftware design is an investment activity, and software economics is the field that seeks to enable significant improvements in software design and engineering through economic reasoning about product, process, program, and portfolio and policy issues....
Site of the WeekCenter for Software Engineering: University of Southern California
Book of the WeekValue Based Software Engineering Editors: Stefan Biffl, Aybuke Aurum, Barry Boehm, Hakan Erdogmus, Paul Grunbacher From Amazon: "The IT community has always struggled with questions concerning the value of an organizations investment in software and...
An Interview with Manfred Bundschuh, President, German Software Metrics Association (DASMA)Manfred Bundschuh is the co-author - along with Christof Ebert, Andreas Schmietendorf, and Reiner Dumke - of Best Practices in Software Measurement. For the past 20 years he has been the quality manager of AXA Service AG in Cologne, Germany. In 1983 he...
Function Point Prognosis ApprovedA good documentation of counting and estimation data is a treasure for metrics programs. Manfred Bundschuh's investigations at AXA, as documented in this paper, demonstrate that valuable metrics can be gained from such collected data. A surplus benefit,...
Estimation of Maintenance TasksSoftware maintenance is defined as the modification of a software product after delivery to correct faults, to improve performance, or to adapt the product to a changed environment. Such maintenance usually exceeds other application development costs....
Site of the WeekThe German Software Metrics Association (DASMA)
Book of the WeekBest Practices in Software Measurement by Christof Ebert, Reiner Dumke, Manfred Bundschuh, and Andreas Schmietendorf From the web site: "The software business is challenging enough without having to contend with recurring errors. One way repeating...
An Interview with David Herron, Author of Function Point AnalysisDavid Herron is a Principal in The David Consulting Group. Mr. Herron is an authority in areas such as Functional Measurement and Software Process Improvement. He has over 25 years of experience in software development. During the past ten years he has...
Estimating Software Earlier and More AccuratelySoftware practitioners are frequently challenged to provide early and accurate software project estimates. It speaks poorly of the software community that the issue of accurate estimating, early in the lifecycle, has not been adequately addressed and...
Establishing Effective Service Level Metrics The definition and documentation of service level measures prior to contract negotiation and signing is critical to the long-term success of an outsourcing arrangement. Frequently, these measures are established after the fact and without the critical...
Site of the WeekThe David Consulting Group
Book of the WeekFunction Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects by David Garmus and David Herron From the Back Cover: "Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects" is a comprehensive presentation of...
An Interview with Dr. Norman Fenton, author of Software Metrics: A Rigorous Approach Dr. Norman Fenton is Professor of Computing at Queen Mary (London University) and is also Chief Executive Officer of Agena, a company that specializes in risk management for critical systems. Between 1989 and March 2000 he was Professor of Computing...
Measuring your Risks: Numbers that would make sense to Bruce WillisBy destroying the meteor in the film Armageddon, Bruce Willis saved the world. The probability of the meteor strike was so large, and the consequences so great, that nothing much else mattered except trying to prevent the strike. Combining the probability...
Visualizing Risks: Making sense of risks by letting them tell a storyHave you ever had to do a project risk assessment and not known where to start? Have you ever looked at a long list of risks and wondered how you could make more sense of it? You probably weren't helped by the literature on risk assessment. In this first...
Site of the WeekAgena
Book of the WeekSoftware Metrics: A Rigorous and Practical Approach by Norman Fenton and Shari Pfleeger "This book is arranged in three parts. Part I offers the reader a basic understanding of why and how we measure. It examines and explains the fundamentals of...
An Interview with Rex Black, author of Critical Testing Processes Rex Black is president and principal consultant of Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc., a testing and quality assurance firm serving clients such as Bank One, Cisco, Dell, and the US Department of Defense. He is also the author of Critical Testing...
Seven Steps to Reduce Security Risks in the Software You BuildYou know you need secure code, but how to get there? What are your security risks? What security failures and bugs do you have? What do these security risks, failures, and bugs mean? How can you reduce security risk in a way that doesn't create new...
Quality Risk AnalysisTesting any real world system is potentially an infinite task. Of this infinite set of possible tests, test managers need to focus on the most significant risks to system quality. These are the potential failure that are likely to occur in real-world use...
Site of the WeekRex Black's Online Library
Book of the WeekCritical Testing Processes: Plan, Prepare, Perform, Perfect by Rex Black From the back cover: "In today's rapid development environment, software testing processes play an increasingly crucial role. Where agile methodologies address a company's need to...
The Cognitive View: A Different Look at Software Design "What is software design?" Methodologies are not design - they are frameworks for organizing design efforts. Likewise, languages are not design - they are representations for documenting design once it has been formulated. Still curious? Find the answer...
The Many Flavors of Testing There is evidence that testing is still vitally important to software development, and that it probably always will be. Reviews may be more cost effective, according to recent studies, and proof of correctness (if it ever scales up to larger problems) may...
Software Maintenance is a Solution, Not a Problem In this excerpt from Robert Glass' new book "Software Conflict," the author outlines four simple steps for better software maintenance. (6 pages)
Site of the WeekDeveloper Dot Star
Book of the WeekSoftware Conflict 2.0: The Art and Science of Software Engineering by Robert L. Glass From the back cover: "Software Conflict 2.0: The Art and Science of Software Engineering updates and expands a neglected classic in the field. The nearly 60 essays in...
Estimation GamesOver 30 plus years of commercial computing has led to the development of a series of sophisticated political games that have become a replacement for estimation as a formal process. Like all good games these "estimation games" have been passed on from...
Painless Software SchedulesMaking a schedule is something almost no programmer wants to do. The vast majority just try to get away with not making one at all. Why is this the case? Two key reasons. One, it's a real pain. Two, nobody believes that it's worth anything (except for...
To Err is Human, To Estimate DivinePoor project estimation is the dirty little secret of application development. Nearly all projects are either canceled or come in over budget or behind schedule. A recent study of 100 companies found the average company completes only 37% of major IT...
Site of the WeekNASA: Parametric Estimating Handbook
Book of the WeekEstimating Software Intensive Systems: Project, Products, and Processes (SEI Series) by Richard D. Stutzke From the back cover: "Many software projects fail because their leaders don't know how to estimate, schedule, or measure them accurately....
Reducing Bias in Software Project Estimates Nearly every software development estimate has been, or will be, biased. Biases in the estimating process contribute to poor estimates, which can affect the success or failure of a project. Understanding the psychological impact of bias in developing...
Software Development Cost Estimation Approaches - A SurveyThis paper by Barry Boehm and Sunita Chulani summarizes several classes of software cost estimation models and techniques: parametric models, expertise-based techniques, learning-oriented techniques, dynamics-based models, regression-based models, and...
Software Cost Estimating Methods for Large ProjectsSoftware estimating is simple in concept, but difficult and complex in reality. The larger the project, the more factors there are that must be evaluated. The difficulty and complexity required for successful estimates of large software projects exceeds...
Site of the WeekQSM Resource Page
Book of the WeekMeasures for Excellence: Reliable Software On Time, Within Budget by Lawrence H. Putnam, Ware Meyers From the book description: "This book helps you accurately measure the completion time frames for small-to-medium software development projects, with...
Metrics and the Immature Software ProcessThere has been much discussion in recent years about the role of software metrics in helping software organizations improve productivity and quality. In our never-ending search for simple solutions to complex problems, measurement is often seen as a...
What to Measure?At a recent visit to an IT client, the new QA manager took me aside and said: "JR, here are the metrics I want to measure on a monthly basis. What do you think?" I asked him what the reactions to these measurements were. None of the managers seemed to...
Effective Benchmarking for Project ManagementBenchmarking for project management should be a staple in the management practices of any successful business or organization. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that establishing useful and meaningful metrics is very much an individual decision....
Site of the WeekThe Rothman Consulting Group: Software Management Consulting
Book of the WeekSoftware Project Survival Guide by Steve McConnell From the book description: "Author Steve McConnell draws on solid research and a career's worth of hard-won experience to map the surest path to your goal. Nineteen chapters in four sections cover the...
One Hundred Rules for NASA Project ManagersJerry Madden, Associate Director of the Flight Projects Directorate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, collected these 100 pieces of wisdom over a number of years from various unidentified sources. Jerry Madden retired from NASA in 1995 as Associate...
Successful Software Management: 14 Lessons LearnedSuccessful managers realize that they need to balance the needs of the business, the employees, and the work environment to be effective. In this article by Joanna Rothman, the author summarizes her experiences in determining the work to accomplish and...
Successful Engineering Management: 7 Lessons LearnedMany engineering managers come to management through the technical ranks. Although they may have had plenty of engineering training and mentoring, they frequently learn management skills the hard way, through trial and error. Managers have two primary...
Site of the WeekProject Management Knowledge Base
Book of the WeekPeopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Edition by Tom DeMarco From amazon: "Peopleware asserts that most software development projects fail because of failures within the team running them. This strikingly clear, direct book is written for...
The Software Engineering Institute's Six Sigma OverviewSix Sigma is a business-driven, multi-faceted approach to process improvement, reduced costs, and increased profits. With a fundamental principle to improve customer satisfaction by reducing defects, its ultimate performance target is virtually...
More on Six Sigma Software MetricsParts one and two of this four part series by Dave Hallowell of Six Sigma Advantage surveyed the work connected with several goals shared by software organizations and Six Sigma. He explains how reaching those goals involves establishing systems to...
Six Sigma Software Metrics - Final InstallmentThis article is the last in a four part series by Dave Hallowell of Six Sigma Advantage. It presents a discussion of Opportunities For Defects (OFD), Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO) and Sigma levels. When comparing implementations across...
Site of the WeekThe International Society for Six Sigma Professionals
Book of the WeekFundamental Concepts for the Software Quality Engineer by Taz Daughtrey From the book description: "'Fundamental Concepts for the Software Quality Engineer' is a collection of the best articles on software quality, taken from the professional journal...
Using Six Sigma in Software Development Six Sigma is an approach to business improvement that includes a philosophy, a set of metrics, and an improvement framework (also called a toolkit). Its philosophy is to improve customer satisfaction by eliminating and preventing defects, resulting in...
Six Sigma Software Metrics - Part 1 Six Sigma brings sharp focus to customer and business requirements as well as the defects associated with the failure to satisfy these requirements. While the relevance of this is clear enough to most software professionals, most software professionals...
Six Sigma Software Metrics - Part 2 Part 1 in this series on software defect metrics focused on the goal of identifying and removing defects in the development process as close to the point of occurrence as possible. This second installment by Dave Hallowell of Six Sigma Advantage examines...
Site of the WeekThe GE Six Sigma Home Page
Book of the WeekSoftware Quality Assurance: From Theory to Implementation by Daniel Galin From the book description: "Software quality assurance (SQA) systems are vital for software developers in the software and the electronics industries as well as for information...
The Three Dimensions of Process Improvement - Part 1This is the first part of a three-part article by Watts Humphrey on methods of software process improvement that were developed at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI): the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for software, the Personal Software Process...
The Three Dimensions of Process Improvement - Part 2Part I of this article by Watts Humphrey described the Capability Maturity Model, why it was developed, and how it can help organizations improve their performance. Part II addresses the Personal Software Process (PSP)SM, which shows engineers how to...
The Three Dimensions of Process Improvement - Part 3Part I of this article by Watts Humphrey described the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), and Part II addressed the Personal Software Process (PSP)SM. The CMM provides an overall framework that has helped many organizations improve their performance and the...
Site of the WeekThe Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute
Book of the WeekIntroduction to the Personal Software Process by Watts Humphrey From amazon: "Introduction To The Personal Software Process provides help for software engineers at all levels of experience, from students to experienced professionals, helping...
New from Capers Jones: The Economics of Software Maintenance in the 21st CenturyIn every industry maintenance tends to require more personnel than those building new products. For the software industry the number of personnel required to perform maintenance is unusually large and may soon top 75% of all technical software workers....
The Software Maintenance Process ModelIn this article from 2004, Alain April, Jane Huffman Hayes, and Reiner Dumke address the assessment and improvement of the software maintenance function by proposing improvements to the software maintenance standards and introducing a proposed maturity...
Measuring and Evaluating the Maintenance ProcessMeasuring and evaluating the stability of maintenance processes is important because of the recognized relationship between process quality and product quality. Maintenance is performed continuously and the stability of the maintenance process has an...
Site of the WeekSWEBOK: The Software Engineering Body of Knowledge
Book of the WeekSoftware Engineering, Vol. 2: The Supporting Processes by Richard H. Thayer This second volume on software engineering processes includes reprinted and newly authored papers that describe the supporting life cycle processes that can prepare...
An Interview with FedEx Ground CIO Mike HmelMichael V. Hmel is Senior Vice President, Information Systems, and Chief Information Officer for FedEx Ground, Inc. As Senior Vice President and CIO, Mr. Hmel is responsible for coordinating all information technology services for FedEx Ground, FedEx Home...
Software Maintenance - Defining the TermsSoftware Maintenance suffers from an image problem due to the fact that although software has been maintained for years, relatively little is written about the topic. Little funding for research about software maintenance exists; thus, the academic...
Software Maintenance - An OverviewIn the past, systems have been constructed in an ad-hoc manner, with individual developments having no common strategy to enable the best use of support resources. A strategy, therefore, which focuses on the long-term support of systems rather than purely...
Site of the WeekThe British Computer Society
Book of the WeekImproving Software Quality: An Insider's Guide to TQM by Lowell Jay Arthur From the Book Description: "Do you want to cut development and maintenance cycle times by 50% or more? Do you want to reduce costs by 50% or more? Do you want to...
Top Ten Risks of Offshore OutsourcingOffshore outsourcing is growing at 20%-25% per annum and will most likely continue to grow as a labor arbitrage model until 2009. However, as IT organizations consider the vast benefits and allure of offshore outsourcing, they must balance the risks and...
Offshore Outsourcing: Understanding the Risks and Hidden Costs Without a complete and proper understanding of offshore outsourcing's genuine complexity, hidden risks and costs will blindside IT decision makers and prevent attainment of anticipated wage savings. This whitepaper by Michael Milutis, IT Metrics and...
Balancing the RisksCompanies embracing offshore outsourcing for their application development and maintenance support should begin applying "risk portfolio assessment" to mitigate the risk created by deploying IT development across multiple geographies. Such an assessment...
Site of the WeekCIO Magazine: Outsourcing Resource Center
Book of the WeekOffshoring Information Technology: Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce by Erran Carmel and Paul Tjia The decision to source software development to an overseas firm (offshoring) is looked at frequently in simple economic terms - it's...
Risk Management Fundamentals in Software Development Developing software is seldom an easy task. Each project entails unique demands, challenges, and problems. Failure to predict and prevent risks can lead to costly delays, revenue loss, increased stress on team members, a lesser product and even outright...
A Software Quality Model and Metrics for Identifying Project Risks This paper, produced by Larry Hyatt and Linda Rosenberg of NASA's Software Assurance Technology Center, outlines and explains a Software Quality Model and then uses this model as a basis for discussions of quality attributes and risks. Risks that can be...
Risk Management During RequirementsThere is a lot heard about the risk of not writing requirements, but little about how to profit from making risk management integral to the requirements process. In this article, Tom Demarco and Tim Lister attempt to redress that imbalance by explaining...
Site of the WeekThe American Society for Quality's Software Risk Management Training Site
Book of the WeekWaltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects by Tom Demarco and Timothy Lister Greater risk brings greater reward, especially in software development. A company that runs away from risk will soon find itself lagging behind its more...
An Interview with Dr. Robert Charette, Master Risk Management PractitionerDr. Robert Charette is an internationally acknowledged authority and pioneer in information systems and technology, systems engineering, risk management, and the lean development & management of large-scale software-intensive systems. He is currently...
Risk Factor: Confronting the Risks that Impact Software Project SuccessEvery systems and software project involves risk. Often, how you manage your program risks is a deciding factor in the eventual success or failure of your program. If you ignore the risks, your program has a higher chance of failing. On the other hand, if...
A Project Risk MetricIn this article by Robert Ferguson of the Software Engineering Institute, a risk metric is proposed that is normalized across projects. The purpose of the metric is to provide management visibility into project uncertainty. This works best in an...
Site of the WeekDACS Center for Software Risk Management
Book of the WeekAssessment and Control of Software Risks by Capers Jones From the back cover: "This handbook summarizes more than 50 of the major problems of building and maintaining software projects, and outlines the prevention/control 'therapies' available....
Function Point AnalysisUnderstanding software size is the key to understanding both software productivity and software quality. But without a reliable software sizing metric, relative changes in both software productivity (Function Points per Work Month) and software quality...
Using Function Points This article by the International Function Point User's Group seeks to outline and illuminate some of the broader uses of function points, from understanding scope creep to developing a standard set of software metrics to even helping with contract...
Function Point FAQ This document, put together and managed by Ray Boehm of the International Function Point Users Group, provides visibility into the growing body of function point related questions that are frequently raised by IT professionals. An extraordinarily useful...
Site of the WeekThe International Function Point User's Group
Book of the WeekFunction Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects by David Garmus and David Herron From the Back Cover: "Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects" is a comprehensive presentation of...
Establishing a Software Measurement Process This software metrics report by Donald R. McAndrews of the Software Process Measurement Project presents guidelines for establishing a software measurement process as part of an organizations overall software process. Methods are suggested that can be...
Seven Steps to Designing a Software MetricIf software metrics are to provide useful information, everyone involved in designing, implementing, collecting data for and utilizing software metrics must understand their definition and purpose. This paper by Linda L. Westfall of Software Measurement...
Software Metrics: Ten Traps to Avoid This article by Dr. Karl E. Wiegers of Process Impact identifies ten software metrics traps that can sabotage unsuspecting software metrics practitioners. Several symptoms of each software metrics trap are described along with some possible solutions. By...
Site of the WeekThe Common Software Measurement International Consortium
Book of the WeekSoftware Metrics: Establishing a Company-Wide Program by Robert B. Grady, Deborah L. Caswell From the Forward by Tom DeMarco: "...Fortunately, there are at least a few examples of sensible approaches to measurement, and one of the most compelling of...
Book of the WeekSoftware Metrics: A Guide to Planning, Analysis, and Applicationby C.R. Pandian From the Book Description: "This book simplifies software measurement and explains its value as a tool for decision-makers at software companies. The techniques presented...
Site of the WeekThe Westfall Team: Partnering for Excellence in Software
Are We Doing Well or Are We Doing Poorly? Software metrics don't solve problems - people solve problems. What software metrics can do is provide information so you can make informed decisions and better choices. According to the new ISO/IEC 15939 Software Measurement Process standard, decision...
12 Steps to Useful Software Metrics Linda Westfall's "12 Steps to Useful Software Metrics" introduces the reader to a practical process for establishing and tailoring a software metrics program that focuses on goals and information needs. The process provides a practical, systematic,...
A CAI Interview with Linda Westfall, Expert Software Metrics Practitioner Linda Westfall is an expert software metrics practitioner and President of The Westfall Team. Her specialties include Software Quality Engineering, Metrics, Project & Risk Management, Requirements Engineering & Management, Peer Reviews, Testing, and...
Book of the WeekSoftware Metrics: Establishing a Company-Wide Program by Robert B. Grady, Deborah L. Caswell From the Forward by Tom DeMarco: "...Fortunately, there are at least a few examples of sensible approaches to measurement, and one of the most compelling of...
Site of the WeekThe Common Software Measurement International Consortium
Software Metrics: Ten Traps to Avoid This article by Karl E. Wiegers of Process Impact identifies ten traps that can sabotage unsuspecting metrics practitioners. Several symptoms of each trap are described along with some possible solutions. By being aware of these common risks, you can...
Seven Steps to Designing a Software MetricIf metrics are to provide useful information, everyone involved in designing, implementing, collecting data for and utilizing software metrics must understand their definition and purpose. This paper by Linda L. Westfall of Software Measurement Services...
Establishing a Software Measurement Process This report by Donald R. McAndrews of the Software Process Measurement Project presents guidelines for establishing a measurement process as part of an organizations overall software process. Methods are suggested that can be used to design a repeatable...
A CAI Interview with Dr. Howard Rubin Dr. Howard A. Rubin is a Gartner Senior Advisor and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He is also a former Board member and Executive Vice President of META Group. After years of experience and...
The Worldwide IT Benchmark Report for 2006 04:00:00 GMTThis report, produced by Dr. Howard Rubin and Jed Rubin, provides a high level overview of the findings from the 2006 04:00:00 GMT edition of the Worldwide IT Benchmark Report, including key spending and staffing trends by industry and geography. (38...
Breakthroughs in Benchmarking and Measurement This presentation by Dr. Howard Rubin explores the following subjects: 1) Definition of Benchmarking; 2) Historical View of IT Spending; 3) A View of How and What to Benchmark; 4) Integrated Measurement - The New IT Scorecard; and 5) Benchmarking,...
Site of the WeekSEI's Software Engineering Information Repository
Book of the WeekThe Benchmark Release 8 "The Benchmark Release 8 analyses the factors that affect software project duration as well as the quality & productivity of software projects, whether in terms of development, enhancement, or package customisation. The...
Book of the WeekQuality Software Project Management by Robert T. Futrell, Donald F. Shafer, Linda I. Shafer From the Preface: "Quality Software Project Management was written by and for software practitioners who need a hands-on guide to the non-deterministic but...
Site of the WeekThe Athens Group
Software Risk: Why Must We Keep Learning From Experience? Software risk management is the formal process in which risk factors are systematically identified, assessed, and mitigated. The determination of the risk in a project either due to external or internal causes is a major part of project management. This...
Would You Like Software With That? This article by Don Shafer looks at case studies of software problems present in all complex oil drilling and production rigs. The problem analysis was done by software engineers who have been involved in the verification, validation, and software...
A CAI Interview with Don Shafer: Author, CTO, and IEEE Computer Society Editor-in-ChiefDon Shafer is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Computer Society Press. He is also co-founder, corporate director and Chief Technology Officer of Athens Group, Inc. Shafers work experience includes positions held at Boeing and Los Alamos National Laboratories....
A CAI Interview with Tom Gilb, Evolutionary Development Expert Practitioner & AuthorTom is recognized as a pioneer in software metrics and Evolutionary project management, as well as the inventor of the planning language Planguage. He is directly recognized as the idea source for parts of the Agile and Extreme programming methods...
How to Manage Project Benefits and Costs with Evolutionary (EVO) DevelopmentThe underlying principle of Evolutionary (EVO) development methods is the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. In other words, the "process control cycle" as taught by Walter Shewhart of AT&T and, by his pupils, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran. In this chapter...
Case Study: From Waterfall to Evolutionary (EVO) Development Evolutionary (EVO) development focuses on early delivery of high value to stakeholders, and on obtaining and utilizing feedback from stakeholders. This paper by Tom Gilb and Trond Johansen describes, from a project manager's viewpoint, the positive...
Site of the WeekTom Gilb's Home Page
Book of the WeekCompetitive Engineering: A Handbook for Systems Engineering, Requirements Engineering, and Software Engineering, Using Planguage by Tom Gilb From the Back Cover: "Competitive Engineering documents Tom Gilb's unique, ground-breaking approach to...
Measurements to Manage Software Maintenance Software Maintenance is central to the mission of many organizations. Thus, it is natural for managers to characterize and measure those aspects of products and processes that seem to affect cost, schedule, quality, and functionality of a software...
A Model to Evaluate and Improve the Quality of Software MaintenanceThe software maintenance function suffers from a scarcity of management models that would facilitate its evaluation, its management, and its continuous improvement. This article by Mohamed Zitouni and Alain Abran proposes an evaluation model of the...
Case Study in Software MaintenanceIn an effort to find out more about the tools, procedures, and techniques project personnel use in their work, the Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Environments Project interviewed personnel in eight software maintenance projects within an...
Site of the Week22nd IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance
Book of the WeekPractical Software Maintenance: Best Practices for Managing Your Software Investment by Thomas M. Pigoski From the Amazon Book Description: "The amount of time and expense spent debugging, customizing, updating, and maintaining software far outstrips...
All Together Now: CMM, CRM, ERP, and Six SigmaWhile Six Sigma is clearly an alternative to broad-based quality initiatives such as Total Quality Management, proponents say it works just fine with extant project management software, CRM, Balanced Scorecard and other operational and valuation...
Six Sigma and CMM Six Sigma has been successfully used within many diverse industries. While Six Sigma philosophy and technique came out of manufacturing environments, it also has been used in projects that span the entire functional organization. A reasonable question...
Combining CMMI, PSP, TSP, and Six Sigma for SoftwarePSP and TSP are software development process definitions that are compatible with a wide range of software development concepts such as spiral development, object oriented development, and various other sets of techniques, each with certain advantages in...
Life After CMM Level 5 Six-Sigma programs have proven results, especially in the manufacturing and service industries. A Six Sigma program builds on many of the building blocks of organizational quality that a CMM program would have put in place. However, the program is a lot...
Site of the WeekSix Sigma Advantage, Inc.
Book of the WeekSix Sigma Software Development by Christine B. Tayntor From the Book Description: A popular tool in manufacturing organizations, the Six Sigma methodology can reduce defects and improve financial performance. The tools and processes of Six Sigma can...
CMM vs CMMI: From Conventional to Modern Software ManagementThis article by Walker Royce, Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Services at the Rational Software Corporation, summarizes some thoughts on making the transition from conventional software management techniques to modern ones. In particular,...
Getting Started with the CMMI Although CMMI documentation is comprehensive, it's difficult to use. The sheer amount of documents, pages, and perceived overlap overwhelms newcomers in particular. Nevertheless, two books on the CMMI offer guidance to help users navigate and find what...
Site of the WeekCarnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institutes CMMI Site
Book of the WeekIT Service Management: An Introduction by Jan Van Bon, George Kemmerling, and Dick Pondman From the Book Description: Understanding ITIL Key Process Relationships"In recent years, IT service management has developed into a field in its own right, with...
The Balanced Scorecard and IT GovernanceThe Balanced Scorecard (BSC), intially developed by Kaplan and Norton, is a performance management system that should allow enterprises to drive their strategies on measurement and follow-up. In recent years, the BSC has been applied to information...
How to Use the Balanced ScorecardExxon Mobil leaped from last to first in profitability within its industry from 1993 to 1995, a rank it maintained for the next four years. Cigna Insurance was losing $1 million a day in 1993, but within two years it was in the top quartile of...
Time to Unbalance Your ScorecardTwenty years ago, managers were frustrated because financial measures were the only way to assess their operations. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) answered their complaints. This performance measurement tool, which includes financial and non-financial...
A CAI Interview with Don Shafer: Author, CTO, and IEEE Computer Society Editor-in-ChiefDon Shafer is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Computer Society Press. He is also co-founder, corporate director and Chief Technology Officer of Athens Group, Inc. Shafers work experience includes positions held at Boeing and Los Alamos National Laboratories....
Book of the WeekIT Service Management: An Introduction by Jan Van Bon, George Kemmerling, and Dick Pondman From the Book Description: "In recent years, IT service management has developed into a field in its own right, with organizations now so dependent on the...
The Balanced Scorecard and IT Governance The Balanced Scorecard (BSC), intially developed by Kaplan and Norton, is a performance management system that should allow enterprises to drive their strategies on measurement and follow-up. In recent years, the BSC has been applied to information...
How to Use the Balanced Scorecard Exxon Mobil leaped from last to first in profitability within its industry from 1993 to 1995, a rank it maintained for the next four years. Cigna Insurance was losing $1 million a day in 1993, but within two years it was in the top quartile of...
Time to Unbalance Your Scorecard Twenty years ago, managers were frustrated because financial measures were the only way to assess their operations. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) answered their complaints. This performance measurement tool, which includes financial and non-financial...