Oct
17
Methodology Misuse
October 17, 2005 | Leave a Comment
At some point, I’m going to have to stop simply critiquing Agile methods and actually propose alternatives. That sounds suspiciously like work.
In an attempt to put off dealing with that, I’m going to change the subject, at least a little. I can’t remember who originally pointed this out, but I generally agree with the perspective [...]
Oct
16
Putting on my PM hat…
October 16, 2005 | Leave a Comment
If I were managing a project, instead of looking at the business needs, would I use Agile methods?
Yes. Yes, I would.
It’s something I want to stress, because I’ve been heavily critical of those approaches here. I believe that they in fact do lead to more rapid development of code and higher productivity on the project [...]
Oct
15
Ab Initio Development
October 15, 2005 | Leave a Comment
I was re-reading an older book on patterns that I happen to have (Patterns of Software, by Richard P. Gabriel) this morning. While working through the first essay, he said some things that really reminded me why Agile methods are problematic in the business settings in which I work.
The core problem, the one that Agile [...]
Oct
14
BA BoK FAQ
October 14, 2005 | Leave a Comment
I attended the first IIBA Toronto chapter meeting last night and got a chance to meet a number of local members. It was an interesting experience. A lot of them took some time to talk to me after the meeting and it’s clear that there’s a lot of anticipation around and interest in the Body [...]
Oct
13
Gah!
October 13, 2005 | Leave a Comment
I just got this in my email…
Testing a software application before turning it on in aproduction environment is critical, particularly if theapplication will have a significant impact on the business.Organizations that test applications while they are underdevelopment are likely to save money because it’s moreexpensive to fix problems later on when programs becomemore complex. Download [...]
Oct
13
Google vs. MS II
October 13, 2005 | Leave a Comment
Obviously, I don’t have any insider knowledge about either Google or Microsoft’s plans for the future. However, looking at the past actions of both parties, it is possible to make some guesses about their intentions.
First of all, I doubt that Google is spoiling for a fight with MS. Why would they? Microsoft’s core business is [...]
Oct
12
“Open Source Services Come of Age”
October 12, 2005 | Leave a Comment
No surprise here:
[A] clutch of new solutions and services companies have recently sprung up to guide enterprise customers through the difficulties of open source software deployment.
While the rapid growth in enterprise open source deployment has seen businesses download and deploy individual products to quickly and cheaply fill gaps in their infrastructure software stacks, the amount [...]
Oct
12
IBM to open-source portions of RUP
October 12, 2005 | Leave a Comment
I’ll be interested to see what this means in practice.
Oct
12
Cockburn vs. Bittner & Spence
October 12, 2005 | Leave a Comment
As far as I can tell, the two most common notations for writing use cases are the ones promoted by Alistair Cockburn and by Kurt Bittner and Ian Spence.
The key difference between them is the management of alternate flows.
Cockburn lumps all the alternates together in a single section. The first step in the alternate [...]
Oct
12
IIBA Toronto Chapter
October 12, 2005 | Leave a Comment
I’ll be attending the kickoff of the IIBA Toronto Chapter tomorrow. I was a little suprised at he last meeting to see how many of the people involved had worked for one of my former employers. It’s one of those things that probably wasn’t a co-incidence–when the thing was organized one of them said “who [...]
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