Software Process And Measurement Cast

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 102. SPaMCAST 102 features my interview with Anita Cassidy.  We discussed her book "A Practical Guide to Information Systems Strategic Planning" along with how to improve value and performance of IT! Anita Cassidy is owner and partner of ITDirections ( www.itdirections.com ), a technology consulting organization focused on the areas of strategic planning, assessments, software selection, contract negotiation, process improvement, coaching and temporary CIO. With over 30 years experience in IT, Anita has a reputation in the industry as a trusted advisor, consultant, and executive coach who has a true passion and track-record for making a difference. Anita is a nationally recognized industry leader in strategic planning and has published five books, including a best-seller titled "A Practical Guide to Information Systems Strategic Planning" (Taylor & Francis Group). Her latest book, published in 2010 was titled "A Practical Guide to Reducing IT Costs" (JR

SPaMCAST 101 features the second part of my Seven Deadly Sins of Measurement Programs essay.  In this installment we focus on gluttony.  I jumped over sloth as I decided it needed a rewrite (no sloth here!). Citrix GoToAssist Express is sponsoring SPaMCAST Solve technical issues faster with GoToAssist Express. Try it FREE for 30 days. Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing has hit the bookshelves!  According to Robert C. Anderson, Director, Process Development and Quality Assurance, Computer Aid, Inc, "Mastering Software Project Management is a masterpiece of clarity, organization and depth of practical knowledge." If you a project manager or know project managers buy yourself a copy and a second to lend co-workers! Have you bought your copy? Contact information for the Software Process and Measurement CastEmail:  spamcastinfo@gmail.comVoicemail:  +1-206-888-6111Website: www.spam

SPaMCAST 100 . . . YES 100 features an interview with Chris Hefley  Chris and I discussed Kanban.  This is an interview that will help novices and those experienced with Kanban.  Paul Laberge asked for an interview on the nuts and bolts of Kanban and I think we have delivered. Chris Hefley is the CEO and co founder of Bandit Software. Bandit Software is a Nasvhille, TN based company that specializes in tools for Kanban and Lean Software Development, as well as training, coaching, consulting and lean outsourcing. Chris is a career software developer and aspiring craftsman, and has a deep interest in things that can help software developers be more productive, effective, and happy. Citrix GoToAssist Express is sponsoring SPaMCAST Solve technical issues faster with GoToAssist Express. Try it FREE for 30 days. Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing has hit the bookshelves!  According

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 99! The Seven Deadly Sins popularized by Dante have been used as an analogy for a fallen man’s tendency to sin and as analogy for the ills or risks of many professions.  The analogy fits as well for software metrics; focusing attention on the behaviors that could sap your program’s integrity, effectiveness and life span. This paper looks at a set of deadly sins from the point of view of a person or group that is creating or managing a metrics program.  The preamble . . . The Seven Deadly Sins of Metrics Programs: Pride – Believing that a single number / metric is more important than any other factor. Envy – Instituting measures that facilitate the insatiable desire for another team’s people, tools or applications. Wrath – Using measures to create friction between groups or teams. Sloth – Unwillingness to act or care about the measures you create. Greed – Allowing metrics to be used as a tool to game the system for gain. Gluttony – Collecting data for data'

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 98! The Software Process and Measurement Cast this week features an in interview with Richard Soley.  The interview with Richard wraps up my interviews with the troika of luminaries that are leading the SEMAT initiative.  Richard provides a great wrap up on the goals, benefits and ideas that define SEMAT. Dr. Richard Mark Soley is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OMG TM. As Chairman and CEO of OMG, Dr. Soley is responsible for the vision and direction of the world's largest consortium of its type. Dr. Soley joined the nascent OMG as Technical Director in 1989, leading the development of OMG's world-leading standardization process and the original CORBA® specification. In 1996, he led the effort to move into vertical market standards (starting with healthcare, finance, telecommunications and manufacturing) and modeling, leading first to the Unified Modeling Language TM (UML®) and later the Model Driven Architecture® (MDA®). He also led the effort to e

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 97! Software Process and Measurement Cast features an essay on time-to-market which is an excerpt from a new writing project I am calling The Metrics Minute.  You will see more essays from this project in the future and a call to action. The first few lines . . . Time-to-market (TTM) is a measure of the calendar duration of a project.  Calendar time  is the granddaddy of all measures of project performance.  The popularity of the measure is driven by its ease of calculation as by definition all projects have a start date and every day that goes by adds one to day to the duration of the project and brings you one day closer to both the predicted and eventual end of the project. Time to market because it's simplicity has a great deal of allure however because of it simplicity it has very little explanatory power. Calendar time is a metric that everyone can understand in theory however how long is too long or why one project takes longer than another can only

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 96! The Software Process and Measurement Cast this week features an in interview with Bertrand Meyer.  Bertand and I discussed his ideas on SEMAT and why IT and Academia need to find a common ground to share ideas and knowledge. From Wikipedia Bertrand Meye has been Professor of Software Engineering at ETH Zürich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology since October 2001, where he pursues research on building trusted components (reusable software elements) with a guaranteed level of quality. Dr. Meyer pursues the ideal of simple, elegant and user-friendly computer languages and is one of the earliest and most vocal proponents of object-oriented programming (OOP). His book Object-Oriented Software Construction is widely considered to be the best work on presenting the case for OOP. Other books he has written include Eiffel: The Language (a description of the Eiffel language), Object Success (a discussion of object technology for managers), Reusable Softwa

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 95! Software Process and Measurement Cast features an essay on labor productivity which is an excerpt from a new writing project I am calling The Metrics Minute.  You will see more essays from this project in the future and a call to action. The first few lines . . .Labor productivity measures efficiency of the transformation of labor into something of higher value.  Labor productivity (typically called productivity) is a fairly simple manufacturing concept that has been found itself useful in IT.  Productivity is the amount of output per unit of input; an example in manufacturing terms can be expressed as10 widgets for every hour worked. Labor productivity is a powerful metric, made even more powerful by it's simplicity. At its heart, productivity is a measure of the efficiency of a process (or group of processes). Citrix GoToAssist Express is sponsoring SPaMCAST Solve technical issues faster with GoToAssist Express. Try it FREE for 30 days. Mastering Soft

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 94!The interview in the SPaMCAST 94 features my interview with Ivar Jacobson covering the Software Engineering Method and Theory or SEMAT initiative.  The interview is part of a set of three interviews that I had with Ivar, Bertand Meyer and Richard Soley.  The three luminaries are leading an effort to pull together a common core for software engineering and then to provide a framework for integrating new ideas.  A very ambitious and somewhat controversial task.  All three interviews were incredible and together provide a broad foundation to understand and interact with SEMAT. Dr. Ivar Jacobson is a father of components and component architecture, use cases, the Unified Modeling Language and the Rational Unified Process. He has contributed to modern business modeling and aspect-oriented software development. However, all this is history. Lately he has been working on how to deal with methods and tools in a super-light and agile way. He has developed a pract

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 93! The essay in the SPaMCAST 93 features the conclusion of my essay on ethics and call to action. The conclusion beging with the following paragraph. Codes of ethics are a compilation of individual statements of ethical principals into a framework to guide behavior.  Most every human being embraces a code of ethics by default whether it is provided by religion, society, their work or organizations and associations.  I recently asked friends I work with how many codes of ethics they are bound with and after a bit of discussion the average was four.  Examples included IFPUG, PMI, IEEE, SEI, society and religions.  Kevin Brennan, Vice President for Professional Development of IIBA, twittered me that codes of ethics are expected for a group to define itself as a profession and required for certification bodies under ISO 17024.  Citrix GoToAssist Express is sponsoring SPaMCAST Solve technical issues faster with GoToAssist Express. Try it FREE for 30 days. On Ju

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 92! The interview in the SPaMCAST 92 features a discussion with Don Reinertsen .  We discussed his current book, THe Principles of Product Development Flow including the concepts of queues, lean and economic value just to name a few topics. This was an incredible interview. For three decades Don Reinertsen has focused on improving the management of product development. His best-selling books have been perpetual favorites for hardcore engineering professionals. They lie dog-eared and underlined on engineering bookshelves around the world. Thousands of people have his public seminars at Caltech, The Management Roundtable, and overseas. Don constantly pushes the state of management thinking and delivers a rare combination of rigor, practicality, and clarity. His latest awarding winning book, The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development, has been praised as, “… quite simply the most advanced product development book you

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 91! The essay in the Software Process and Measurement Cast is titled Project and Process Improvement Ethics:  A Primer, Part 1: What are ethics and why do care? The essay asks: What are ethics?  What is the purpose of ethical frameworks?  Why should they matter to those who manage process improvement?  Citrix GoToAssist Express is sponsoring SPaMCAST Solve technical issues faster with GoToAssist Express. Try it FREE for 30 days. I am continuing my experiment with the format of the Software Process and Measurement Cast.  I began the new format on SPaMCAST 88 and intend to use the new format at least through July. Every other show will include an interview and news components and the non-interview show will include the essay and any listener comments.  I would really like to hear your thoughts and comments on the format.  In August I will start the personal kanban at experiment.  I am interested in any advice or comments you might have.  I will share the resu

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 90! The interview in the SPaMCAST 90 features an interview with a familar face, Pat Ferdinandi.  Pat is back talking about her new book, A Technologist's Guide to Performing & Surviving in the New World.  We live in exciting times how exciting might be up to us! Pat's 11 year old Solomon Island Eclectus Female parrot, Scarlet wrote the Bio I am using for Pat in SPaMCAST 90. Who is Pat Ferdinandi? Well, Mark Twain squawked it best: She was not quite what you would call refined.She was not quite what you would call unrefined.She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. ~ Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar She's calls herself a Chief Thought Translator...a business architect and author of Parrotology.  She's different but I'm GEORGOUS! Yup... I'm Scarlet... the bird...I squawk about life...And give my caretakers strife...Lets chat about products and give me a hint...What's happenin' in your world...And I'm givin' you the word... I a

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 89! Show 89 is the editorial / essay component of the show.  The Software Process and Measurement Cast features Collaboration:  Business's Duct Tape Part 3.  THe summary of the whole essay is: Collaboration is a nearly ubiquitous problem-solving technique used in today’s business environment.  As a tool it is not perfect; it can be slower than individual strokes of genius; at times it can deliver watered down solutions; and collaborative teams can lose their ability to think outside the box.  On the other hand, collaborative efforts can marshal many points of view to create solutions no individual stroke of genius would be able to deliver.  Given the power of this technique, it is important to have the knowledge of what it takes to actually make a collaborative effort work.  Synthesizing a group of individuals into a collaborative team requires a combination of ability, authority, commitment, trust and recognition. Part One is included in SPaMCAST 85Part Tw

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 88! The interview in the SPaMCAST 88 features a discussion with Naomi Karten.  We discussed her book Changing How You Manage and Communicate Change. This book is another game changer! Naomi Karten (http://www.nkarten.com) is well-known for delivering serious material with a light touch. As principal of her training and consulting business, she helps organizations and individuals improve customer satisfaction, manage change, strengthen teamwork, and enhance communication and presentation skills. Naomi has delivered seminars and keynote presentation to more than 100,000 people internationally in such diverse locations as Oslo, Zurich, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Trinidad, Costa Rica, and throughout the US and Canada. The premise of Naomi’s book, Changing How You Manage and Communicate Change: Focusing on the Human Side of Change, is that change will proceed more smoothly and with less turbulence if serious attention is given to the people aspects. Information on this b

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 87! The interview in the SPaMCAST 87 features a discussion with Hans Sassenberg.  We talked about his paper "Affordable Software Quality Assessment" and why typical process improvement programs are not enough. Dr. Hans Sassenburg received a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) in 1986 and a PhD degree in economics from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) in 2006. He worked as an independent consultant until 1996, when he co-founded a consulting and training firm. This company specialized in software process improvement and software architecture and was sold in 2000. In 2001 he moved to Switzerland, where he founded a new consulting and training firm SE-CURE AG (www.se-cure.ch). In addition, he has been a visiting scientist at the Software Engineering Institute (www.sei.cmu.edu) since January of 2005. In 2009, he co-founded the Software Benchmarking Organization (www.sw-benchmarkin

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 86! The interview in the SPaMCAST 86 is with Bob Thames.  Bob is a co-author of Chasing Change: Building Organizational Capacity in a Turbulent Environment. Bob and I talked about change.  No one is immune from change therefore understanding how to deal with change makes good sense. Bob Thames has 34 years of experience in the technology and consulting industries.  He is currently a Senior Program Manager at SAS Institute, a leading global supplier of Business Analytics software solutions.  He has been with SAS for 7 years, with previous positions at KPMG LLP, IBM Consulting Group, Arthur Andersen Business Consulting, and Digital Equipment Corporation. He is also the founder and CEO of Pathways to Transformation LLC, an executive and life coaching company that helps individuals enhance their life purpose and step into greater balance and fulfillment in their lives.  Bob has been involved for the past 17 years in CAM-I, an international research consortium f

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 85! The interview in the SPaMCAST 85 is with Cory Foy.  We discussed agile, agile coaching, scrum buts and organizational change just to name a few topics.  If you are involved in developing software, managing people or changing organizations these are topics you will want to hear about! Cory Foy is an agile coach, trainer and, at-heart, developer who cut his teeth in agile using Extreme Programming and never looked back. Cory is an active member of the development and agile communities establishing or running user groups across the country and being a frequent speaker at conferences and user groups across the globe. He currently resides north of Tampa, FL with his beautiful wife and two cute-as-a-button daughters. You can reach Cory via his site at http://www.coryfoy.com or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cory_foy. Contact information: Twitter:      http://twitter.com/cory_foy Website:     http://www.coryfoy.com Remember to check out GoTo Assist Express!

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 84! The interview in the SPaMCAST 84 is with Ricardo Valerdi.  We discussed software cost estimation and behavioral economics.  This was a great interview that anyone working in the IT field will find immediately useful and thought provoking in the long term. Dr. Valerdi's current research interests include systems engineering cost estimation, system level metrics and models, dynamics in large-scale government system acquisition, and system-of-systems ontologies. His contributions to the field include the Constructive Systems Engineering Cost Model (COSYSMO), a model for estimating systems engineering effort, which has been calibrated with data provided by BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and SAIC. He is also the co-founder of the Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative (SEAri), which was launched in 2007. He received his B.S./B.A. in electrical engineering from the Universit

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 83! The interview in the SPaMCAST 83 is with Gary Gack.  We discussed his new book "Managing The Black Hole".  The book and the discussion centered on how organizations can improve their effectiveness.  Lots of great ideas for orgnaizations at all levels of maturity. Gary Gack, is the founder and President of Process-Fusion.net, a provider of e-Learning, Assessments, Strategy advice, Training, and Coaching relating to integration and deployment of software and IT industry best practices. Mr. Gack holds an MBA from the Wharton School and is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. In addition he is an ASQ Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE), a Certified Scrum Master, a Visiting Scientist with the Software Engineering Institute (2006) where he co-authored the "Measuring for Performance Driven Improvement 1" course for which he is an authorized instructor, and he holds the ITIL Foundation Certification. He has more than 40 years of diverse experience in the softwar