Whether you are a project manager planning for a smooth implementation of a
plan or a project sponsor on whose decisions a project depends, you cannot
escape from the fact that project estimation is essential to its success. In
the first place, there are three basic requirements that a project must
satisfy: schedule, budget, and quality. The need to work within these
essential project boundaries poses a huge challenge to everyone in the
central management team.
There are various aspects that affect project estimates, such as team skills
and experience levels, available technology, use of full-time or part-time
resources, project quality management, risks, iteration, development
environment, requirements, and most of all, the level of commitment of all
project members.
Moreover, project estimations do not need to be too complicated. There are
tools, methodologies, ... (more)
Even as modern economic activities rely heavily on sound IT strategies, many
organizations fail to take advantage of the many opportunities that
technology can provide. For instance, some types of can improve processes and
profit margins. Clearly, there is a gap between the availability of
infrastructure, and what enterprises actually need to overhaul at their place
of business to benefit cash flow.
Before formulating your company's IT strategy, there are a few questions that
you should ask.
Is the strategy too generic? IT organizations hardly cater to just one type
of need, on... (more)
Surprisingly, Scrum development and music composition have a lot in common!
The recent article by Paul Goddard shows how the strategy of a clear product
vision, regular feedback and continuous testing and integration can help you
master any software development project.
The full article is available here: Scrum Software Development: Project Teams
in Concert to Master Success.
... (more)
Despite signs of life in the economy, the realities of software development
persist. Most companies and customers need their software yesterday with the
most advanced features at the lowest possible cost. To accomplish these
seemingly contradictory goals, developers seek to streamline production with
fast, effective processes that can give the customer what he/she wants in the
shortest time possible.
These realities and past development failures have led to a shift in software
development thinking from the more structured, sequential methods of software
development of the past, ... (more)
There is a common misconception that CMMI and Agile are polar opposites. One
relies on institutionalization and documentation of processes and
methodologies, while the other emphasizes interaction among workers and
“working software over comprehensive documentation” (Agile Manifesto).
Process documentation and institutionalization is the lifeblood of CMMI, and
it is often used in critical software development life cycles. On the other
hand, the Agile approach is called into action when a project features
incremental changes, particularly those that have not been included in
ini... (more)
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David Lucas
Cathy Lopez
Shaul Efraim
Terence Martin Breslin
Cory Marchand
David Hughes
James Carlini
John Iffert
Dan Stolts
Joe Zeto
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