In most professions, it’s good to have stability in the things you work with. With software, stability is good, but often we confuse static with stable. They are not the same. Static software decays and becomes useless.
Why is it so hard to get good software?
May 29, 2012
Once we get over our wonder at the broad capabilities of software running on modern computers and devices, we begin to ask why so much of the software we use is of questionable quality. Between vulnerabilities to malware and constant updates to correct problems, it seems that software is never stable and reliable. Why?
Success always looks easy
March 13, 2012
With all the news about IT projects that go bad, you would think that we’d hear more news about projects that go well. Then we could just copy down the “best practices” that led to the success and – voilà – our projects would come out perfectly every time. But life is not so simple. […]
Stranger ways to fail
February 29, 2012
In the last article, I gave three reasons for IT project failure. These are not the only ways to fail! In this article I describe failure modes I’ve seen that are much less conventional – and harder to overcome without serious dedication at the top. Here are the three reasons from last time: They’re not […]
Agile Clouds
December 21, 2011
Buzzwords abound in the Business IT world. You can’t ignore these words because they come at you from all sides. Here are the realities of “Cloud” and “Agile” to help you cope with the possible hype you’ve been hearing.
Business, Academia, Government – do we have the same problems?
August 10, 2010
Communicating with high-tech people is a challenge. Not only do they speak their own brand of jargon, they also tend to be very literal.
Typically, when the first working model of a new software system is shown to the people who asked for it, their reaction is: “Oh. I see what you have here, but what I really want is something different.”
Ask to be shown a working prototype often, so you can do course-corrections frequently. Prioritize the key features or results you need, and ask for frequent demonstrations of a working system.
Metrics of Success in Development – Part 3
January 26, 2008
Today we’ll finish the list of ten questions that can give you a quick measure of your development group or department. The purpose is two-fold: to let you see how you measure up compared to other similar departments, and to suggest ways in which you can think about the stresses in your department. Let’s launch […]
Metrics of success in development – Part 2
January 26, 2008
Last time we listed the first three questions of a self-assessment questionnaire for Development managers. Those first three related to project completion, staff turnover, and how well the initial functional or feature list was met. If you are having problems delivering products, most likely you will experience problems in one or more of these initial […]
Metrics of success in development – Part 1
January 26, 2008
How do you find out if your development organization is functioning well? Naturally, if you are getting products out on time, consistently, and the world around you is happy with the results, you have nothing to worry about. But what if there ARE complaints? Can you determine whether you’re hearing gripes that have little to […]
Constant Reinvention = Survival
January 26, 2008
Nothing lasts forever. Even the best-conceived business strategies eventually become constraints on growth. Consider Dell. “Dell succumbed to complacency in the belief that its business model would always keep it far ahead of the pack.” But the competitors got better while Dell failed “to invest in new business lines, talent, or innovation that could provide […]