| Software Process Traps and Tips on How To Avoid Them: |
| An Interview with Karl E. Wiegers of Process Impact |
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| 1.
A
CAI State of the Practice Interview with Karl E. Wiegers of Process Impact |
Karl E. Wiegers is Principal Consultant with Process Impact, a software process consulting and education company in Portland, Oregon. His interests include requirements engineering, peer reviews, process improvement, project management, risk management, and software metrics. Karl is the author of More About Software Requirements which will be available through Microsoft Press in January of 2006. Karl is also the author of Software Requirements, 2nd Edition (Microsoft Press, 2003), Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide (Addison-Wesley, 2002), and Creating a Software Engineering Culture (Dorset House, 1996). Karl has written more than 160 articles on software development, chemistry, and military history. He has served on the Editorial Board for IEEE Software magazine and also as a contributing editor for Software Development magazine. He is a frequent speaker at software conferences and professional society meetings. Our interview with Karl took place in September of 2005. |
| Click
Here to Read the Article! |
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| 2.
Ten Requirements Traps to Avoid
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| The path to quality software begins with excellent requirements. Slighting the processes of requirements development and management is a common cause of software project frustration and failure. This article by Karl Wiegers describes ten common traps that software projects can encounter if team members and customers don't take requirements seriously. The author describes several symptoms that might indicate when you're falling victim to each trap, and offers several solutions to control the problem.
(8 pages) |
| Click
Here to Read the Article! |
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| 3.
Ten Software Process Improvement Traps to Avoid |
| More organizations are looking at software process improvement as a way to improve the quality, productivity, and predictability of their software development, acquisition, and maintenance efforts. However, software process improvement efforts can be derailed in many ways.
This paper by Karl Wiegers describes ten common traps that can undermine a software process improvement program. Learning about these process improvement killers- and their symptoms and solutions- will help you prevent them from bringing your initiative to its knees. (9 pages) |
| Click
Here to Read the Article! |
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| 4.
Site of the Week |
| Process Impact |
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| 5.
Book
of the Week |
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| Creating a Software Engineering Culture by Karl E. Wiegers |
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| From the Author: "A 'software engineering culture' describes an environment in which the members of a software group share a commitment to building high-quality products in a disciplined way. Creating a Software Engineering Culture presents a principle-based approach to growing such a culture. It describes fourteen cultural precepts that can be used to guide the behaviors of team leaders and practitioners, the decisions that are made, and the technical practices that are used in a software development organization. The objective of the book is to help software managers and developers select improvements they can begin to make in their personal practices and in their organization, beginning next Monday. Case studies of how these quality-focused principles and practices were applied in several groups at a large company are included. |
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| Each chapter contains several 'Culture Builder' tips, which are things a manager can do to promote an attitude and environment that leads to software engineering excellence. 'Culture Killers' are also described; these are management actions that will undermine a team devoted to superior software engineering or prevent such a culture from developing. |
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| Quality focused management issues covered include the importance of honest communication with customers and managers and using recognition to guide team members toward desired behaviors. A wide variety of technical topics are addressed, in the context of their application within a healthy software engineering culture. The need to apply quality oriented practices without being dogmatic about following a specified methodology or rule book is also explored. |
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| The book concludes with ten specific changes that are recommended for software engineers, and ten more changes for managers to begin pursuing immediately, as first steps toward creating or enhancing the software engineering culture in their own places of work." |
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| Click
Here to Read More or to Buy the Book! |
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| 6.
Archives |
| Special
Edition! Interview with Dr. Michael Cusumano, MIT Sloan
School of Management |
| Special
Edition! Interview with Dr. Herb Krasner, University of
Texas and Krasner Consulting |
| Special
Edition! Interview with Capers Jones, Chief Scientist Emeritus
of SPR |
| Special
Edition! Interview with Joseph McMakin, former CIO of Air
Products and Chemicals |
| Special
Edition! Interview with Tom Love, CEO and Author of Software
Pilots |
| Standard
Software Processes: 3 Easy Pieces for Getting You Started! |
| Software
Estimation: What You Can Do To Make a Difference TODAY! |
| How
Six Sigma Applies to Software Development and IT: A Special
Edition Interview wth Gary Gack |
| Reaping
What You Sow: How to Get the Most Out of Software Metrics
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| Using Metrics to Maximize Software Quality: An Interview with Dr. Stephen Kan of IBM |
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| 7.
Call
to Papers! |
| CAI
is announcing a call to papers and presentations on the
theme of "Performance and Measurement in Software Development
and Maintenance." Suggested topic areas covered include
Productivity, Project Management, Estimation, Measurement,
Requirements Management, Risk Management, Process Definition,
Process Improvement, Benchmarking, Future Technologies,
and more! Due date for all proposals is October 31, 2005.
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| Click Here For More Details! |
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| 8.
FAQ |
| What
is the IT Metrics & Productivity Journal? |
| The
IT Metrics and Productivity Journal is a FREE weekly eZine
that covers Best Practices in Software Development, Software
Maintenance, and Software Management. |
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| What
specifically does the Journal offer? |
| Each
week you will receive 3 articles on any of our 5 main theme
areas (Process, Metrics, Estimation, IT Governance, Education
and Training) along with easy to read abstracts plus related
website recommendations, book reviews, interviews with world
IT leaders, and even promotional giveaways. |
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| OK.
I'm interested. How do I subscribe? |
| If
you would like to receive a free issue of the IT Metrics
and Productivity Journal each week and are not already a
subscriber please register at the link below (Register today
and you'll be eligible for a free iPod Mini!). |
| www.compaid.com/subscribe |
| |
| Is
there a way to get more information? |
| For
more information on software best practices, CAI, or the
IT Metrics and Productivity Institute please contact the
IT Metrics & Productivity Journal Senior Editor at:
michael_milutis@compaid.com |
| |
| Who
is the Journal's Sponsor? |
| This
issue of the IT Metrics and Productivity Journal is sponsored
by CAI, world leader in IT performance, productivity, and
process. |
| www.compaid.com
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For
more information on software best practices, CAI, or the
ITMPI, please contact Michael Milutis, the
IT Metrics and Productivity Journal Editor, at michael_milutis@compaid.com |
