Related Content
 |
Do You Design Your Software Process for Flexibility or Repeatability? Manufacturing design looks a lot like software: You iterate through possible solutions, and the manufacturing itself is about repeating the making process. But building software means learning about the problem as you solve parts of it. For that, you want flexibility. How do you find your ideal process? |
|
 |
Why Is Estimating Software Testing Time So Difficult? Management loves to ask testers to estimate how long their efforts will take. But so many important factors elude measurement that it makes it difficult to predict. If you need to explain why estimation is so tough, here are nine factors that significantly influence our ability to estimate testing time. |
|
 |
The Importance of Just Enough Software Measurement and Metrics When it comes to the development, testing, and deployment of software, some argue that metrics have little value. Others take measurement to the extreme and have books of metrics, but without any meaning or action. Mike Sowers thinks metrics are vital, but it’s most beneficial to have just enough metrics. |
|
 |
Improve Your Software Organization’s Processes: Focus on the Right Thing While processes may seem like overhead, you need defined, documented procedures to avoid problems. It's when processes exist just because "we've always done it that way" that they become a problem. Keep processes useful by asking questions and constantly verifying that the purpose behind them is relevant. |
|
 |
Software Project Management: The Responsibility of Communicating Quality Trade-Offs Some requirements are negotiable, even if it sounds like they aren’t. But expectations have to be managed carefully to avoid problems. Payson Hall explains that when executives agree to sacrifice quality in order to hit a deadline, it's up to the team to ensure they understand the tradeoff and possible risks. |
|
 |
Here There Be Monsters: The Value of Data Profiling Monsters appeared on medieval maps to identify the unknown dangers of the sea. Likewise, the data profiles for an organization identify the points within its data. A robust data-profiling strategy can provide a more accurate picture of an organization’s data systems and find risks before they become monsters. |
|
 |
Agile Methods for Tackling the Work You Don’t Want to Do We all have work we don't want to do. Some of it is boring or unpleasant, but there's another type: work we don't know if we can finish to our satisfaction. It's hard to tackle a task you're not an expert at. Johanna Rothman offers two classic project management approaches to face the work you're putting off. |
|
 |
Getting Your Data to Work for You Practically everyone records data somehow. The real value comes from using that data to gain deeper insight. When used appropriately, data profiling can be a powerful tool for analyzing existing data, profiling for planned changes, or monitoring for unplanned circumstances, helping save time and remove risks. |
