IT Governance

Governance | Risk Management | Project Management | Knowledge Management | Balanced Scorecard | ITIL | Real Time Control | Training | Quality  | Product Management

Governance

A CAI State of the Practice Interview with Dr. Jeanne Ross, MIT Scientist and Co-author of IT Governance
Dr. Jeanne W. Ross is Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Center for Information Systems Research. Her research focuses on the management of the IT unit, particularly on the management of the IT infrastructure and on changes in management demanded by new technologies and new organizational forms. Much of her work involves development of case studies that describe the human, technology, and IS-business relationship resources of firms that have successfully implemented technology-based changes. Her current research focuses on the management of technology infrastructures that enable organizational transformations and on the discussion of IT value between IT and business management. Our interview between Jeanne Ross and Michael Milutis, Executive Director of the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute, was conducted in April of 2006.
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How Effective is Your IT Governance?
This study, by Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill of MIT, is based on a survey of CIOs at 256 enterprises and 50 case studies on how enterprises govern IT. While no simple formula offers specifications for implementing IT governance, Dr. Ross and Dr. Weill conclude in their study that thoughtful governance design can help firms deliver on their strategic objectives. (4 pages)
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Recipe for Good Governance
In this article by Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill - published in CIO Magazine - the authors outline the ingredients for good IT governance (8 pages)
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16 Critical Software Processes
This paper from the Software Program Manager's Network outlines the 16 Critical Software PracticesTM that serve as the basis for implementing effective performance-based management of software-intensive projects. They are intended to be used by programs desiring to implement effective high-leverage practices to improve their bottom-line measures-time to fielding, quality, cost, predictability, and customer satisfaction-and are for CIOs, PMs, sponsoring agencies, software project managers, and others involved in software engineering. These 16 critical practices are the key to avoiding significant problems for software development projects. These practices have been gathered from the crucible of real-world, large-scale, software development and maintenance projects. (15 pages)
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9 Best Practices for Software Management 
The management of software development is fraught with risk: technical risk, market risk, requirements risk, and financial risk. This paper from Niwot Ridge Consulting describes nine key management principles for guiding the development of a software project. All of these principles can be applied to commercial development activities. (26 pages) 
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QAI Innovation Series
In the IT industry,  managers and supervisors must constantly stay on the leading-edge to attract and keep the best performers.  This article by Michael Pregmon, Jr., Ph.D., has a specific focus on IT Innovation and improving the software development and control process.(3 pages)
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Corporate Governance and Internal Control Practices
Developed by the Internal Control Institute, here are ten tough questions to help you make a quick self-assessment of your corporation's governance and control risk. (2 pages) 
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Metrics Based Project Governance
Pam Morris, Ceo of Total Metrics, describes a rigorous approach to software development project control by introducing functional size measurement at the planning stage and objectively quantifying the status and scope of the project and its deliverables throughout its lifecycle. (10 pages) 
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Throwing Good Money After Bad
Many software projects that suffer a lingering death should have been canceled much earlier. Although it is hard to pull the plug on a project with a weak business case, failing to do so does throw good money after bad. This article by Karl Wiegers gives some tips on decision making that can help you avoid this outcome and shows how to use decision points to keep a good project moving along. (4 pages)
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See You in Court!
Too many outsourced software development projects wind up in litigation. The root causes of the project failure and resulting legal conflict are often related to the project's requirements, to communication issues, or to the project management approaches used (or not used). This article by Karl Wiegers presents 15 recommendations for keeping your outsourced project on track and out of court. A checklist helps you perform a health check on your project, to see if it's heading for trouble. (6 pages)
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The Decision Model #1: Linking Business Leaders and Technology!
This article by Barbara Halle and Larry Goldberg introduces the Decision Model as an emerging new business asset of high business value, and how the business may best capitalize on that value. The audience for this article includes business leaders, business architects, requirements analysts, use case modelers, business process modelers, and agile developers. (9 pages)
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The Decision Model #2: Improving Process Models and the Requirements Process!
This article by Barbara Halle and Larry Goldberg explains how the Decision Model revolutionizes today's business processes and requirements management. The audience for this article includes business architects, requirements analysts, use case modelers, business process modelers, and agile developers.  This article establishes the Decision Model, not only as a new business asset, but also as a new requirements artifact and an imperative element in decision-aware business processes. (15 pages)
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The Decision Model #3: Revolutionizing the Testing Process for Business Logic!
The Decision Model can shorten the testing and development cycle drastically.  That's because the Decision Model separates the business logic from other concerns and therefore test cases can be driven directly from the content of a Decision Model.  Test cases can be developed for individual Rule Families within a Decision Model or for part or all of a Decision Model.  The Decision Model also assists in scenario testing for a business process.  The target audience for this article is business people, business architects, developers (agile and conventional), and testers.  (9 pages)
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Investments into IT Decisions
Wrong IT decisions are costly. How to make "good" decisions better? What means "good"? This article by Guenther Ruhe analyzes pro's and con's of investing into IT decisions. What type of investments should be made? What can we expect out of them? What can be expected as return-of-investment? While this article considers IT decisions more general, there are two follow-up papers analyzing product release decisions and staffing decisions in more details. In both cases, good decision-making is considered the results of a systematic and transparent process which is combining the intuition of the human decision-maker with the capabilities of a process-centric support tool. (4 pages)
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Software Risk Management

Confronting the Risks that Impact Software Project Success
Every systems and software project involves risk. Often, how you manage your program risks is a deciding factor in the eventual success or failure of your program. If you ignore the risks, your program has a higher chance of failing. On the other hand, if you try to track and manage all possible risks, you can expend your entire budget managing the risks, and never produce a deliverable. Risk management, like any other element of systems and software development, requires forethought and careful planning. This article by Theron Leishman and Dr. David Cook explains what risk management is, and then discusses some common developmental risks. (8 pages)
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SAFE: A Method to Understand, Reduce and Accept Project Risk
This article by Roberto Meli describes the basic elements of a risk management method supplementing a number of different public domain approaches, such as PRM body of knowledge from Project Management Institute, CTC from the Software Engineering Institute, the Euromethod strategy model, those described by McFarlan, Archibald, and others. Although the SAFE method originated in the field of information and communication technology, it may easily be extended to other domains of application. (18 pages)
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Know Your Enemy: Software Risk Management
Risk Management is becoming recognized as a best practice in the software industry for its ability to reduce the surprise factor. While we can never predict the future with certainty, we can apply structured software risk management practices to peek over the horizon and take actions that minimize the likelihood of potential problems. This article by Dr. Karl E. Wiegers of Process Impact provides an introductory overview of the major software risk categories and software risk items that typically threaten software projects. The article also contains practical guidelines for analyzing priorities. (6 pages)
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Saving For a Rainy Day
Most software project teams experience cost overruns, unexpected expenses, requirements growth, technology shifts and a host of other schedule destroying problems. Nevertheless, few software projects create a schedule or budget reserve to help them manage such software risks. This article by Dr. Karl Wiegers of Process Impact makes the case for incorporating a contingency buffer into software project plans to accommodate the unforeseen and the unknown. You will learn how to determine the size of such software risk buffers as well as how to include them in negotiations with managers and customers. (7 pages)
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Lessons Learned in Developing COTS Intensive Software Systems
It is inevitable that software systems development will become more dependent upon commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) in the future. Ten years ago, software systems with one million lines of code were considered huge. Now, ten million lines of code is not unusual. It is expected that the size and complexity of software systems will grow. Nevertheless, it will not be feasible to develop these software systems entirely from scratch. As commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) expands to provide robust and stable functionality, it will become mandatory to include COTS in all major systems. This paper, by Dr. Elizabeth Clark, Dr. Barry Boehm, and Christopher Abts (et. al.) addresses the recent trend of increased COTS use in the National Airspace System. It addresses experiences the FAA has had in using COTS during this interim period in which COTS products are not all robust, do not necessarily work well together, and require significant software risk mitigation strategies to be successfully used. (11 pages)
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Top Ten Risks of Offshore Outsourcing
Offshore IT outsourcing is growing at 20%-25% per annum and will most likely continue to grow as a labor arbitrage model until 2009. However, as IT organizations consider the vast benefits and allure of offshore outsourcing, they must balance the risks and uncertainties with the potentials. This article by Dean Davison from December of 2003 outlines the ten top risk factors for offshore IT projects. (3 pages)
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Offshore IT Outsourcing: Understanding the Risks and Hidden Costs
Without a complete and proper understanding of offshore IT outsourcing's genuine complexity, hidden risks and costs will blind side IT decision makers and prevent attainment of anticipated wage savings. This white paper by Michael Milutis, IT Metrics and Productivity Institute Executive Director, seeks to explore some of these costs and risks so that IT decision makers can formulate realistic offshore expectations before making the decision to go offshore. Global IT management is complex, but realistic expectations and proper planning will increase the probability of achieving your objectives without sacrificing either higher quality or lower costs. (6 pages)
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Risk Management Fundamentals in Software Development
Developing software is seldom an easy task. Each software project entails unique demands, challenges, and problems. Failure to predict and prevent software risks can lead to costly delays, revenue loss, increased stress on team members, a lesser product and even outright software project failure. Nevertheless, although each software project may have its own requirements, the characteristics of effective software risk management remain the same. This article by George Holt aims to help practitioners identify software risks and develop solutions for those software risks before and during the software development process, in order to maximize the team's efficiency and the quality of the finished product. (6 pages)
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A Software Quality Model and Metrics for Identifying Project Risks
This paper, produced by Larry Hyatt and Linda Rosenberg of NASA's Software Assurance Technology Center, outlines and explains a Software Quality Model and then uses this software quality model as a basis for discussions of software quality attributes and software risks. Software risks that can be determined by means of a software metrics program are identified and classified. The software product quality attributes are then defined and related to the software risks. Specific software quality attributes are selected based upon their importance to the software project and their ability to be quantified. Ultimately, the software risks and software quality attributes are used to derive a core set of software metrics that relate to the software development process and the products, such as software requirement documents, software design documents, code plans and software test plans. Measurements for each software metric are defined and their usability and applicability are discussed. (23 pages)
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Risk Management During Requirements
There is a lot heard about the risk of not writing software requirements, but little about how to profit from making software risk management integral to the software requirements process. In this article, Tom Demarco and Tim Lister attempt to address that imbalance by explaining the role that software requirements must play in honest software risk management. (3 pages)
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Risk Factor: Confronting the Risks that Impact Software Project Success
Every systems and software project involves risk. Often, how you manage your software risks is a deciding factor in the eventual success or failure of your program. If you ignore the software risks, your program has a higher chance of failing. On the other hand, if you try to track and manage all possible software risks, you can expend your entire budget just managing software risks, and never produce a deliverable. Software risk management, like any other element of systems and software development, requires forethought and careful planning. This article by Theron Leishman and Dr. David Cook first explains what software risk management is, then discusses common software risks. (8 pages)
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A Project Risk Metric
In this article by Robert Ferguson of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a software risk metric is proposed that is normalized across projects. The purpose of the software metric is to provide management visibility into software project uncertainty. This works best in an organization that manages multiple projects. The proposed software metric can be applied early and throughout the project. It has been useful for identifying or canceling software projects in trouble. It has also been useful for identifying projects that do not yet have a satisfactory software risk plan. (8 pages)
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Would You Like Software With That?
This article by Don Shafer looks at case studies of software problems present in all complex oil drilling and production rigs. The problem analysis was done by software engineers who have been involved in the verification, validation, and software integrity management of drilling rigs in the Atlantic, Pacific, Caspian, Gulf of Mexico, and Africa. Actions to be taken for software risk mitigation are presented. (8 pages)
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Software Risk: Why Must We Keep Learning From Experience?
Software risk management is the formal process in which software risk factors are systematically identified, assessed, and mitigated. The determination of the risk in a software project either due to external or internal causes is a major part of software project management. This article by Don Shafer, IEEE Computer Society Editor-in-Chief, seeks to aid the project manager in software risk determination and software risk management, by answering basic questions about software risk identification, software risk quantification, software risk response development, and software risk response control. (19 pages)
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Measuring your Risks: Numbers that would make sense to Bruce Willis
By destroying the meteor in the film Armageddon, Bruce Willis saved the world. The probability of the meteor strike was so large, and the consequences so great, that nothing much else mattered except trying to prevent the strike. Combining the probability and impact of a risk in order to define its size is standard practice. But in most cases it is irrational, and it certainly would not have explained to Bruce Willis and his crew why their mission made sense. In this article by Norman Fenton and Martin Neil, the authors explain that to get rational measures of risk you need a causal model ('risk map') that links triggers, controls, events, mitigants and consequences. Once you do this, measuring risk starts to make sense. (6 pages)
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Visualizing Risks: Making sense of risks by letting them tell a story
Have you ever had to do a project risk assessment and not known where to start? Have you ever looked at a long list of risks and wondered how you could make more sense of it? You probably weren't helped by the literature on risk assessment. In this first of a series of articles, authors Norman Fenton and Martin Neil demonstrate how to visualize your risks by turning them into what is technically known as a causal model, Bayesian net or 'risk map.' It is best to think or risk assessment as telling a story. And it is a story that will help you understand what your risks really are. (4 pages)
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A CAI State of the Practice Interview with Dr. Robert Charette, Master Risk Management Practitioner
Dr. Robert Charette is an internationally acknowledged authority and pioneer in information systems and technology, systems engineering, risk management, and the lean development & management of large-scale software-intensive systems. He is currently President of the ITABHI Corporation, an international high technology consulting company. Dr. Charette is the author of Software Engineering Environments: Concepts and Technology (1986), Software Engineering Risk Analysis & Management (1989), Applications Strategies for Risk Analysis (1990), and Introduction to the Management of Risk (1994). Our interview with Dr. Charette took place in November of 2005.
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A CAI State of the Practice Interview with Tim Lister, Expert Risk Management Practitioner
Tim  Lister  is  a  principal  of  the  Atlantic  Systems Guild, Inc. He is presently  involved  in assisting organizations with IT risk management and in  tailoring  methodologies  and  selecting tools for software development groups to increase project productivity and product reliability. He is also pursuing  work  on metrics for making the efforts of software projects more predictable. Mr. Lister is the co-author of Peopleware: Productive Projects and  Teams  as  well  as  Waltzing  with  Bears:  Managing Risk on Software Projects.  Our  interview between Tim Lister and Michael Milutis, Executive Director  of  the  IT  Metrics  and  Productivity  Institute, took place in September of 2006.
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Risk Management is Not for Dummies
Software program managers crave a silver bullet in the form of a comprehensive checklist of things to watch so the program does not suffer from bad surprises. Highlighted in this article from CrossTalk are some prime examples from almost 15 years' experience acquiring software in Department of Defense programs, from identifying broad areas where software risks tend to hide to describing an eight-step risk management process. (6 pages)
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Adult Behavior on Projects 
Whether it is schedule risk, integration risk, quality of product risk, specification risk, or test/validation risk, agile methods can be used as a risk mitigation technique on most projects. Find out more in this article by Tim Lister. (4 pages)
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Understanding the Roots of Process Performance Failure
Given all of our investments in process improvement, why hasn't program performance significantly improved? Rober Charette and his colleagues Laura Dwinnell and John McGarry try to answer this question in this 2004 CrossTalk article, based on their in-depth studies of 50 large-scale Department of Defense (DoD) projects in a paper the Defense Department unsuccessfully tried to keep from being published. (5 pages)
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Liar, Fool or Both?
IT projects are notorious for consistently being over-budget, late and not meeting customer or user expectations. Is the problem one of poorly practiced software estimation or is there something else at work? Robert Charette explores the possibilities in this still timely article first published in IEEE Software in 1995. (9 pages)
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Failing Successfully
We don't fail enough in IT. That is the provocative argument Robert Charette makes in this article from a 2004 article in Cutter consortium's IT Journal that looks at the difference between IT project failure and IT project blunders. Readers can find a link to two special issues of IT Cutter Journal on the subjects of 'IT Project Escalation' and 'When should IT projects be killed?'. (9 pages)
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Opportunity Aversion
For better or worse, corporate governance activities have dominated executive decision-making in public companies over the past few years. Now that Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 has reshaped how companies report their financials, big accounting firms and others in the governance consulting game are aggressively arguing that corporate compliance activities are merely a springboard for bringing enterprise risk management into organizations. Read more in this article by Dr. Robert Charette. (3 pages)
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Inside Risks
The benefits of applying risk analysis and management are obvious, but their hazards are often hidden. In this article by Dr. Robert Charette, the author outlined six risks inherent to risk analysis. (1 page)
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The Competitive Edge of Risk Entrepreneurs
For companies to prosper in competitive environments, merely improving the efficiency of processes will not substitute for lagging revenue growth.This is especially true for companies that depend heavily on IT. For them, it also means knowing how to take calculated risks. This is where risk entrepreneurialism comes in. Find out more in this article by Dr. Robert Charette. (5 pages)
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Overcoming Cultural Obstacles to Managing Risk
Many organizations create cultures that emphasize achievement of goals in the face of overwhelming challenges. This is an essential attitude for any successful organization, but if taken to extremes, this attitude makes it very difficult for management to accept risk and believe in and support risk management as an important discipline. Find out more about how to better manage risk management in this article by Dan Galorath. (2 pages)
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Why Software Fails
The business and societal costs of software failures - in terms of wasted taxpayer and shareholder dollars as well as investments that can't be made - are now well into the billions of dollars a year. Of the IT projects that are initiated, from 5 to 15 percent will be abandoned before or shortly after delivery as hopelessly inadequate. Many others will arrive late and over budget or require massive reworking. The biggest tragedy, however, is that software failure is for the most part predictable and avoidable. Unfortunately, most organizations don't see preventing failure as an urgent matter, even though that view risks harming the organization and maybe even destroying it. Understanding why this attitude persists has tremendous implications for business and society. Read more in this IEEE Spectrum article by Dr. Robert Charette. (13 pages)
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Capers Jones: Social and Technical Reasons for Software Project Failures
Major software projects have been troubling business activities for more than 50 years. Of any known business activity, software projects have the highest probability of being cancelled or delayed. Once delivered, these projects display excessive error quantities and low levels of reliability. Both technical and social issues are associated with software project failures. Among the social issues that contribute to project failures are the rejections of accurate estimates and the forcing of projects to adhere to schedules that are essentially impossible. Among the technical issues that contribute to project failures are the lack of modern estimating approaches and the failure to plan for requirements growth during development. However, it is not a law of nature that software projects will run late, be cancelled, or be unreliable after deployment. A careful program of risk analysis and risk abatement can lower the probability of a major software disaster. (9 pages)
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Software Project Failure: The Reasons, The Costs
Software project failure is often devastating to an organization. Schedule slips, buggy releases and missing features can mean the end of the project or even financial ruin for a company. Oddly, there is disagreement over what it means for a project to fail. This article by Carmine Mangione uses economic criteria to define what it means for a project to fail. It then categorizes how projects fail and finally, it examines common traps that contribute or accelerate project failure. (11 pages)
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Ten Ways to Guarantee Project Failure
Naomi Karten specializes in helping companies succeed in their projects. In this article, she gives tongue-in-cheek advice on how to make a project fail.  (1 page)
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Operational Risk Rating of Technology-Based Initiatives
This paper by Louis Poulin explores the concept of operational risk rating in order to determine the capability of an organization to deliver its technology-based products and services, using existing models, possibly adapted to the organization, or new models specifically developed for the organization. (4 pages)
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Risk Management: What it is
How do you fare at risk decision-making on the fly?  If you're like most folks, it's hit and miss. You have your good days, and you have your bad days. But oddly enough, we're actually able to predict which decisions are going to go well. They tend to be the ones where we already had a clear vision as to how we'd handle the situation(s) in advance. This is the first of a three part series on Risk by Carl Pritchard. (2 pages)
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Risk Management: What it was
What it was - The Surge Toward COOP

Think you don't need a full-blown COOP (Continuity Of Operations  Plans)?  You may not.  But if  not for the organization as a whole, consider creating your personal COOP. Think through when and how you'll have the back-ups you need.  Where you'll operate from. How you'll be sure to get where you need to be when you need to be there. If you consider the high drama of a situation that would actually require a COOP, you'll be risk-aware if you've taken the time to create one for your own corner of the world. This article by Carl Pritchard is part two in a three part series on Risk. (3 pages)
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Risk Management: What it shall be
In any management role, nothing would be more helpful than the ability to look into the future and know what's coming. Predicting what "shall be" is not an exploration of the bizarre, unusual and nigh-Biblical risks that drift over some distant horizon.  Instead, it is simply an exploration of the challenges that we have faced over and over again through the years with a clear understanding that if we can resolve them, we resolve the challenges that are far more likely to stifle our efforts. This article by Carl Pritchard is part three in a three part series on Risk. (3 pages)
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Project Management

The Human Factor
In the management of a small team, the human factor is crucial to success. This article by Gerard Blair considers possible motivators and a simple framework for dealing with people. (6 pages)
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Managing Technical People (When You're No Technie)
You don't need to be technical to manage technical people. In this article, Elisabeth Hendrickson explains why. (2 pages)
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Why Are My Projects Struggling? Six Basics You Must Never Forget
After noticing that her projects were struggling and getting more complicated, with status review meetings focused mostly on issues and complaints, the author of this article began to review her projects and reflect on her project management practices. Her conclusion was that she had lost focus on six basic, yet critical, practices that had made her successful in the past. This article provides an overview of the six basics that you should go back and focus on whenever you find your projects going off the track. (4 pages)
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Project Management Success with Top 7 Best Practices
Managing a project can be daunting. Whether planning your wedding, developing a new website or building your dream house by the sea, you need to employ project management techniques to help you succeed. In this article, Simon Buehring summarises the top 7 best practices at the heart of good project management and project success. (3 pages)
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Project Planning: A Step by Step Guide
The key to a successful project is in the planning. Creating a project plan is the first thing you should do when undertaking any kind of project. This article by Duncan Haughey looks at a simple practical approach to project planning. On completion of this guide you should have a sound project planning approach that you can use for future projects. (3 pages)
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Reasons to Web Enable Your Project Management
Web enabling your project management can make your project teams more efficient and productive. Cynthia West discusses the challenges of managing projects without web enabled project management and suggests some of the benefits in web enabling project management. (4 pages)
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Five Common Project Management Challenges
There are many project management challenges. Cynthia West outlines five of the most common that are frequently voiced by teams from a myriad of industries. If you are experiencing one or more of these challenges, then your team may benefit from implementing a project management software system. (5 pages)
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Using Earned Value Management for Improving Processes
Experienced project managers utilize a technique called earned value management (EVM) to assess a project's progress over time and allow project teams to understand the health and performance of their projects. Cynthia explains earned value management and explores how the metric can be used to improve project and business processes. (5 pages)
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The Importance of Meetings
Our society is founded on the importance of meetings, and it seems that the higher on the corporate ladder one climbs, the more meetings one must attend. Indeed, one of Michele Sliger's coworkers calculated that the amount of time the coworker spends arranging meetings, getting to meetings, and in meetings equates to almost her entire workweek--thirty-six hours on average. Even though we may lose track of time in meetings, we all are painfully aware of the time we spend waiting for everyone to show up. In this article, Michele Sliger explains some of the tactics she's seen teams use to ensure that meetings start on time. (2 pages)
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Producing Good Software is Hard
This is a public service announcement to all project managers, business analysts, others working in the I.T. industry, and the general public: producing good software is hard. The next time you wonder why the software you are using crashed, or why your software development project is behind schedule, or why your software doesn't meet the users' needs, remember this article by Basil Vandegriend. (2 pages)
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Software is Hard
In this article by Andrew Leonard, Salon.com's Scott Rosenberg (and author of "Dreaming in Code") explains why even small-scale programming projects can take years to complete. (2 pages)
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Software Project Failure: The Reasons, The Costs
When a major software project fails, the results can be devastating to an organization. This article by Carmine Mangione uses economic criterion to define what it means for a project to fail and examines common traps that contribute to or accelerate project failure. (11 pages)
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A CAI State of the Practice Interview with Don Shafer: Author, CTO, and IEEE Computer Society Editor-in-Chief
Don Shafer is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Computer Society Press. He is also co-founder, corporate director and Chief Technology Officer of Athens Group, Inc. Shafer's work experience includes positions held at Boeing and Los Alamos National Laboratories. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and an adjunct professor in graduate software engineering at Texas State University. Shafer is the author of Quality Software Project Management. Our interview with Don Shafer and Michael Milutis, Executive Director of the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI), was conducted in December of 2005.
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One Hundred Rules for NASA Project Managers
Jerry Madden, Associate Director of the Flight Projects Directorate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, collected these 100 pieces of project management wisdom over a number of years from various unidentified sources.  Considered by many of his peers to be one of NASA's premiere project managers, Madden's reputation for frank, on-target observations of project management continues to be celebrated today. (10 pages)
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Successful Software Management: 14 Lessons Learned
In order to be effective, successful software project managers must balance the needs of the business, the employees, and the work environment. In this article by Joanna Rothman, the author summarizes her experiences in determining: the work to accomplish, the planning of the work, the managing of successful relationships with the group, and the managing of reactions to typical software project management mistakes. (7 pages)
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Project Management Proverbs
Over 100 Project Management proverbs, truths, and laws.
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An Interview with Ed Yourdon, Author of Death March
Ed Yourdon is an internationally-recognized computer consultant, as well as the author of over 500 technical articles and 27 books, including Byte Wars, Managing High-Intensity Internet Projects, Death March, Rise and Resurrection of the American Programmer, and Decline and Fall of the American Programmer. His latest book, Outsource: Competing in the Global Productivity Race, discusses both current and future trends in offshore outsourcing, and provides practical strategies for individuals, small businesses, and the nation to cope with this unstoppable tidal wave. Our interview between Ed Yourdon and Michael Milutis, Executive Director of the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute, took place in August of 2006.
Click Here to Read "An Interview with Ed Yourdon, Author of Death March"!

Surviving a Death March Project 
When was the last time you worked on a software development project that delivered everything the user wanted, on time and within budget and also involved a "rational" nine-to-five schedule? Most of us would consider ourselves lucky if our projects were only 10% behind schedule and 10% over budget - and we only had to work 10% overtime. Far more common is the project that's 50-100% over budget and behind schedule, and that carries with it a gentle suggestion from management that everyone on the team should be putting in 50-100% overtime (i.e., a work week of 60-80 hours). At this point, and for any project that has even more extreme conditions, it's pretty clear that we've gotten involved in a "death-march" project. In this article by Ed Yourdon, the author discusses strategies for surviving such proejcts. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "Surviving a Death March Project"!  
 
Software War Games
Most organizations do not think of themselves as military units, and they may not use the word "enemy" to characterize their competitors. But there are competitors, and they too are aware of the existence of simulations and war games. Just as an athletic team has to worry about whether its competitors are practicing longer, harder, and smarter than they are, so every organization needs to worry about whether their competitors are war-gaming more effectively than they are. Found out more in this article by Ed Yourdon. (8 pages)
Click Here to Read "Software War Games"!

9 Keys to Successfully Managing Software Projects 
Can managing software development be as simple as reading a brief "to-do/not-to-do" list? No. All evidence indicates that software development is especially difficult to manage. Nevertheless, in this article by Larry Putnam, the author outlines 9 "keys" for addressing issues that are fundamental to all software development projects, as well as the environments in which they are developed. More than a "to-do" list, the 9 keys provide the busy business leader with a framework for high-level planning and monitoring. There is no magic here; only guidance about what your expectations should be, what you should monitor, and how you should respond. (6 pages)
Click Here to Read "9 Keys to Successfully Managing Software Projects"!

Obedience Training for Managers 
Capability maturity model-based process improvements bring about significant organizational change. Managers and change agents are always looking for methods to bring about this type of change. In this article, Virinia Slavin and Paul Kimmerly draw parallels between organizational change agents (or process whisperers) and animal trainers. Some of the same techniques used to train animals can be used to lead an organization to a capability maturity model and make them change. (6 pages) 
Click Here to Read "Obedience Training for Managers"! 
 
Manager, Heal Thyself
Implementing development improvements may require us to make a shift in our role as managers. Top-down management where the managers take all the responsibility - make all the plans, set all the schedules, specify all the work - and then check up on their staff to make sure the work was done in the specified manner is the norm in many companies. However, once a process improvement initiative is launched, managers find that their old management habits have to change. Read more in this article by Esther Derby and Joanna Rothman. (14 pages)
Click Here to Read "Manager, Heal Thyself"!
 
Resistance to Process Improvement 
In this article by Joanna Rothman, the author discusses how various forms of resistance to process improvement can be negotiated or worked around. (3 pages)
Click Here to Read "Resistance to Process Improvement"!

Project Portfolio Management Planning
The pressure to demonstrate that each new IT project will either save money, increase sales, or result in enterprise-wide efficiencies is greater than ever. Mike Ross demonstrates how to analyze projects objectively so that they can be more effectively prioritized. (7 pages) 
Click Here to Read "Project Portfolio Management Planning"!

50 Questions a CEO Should Ask About Software 
Software is a critical factor in many aspects of corporate operations. Unlike most aspects of corporate operations, software has been difficult to bring under full executive control. Many chief executive officers (CEO's) have only a limited knowledge about both computers and software. This article by Capers Jones discusses 50 key questions that CEO's should ask about, in order to ensure that the software their companies depend upon will be an asset and not a liability to the corporations they control. (13 pages) 
Click Here to Read "50 Questions a CEO Should Ask About Software"!
 
Conflict & Litigation between Clients & Developers 
Software development and maintenance outsource contracts may lead to conflicts between the client and the service organization. For a significant number of disputes, the conflict may reach the point of litigation for breach of contract. The root cause of these disputes can be traced to misunderstandings and ambiguous terms in the original contract. Independent assessments coupled with improved forms of software development contract based on function point metrics shows promise for minimizing the chances of conflict and litigation. Find out more in this study by Capers Jones. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "Conflict & Litigation between Clients & Developers"!

An Overview of Project Management
Every organization or program creates and implements projects to help it move toward its goals. Every assigned project manager wants to be successful in executing assigned projects, and a number of standard practices exist to assist and guide the project manager. This article by Tim Perkins, Roald Peterson, and Larry Smith outlines some of these key practices that, while common sense, are not always common practice. (15 pages)
Click Here to Read "An Overview of Project Management"!

Project Management Best Practices
Organizations continue to look for the key to unlocking the mystery of project management (PM) best practices, but the steps that go into successful project management are not mysterious at all — they are standard procedures that, if executed, will improve a project's chances of success. Learn specifics in this article by Margo Visitacion. (6 pages)
Click Here to Read "Project Management Best Practices! 

The Ethics of Software Project Management
Software project management is the collection of techniques used to develop and deliver various types of software products.  This developing discipline traditionally includes technical issues such as: the choice of software development methodology, how to estimate project size and schedule, how to ensure safety, what resources to reuse and which programming environment to use for the development.  The discipline also includes management issues such as: when to train personnel, what are the risks to the project success, and how to keep the project on schedule.  These choices are then embodied in a software project management plan. However, none of the traditional software project management materials address the ethical issues that arise because of the choices made during software development.  Consequently, these materials do not provide any insights as to how to address these issues.  In this paper by S. Rogerson and D. Gotterbarn identifies several critical ethical issues that arise in most software projects and provide a proactive way of addressing these issues which is consistent with most professional software development standards. (14 pages)
Click Here to Read "The Ethics of Software Project Management"!

What Every CEO and GM Needs to Know About Software Projects:
...What Goes Wrong, Why, What YOU Can Do
My intended audience includes C, V, and D level leaders, both inside and outside the IT organization - if you have a stake in the outcome of software and IT projects this paper is intended for you - it's about MANAGEMENT, not technology. Whether your organization builds software or you buy it, the realities we examine here WILL impact your business - these issues are endemic in the industry! (15 pages)
Click Here to Read "What Every CEO and GM Needs to Know About Software Projects"!

The Project Office: When, Why, How
The concept of a "Project Office" has been applied successfully in the Construction and Defense industries for many years as a tool to manage risk on major projects. In these days of out-sourcing and business process transformation, the Project Office can help you manage the business risk inherent in any significant change initiative. While the examples discussed here deal with exceptionally large-scale situations, the key ideas apply to any important initiative where you face "bet your job" risks. Whenever you're doing something that "can't be allowed to fail" the Project Office provides valuable insurance. (7 pages)
Click Here to Read "The Project Office: When, Why, How"!

Project Failures: Ignoring the Warning Signs
In this report, E.M. Bennatan will look at some very interesting information from the Cutter research concerning the way organizations respond to failing projects. He will examine the success rate in getting projects back on track and will discuss formal project reviews and early warning systems. Finally, Elli will look at ways for an organization to counter our inclination to ignore the warning signs. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "Project Failures: Ignoring the Warning Signs"!

Software Project Management: The Magic Suit of Clothes
In this report, E.M. Bennatan will examing the criteria for selecting software project managers.  He will then consider the role of management training as a key factor in helping managers understand what they will be wearing as they lead the proverbial big parade.  Next he will look at the real fabric from which a project managers parade clothes are (or should be) made, namely accurate project status information. Finally, Elli will examine whether the concept of magic clothes is a necessity in software development - or in other words, can we forgo the magic and just rely on a good process? (6 pages)
Click Here to Read "Software Project Management: The Magic Suit of Clothes"!

The Hurly-Burly Hubbub of Change
This article by Naomi Karten helps readers understand the experience of change and describes what to do (and avoid doing) to reduce the duration and intensity of the turbulence associated with change. (2 pages)
Click Here to Read "The Hurly-Burly Hubbub of Change"!

Coping Factors
This article by Naomi Karten addresses the fact that people respond differently to change and identifies some of the key factors that influence and account for these differences. (2 pages)
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A Moving Experience
This article by Naomi Karten describes one department's experience in gaining insight into the role and the power of empathy in reducing the stress of change, both for their clients and themselves. (2 pages)
Click Here to Read "A Moving Experience"!

Self Directed Leadership Development - Moving Beyond the PMP
Our own personal, individual attitudes and behaviors have a profound effect on us as leaders. Attitudes help form and shape our outward behaviors. As project managers, every single day we are required to adjust our behaviors to adapt to diverse, complex social environments. However, like everyone else, we have our own ingrained attitudes that influence our behaviors, either positively or negatively. In order to become better leaders, we must be ready to confront our own internal ideas, preconceptions, and thinking patterns. (6 pages)
Click Here to Read "Self Directed Leadership Development - Moving Beyond the PMP"!

Jazz Projects
In jazz, weird things sometimes happen - someone plays a sour note, and some musical ideas may be weaker than others. But in a committed ensemble, no one is out there alone. They are all there to cover for each other, respond instantaneously to a change in groove, and strengthen each others ideas. A similar environment is desirable in the case of project management. Remember, you are not the only soloist, and it is the project team's job to promote and support each other's ideas. You always have that framework to fall back on, so don't be afraid to leave that chart behind every once in a while and go on a creative adventure. (1 page)
Click Here to Read "Jazz Projects"!

Five Things Pixar Teaches Us About Creativity
In this article, Jack Ferraro examines five things that Pixar does to achieve and maintain creative success on their films and then explains how project managers, in general, can adapt these maxims for their own projects and their own success. (3 pages)
Click Here to Read "Five Things Pixar Teaches Us About Creativity"!

Are We There Yet?
Defining your product's release criteria is an essential part of laying the foundation for a successful project. "It's June 30, so we must be done" isn't the best plan. Your criteria must be realistic, objectively measurable, documented and aligned with what "quality" and "success" mean to your customers. This article by Karl Wiegers provides many examples of how -- and how not -- to write effective release criteria. (6 pages)
Click Here to Read "Are We There Yet?"!

A Project Management Primer
If you're a new project manager, this article by Karl Wiegers will help you tune into some key success factors to help you be effective and happy in the job. Even experienced managers are likely to find some tips here that can help them lead their technical staff into a cohesive team that shares a commitment to quality and foster an environment of collaborative teamwork (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "A Project Management Primer"!

Saving for a Rainy Day
Nothing ever goes exactly as planned on a software project. New requirements appear, risks materialize, team members leave unexpectedly, and estimates turn out to be wildly optimistic. This article by Karl Wiegers tells you how to build sensible contingency buffers into your project schedule to account for such surprises. (7 pages)
Click Here to Read "Saving for a Rainy Day"!

 

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Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management and Process Improvement: A Union of Two Disciplines
Process improvement helps an organization increase its effectiveness through continuous examination with a view to doing things better. Once processes are documented, roles and responsibilities are readily identified, associated activities are performed, and legacy processes are modified to reflect organizational changes. Knowledge management, in turn, facilitates communication among organizations, increasing information sharing and utilizing process documentation. This article by Gregory D. Burke of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and William H. Howard of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems explores the experiences of the FAA with process improvement and knowledge management and shows just how complementary these two disciplines really are. (9 pages)
Click Here to Read "Knowledge Management and Process Improvement: A Union of Two Disciplines"!

The ABCs of Knowledge Management
Find out what knowledge management is and how it can give your company a leg up on the competition. This article by Megan Santosus and Jon Surmacz of CIO Magazine examines a handful of fundamental Knowledge Management issues including definitions, benefits, challenges, and technologies. (3 pages)
Click Here to Read "The ABCs of Knowledge Management"!

Don't Put Your Company in a Purple Haze: Let Your Retiring Baby Boomers Go, But Not Their Knowledge
As companies without firmly institutionalized knowledge management processes start to lose the expertise that 76 million baby boomers will be taking with them into retirement, Megan Santosus of CIO Magazine wonders whether or not we are on the verge of a major knowledge management crisis. (2 pages)
Click Here to Read "Let Your Retiring Baby Boomers Go, But Not Their Knowledge"!

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Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard and IT Governance
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC), initially developed by Kaplan and Norton, is a performance management system that should allow enterprises to drive their strategies on measurement and follow-up. In recent years, the balanced scorecard (BSC) has been applied to information technology. This article by Dr. Wim Van Grembergen of the University of Antwerp shows how the IT balanced scorecard can be linked to the business balanced scorecard and in this way support the IT/business governance and alignment processes. (4 pages)
Click Here to Read "The Balanced Scorecard and IT Governance"!

How to Use the Balanced Scorecard
Exxon Mobil leaped from last to first in profitability within its industry from 1993 to 1995— a rank it maintained for the next four years. Cigna Insurance was losing $1 million a day in 1993, but within two years it was in the top quartile of profitability in its industry. Then in 1998 it spun off a $3.5 billion division. What's the key to these dramatic turnarounds? These companies attribute at least part of the solution to having implemented the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). This article by Eric Berkman of CIO Magazine explains how it's done. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "How to Use the Balanced Scorecard"!

Time to Unbalance Your Scorecard
Twenty years ago, managers were frustrated because financial measures were the only way to assess their operations. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) answered their complaints. This performance measurement tool, which includes financial and non-financial metrics, provides a more nuanced, more strategically useful, view of performance. In the last several years, however, corporations have loaded down the balanced scorecard (BSC) with too many metrics. This article by Arthur M. Schneiderman explains how to streamline your balanced scorecard and ultimately enhance its impact. (2 pages)
Click Here to Read "Time to Unbalance Your Scorecard"!

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ITIL

The ITIL Story
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of guidance developed by the United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The guidance, documented in a set of books, describes an integrated, process-based, best practices framework for managing IT services. This document by Pink Elephant provides a clear and thorough introductory overview of ITIL. It comes complete with basic ITIL history and ITIL definitions, a description of the books in the ITIL library, a list of organizations which conduct ITIL certifications, and ITIL frequently asked questions. (13 pages)
Click Here to Read "The ITIL Story"!

ITIL Power
This article by Ben Worthen of CIO Magazine explains why the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is becoming the most popular process framework for running IT in America, and what it can do for your organization. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "ITIL Power"!

Understanding ITIL Key Process Relationships
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is fast becoming the worldwide, de facto standard for IT service management. ITIL can be defined as a set of best practices for managing the processes required to effectively manage the delivery of IT services and support. Each of the processes defined in ITIL is designed to drive a specific IT business function or discipline. Understanding the differences between- and the relationships among- these processes is an important first step in implementing ITIL. This article by Robert Boyd provides an explanation of three ITIL processes that are often confused. (3 pages)
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ITIL Demystified 
As IT becomes increasingly automated under the new data center architecture, more companies are embracing best practices procedures outlined in formal IT frameworks. At stake are service quality, security, regulatory compliance and other increasingly important strategic corporate goals. Find out more in this article by Bob Violino of Network World. (5 pages) 
Click Here to Read "ITIL Demystified"! 
 
Better Management Through ITIL Best Practices
The good news about adopting best practices is that corproations aren't limited to one method. The bad news is that companies will most likely need to adopt more than one best practice framework - or at least parts of many - if they want a complete, effective set of management process guidelines. Denise Dubie of Network World explains how ITIL can play a part in this. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "Better Management Through ITIL Best Practices"!
 
Common Myths About ITIL 
Companies around the globe are jumping on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) bandwagon. According to Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., 40 percent of $1 billion-plus companies will be implementing ITIL by the end of this year (2006). While ITIL process improvement and standardization promises to greatly upgrade service and yield cost savings, success is not guaranteed. There are, in fact, some common misconceptions or myths that could lead an organization astray. Drew Robb of Datamation outlines some of these myths in the following article from June of 2006. (7 pages)
Click Here to Read "Common Myths About ITIL"!

Ten Tips for Successfully Implementing ITIL 
Since the ITIL framework only provides the necessary guidance on process structure, many CIOs are not seeing the improvements they expected. ITIL deployment should be set within the context of a business or IT change program and as such, is more than a simple set of processes that can be rolled out and uncompromisingly followed. Any IT change program will encompass organizational, process and technology elements. In this article by Isabel Wells, the author pulls together ten tips that CIOs and program directors can use to approach effective ITIL implementation with confidence. (7 pages)
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The Skinny on ITIL 
This article by Malcolm Wheatley of CSO Online Australia discusses what ITIL is and how it benefits information security as well as documenting implementation advice from ITIL veterans. (7 pages)
Click Here to Read "The Skinny on ITIL"!

A CAI Interview with Diane Bloodworth, Senior Consultant - The David Consulting Group
Diane Bloodworth is an entrepreneurial executive and senior consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the information technology industry. As a Managing Senior Consultant, she works with clients to solve strategic and tactical IT challenges. She is the past founder of BIT, a company that focused on improving the quality and practices of software development and systems engineering in government and commercial sectors. She has extensive experience in process improvement using the Capability Maturity Model (CMM/CMMI) and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Ms. Bloodworth has established process improvement programs for government and industry that have resulted in measurable improvements in budget, schedule, and quality. She currently leads working groups that implement best practices in Project Management, Change Management, Configuration Management, Quality Assurance, and Testing.  Our interview between Diane Bloodworth and Michael Milutis, Executive Director of the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute, took place in December of 2006.
Click Here to Read "A CAI Interview with Diane Bloodworth"!

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Real Time Control

Keeping Score
Three related technologies - scorecards, dashboards and performance alerts - establish meaningful contexts that enable users to analyze, measure, share and act on information quickly. (7 pages)
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Are We There Yet? Creating Project Dashboards to Display Project Progress
When it comes to projects, there are as many questions to answer as there are project teams, but "Where are we?" is by far the most popular. The key to understanding a project is to make regular measurements—both quantitative and qualitative—and display the measurements publicly. When project managers display these measurements as part of the project status, teams are able to adjust their work and proceed more successfully. (14 pages)
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Dashboards Called A Key To Net Management
IT executives are finding dashboards that let them quickly gauge the effect of interrelated events and take corrective action can make staff more productive and keep key systems humming. The authors, Ann Bednarz and Denise Dubie, advise that companies could reduce IT budgets by as much as 30% with integrated management dashboards that link critical data from infrastructure monitoring software, application portfolio management and project management tools. (4 pages)
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A CAI State of the Practice Interview with Tom Love, CEO and Author of Object Lessons
Tom Love is the Co-Founder and CEO of ShouldersCorp. Prior to founding ShouldersCorp, he was CEO of WorldStreet Corporation, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and Vice President of IBM Consulting Group (now Global Services). In 1983 he co-founded Stepstone Corporation, the first Object Oriented software products company (Objective-C; Software-ICs). Before becoming an entrepreneur, Tom Love held technical and director-level positions with General Electric, ITT and Schlumberger. Tom is the author or co-author of over 60 journal articles, book chapter and technical reports, as well as the author of Object Lessons: Lessons Learned from Commercial Object-Oriented Application Development, published by Cambridge University Press. His new book Software Pilots will be available in December, 2005. Our interview with Tom Love and Michael Milutis, Executive Director of the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute, was conducted in August of 2005.
Click Here for the Interview with Tom Love!

"Don't Believe Everything You See or Hear," from Tom Love's new book Software Pilots
Software project managers are flooded with raw information- most of which is inaccurate and often irrelevant. In this excerpt from Software Pilots, Tom Love explores the risks of developing software without real time information and then proceeds to make the case for a "project panel" or real time software control chart. (13 pages)
Click Here to Read "Don't Believe Everything You See or Hear"!

Making Software Hard- To Reduce Risks!
This article by Tom Love explains a novel technique for combining software metrics and software estimation tools with a simple physical model to mitigate software risks at a very low cost. (5 pages)
Click Here to Read "Making Software Hard- To Reduce Risks"!

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Training

Measuring the Effectiveness of Training
Organizations are under pressure to justify various expenses. The training budget is, frequently enough, not exempted from this purview. There are a number of questions getting raised on the value derived from training programs both directly and indirectly. Business heads and training managers are consequently under pressure to prove the effectiveness of training. This article by Mohan Bangaruswamy outlines the four steps behind the most popular method for proving training effectiveness, the Donald Kirkpatrick model. (3 pages)
Click Here to Read "Measuring the Effectiveness of Training"!

Why Most Training Fails
One of the biggest causes of wasted training dollars is ineffective methods. Too often, companies rely on lectures, inspirational speeches or videos, discussion groups and simulation exercises. This article by Jim Clemmer outlines a few simple steps for using training both effectively and as a key strategic tool. (2 pages)
Click Here to Read "Why Most Training Fails"!

Training: Use It or Lose It
A training program is wanted, needed, and well attended. The participants learn a lot and want to use what they've learned. But, within a very short time, the transfer of training curve goes flat, the participants are no longer motivated, and nothing much changes. In the attached article, Tom Warney speculates on how and why this happens and, more importantly, how it can be fixed. (4 pages)
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Andragogy Assumptions
In adult education, an important theory with which to be familiar is Malcolm Knowles' Andragogy. Andragogy is the art and science of teaching adults (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998). There are six assumptions in Andragogy. First, adults need to know why they need to learn something. Second, adults are responsible for their own decisions. Third, adults have a great deal of experience to bring to education. Fourth, adults are ready to learn what they need to know. Fifth, adults consider learning to be life centered. Finally, adults are mostly motivated by internal pressures (4 pages)
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Benchmarks and Goal Setting for the Adult Learner
In the field of adult education, goal setting is a very important part of ensuring that learners get what they need out of the process. Many learners are able to set their own goals; however, it is equally beneficial for the instructor to aid the students in goal setting and in achieving those goals. This post addresses some of the benefits of goal setting for adult learners as well as some ways in which instructors can help learners set and achieve their goals. (3 pages)
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Microsoft Project 2007 for the Adult Learner
In an effort to reduce costs while still providing value to its clients, Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI) is developing a training program that will provide new skills to adults who are re-entering the workforce. These adult learners have few computer skills; however, they are being hired to assist with data entry and tracking on CAI's projects. The tool that they must use is Microsoft Project 2007. While some of the participants have limited computer skills, the participants are all new to this particular application. As such, this will be a transformative journey for the participants.

In order to address the needs of these adult learners, three learning theories will be combined. First, the entire program will rely heavily on the transformative learning theory that has been developed by Laurent Daloz (1999). In addition, the program will also focus on teaching the participants how to learn through the use of the cognitive learning theory—specifically Robert Gagné's (1985) nine events of instruction. Finally, because this is a skills-based program, it will also rely on some aspects of the behaviorist learning theory as developed by B. F. Skinner (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007).

This post will present the how the learning theories will be used, how the developmental theory will be used, and what the actual curriculum will be.(5 pages)
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Quality

10 Principles for Project Control
It is now well-known and well-documented that far too many projects fail totally or partially, both in engineering generally and software engineering. In this paper, Tom Gilb offers some of his opinions, and hopes to lend some of his originality to the discussion. (19 pages)
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Managing Priorities: A Key to Systematic Decision-Making
A central concern of systems engineering is selecting the most preferred alternatives for implementation from among competing options. The selection process is sometimes called tradeoff analysis, and is often built on the methods of decision analysis and utility theory. The process can be loosely divided into two parts, a first part in which one determines the relative priority of various requirements, and a second part, a design selection phase, in which alternatives are compared, and the preferred alternatives chosen. This paper by Tom Gilb discusses the means of determining the priority order for implementing system changes. It also outlines the implications on the selection process of evolutionary systems development. (19 pages)
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The 10 Most Powerful Principles for Quality in Software
The software industry knows it has a problem: The industry's maturity level with respect to "numbers" is known to be poor. While solutions abound, knowing which solutions work is the big question. What are the most fundamental underlying principles in successful projects? What can be done right now? The first step is to recognize that all your quality requirements can and should be specified numerically. This does not mean "counting bugs." It means quantifying qualities such as security, portability, adaptability, maintainability, robustness, usability, reliability, and performance. This article by Tom Gilb presents 10 powerful principles to improve quality that are not widely taught or appreciated. They are based on ideas of measurement, quantification, and feedback. (9 pages)
Click Here to Read "The 10 Most Powerful Principles for Quality in Software"!

History's Worst Software Bugs
Here, in chronological order, is the Wired Magazine's list of the 10 worst software bugs of all time. (3 pages)
Click Here to Read "History's Worst Software Bugs"!

Bridges, Software Engineering, and God
Jeff Atwood doesn't think bridge building has anything in common with software development. "It's a specious comparison," he writes. "Software development is only like bridge building if you're building a bridge on the planet Jupiter, out of newly invented materials, using construction equipment that didn't exist five years ago." Read more. (8 pages)
Click Here to Read "Bridges, Software Engineering, and God"!

Software Project Failure: The Reasons, The Costs
When a major software project fails, the results can be devastating to an organization. This article by Carmine Mangione uses economic criterion to define what it means for a project to fail and examines common traps that contribute to or accelerate project failure. (4 pages)
Click Here to Read "Software Project Failure: The Reasons, The Costs"!

The 8 Quality Management Principles
This document introduces the eight quality management principles on which the quality management system standards of the revised ISO 9000:2000 series are based. These principles can be used by senior management as a framework to guide their organizations towards improved performance. The principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of the international experts who participate in ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the ISO 9000 standards. (6 pages) 
Click Here to Read "The 8 Quality Management Principles"! 

10 Quality Assurance Traps
Lon Dean of the DACS documents 10 quality assurance traps that will result in lost time or incomplete information. Such traps will reduce the return-on-investment from your quality assurance testing. These traps will also keep you from properly tracking defects and adding quality back into the software development process. (1 page)
Click Here to Read "10 Quality Assurance Traps"!

Right Sizing Quality Assurance
Generally, quality assurance (QA) functions are sized at the direction of management and are rarely sized commensurately with their need. Over the years, influenced strongly by in-vogue attitudes and real-world circumstances, the size of the QA function has exhibited extremes: (1) inordinately large after an embarrassing product failure, or an executive's overreaction from attending a W.E. Deming seminar, or (2) completely eradicated when perceived to be unneeded or too expensive. This article by Walt Lipke of the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center introduces quality efficiency indicators that facilitate right sizing the quality assurance function, i.e., sizing QA to the customer's need, or the producer organization's own quality goals. The interpretation and application of the indicators is explained, and a simple example is provided demonstrating the calculation for sizing the QA function. (7 pages) 
Click Here to Read "Right Sizing Quality Assurance"!

Watts Humphrey on Software Quality
From the Computer World interview with Watts Humphrey conducted in March of 2004: "Watts S. Humphrey is a fellow and a research scientist in the Software Process Program of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He wrote the first version of the SEI's Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for software in 1987. In 1991, he served on the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. From 1959 to 1986, he was director of programming quality and process at IBM, where he oversaw the development of OS/360. He recently told Computerworld why he developed the Personal Software Process (PSP) and the Team Software Process (TSP)." (2 pages)
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Cost of Quality: a Key Effectiveness Metric for Software and IT
Many different metrics have been proposed and sometimes used, but most organizations have great difficulty agreeing on a core set that provide an overall perspective. This White Paper proposes "Cost of Quality" metrics that get to the heart of organizational efficiency and effectiveness in software and IT organizations. These metrics facilitate (but are not a pre-requisite for) effective application of Lean Six Sigma in software and IT organizations. Part 1 of this paper defines Cost of Quality metrics as they apply to software and IT organizations. Part 2 discusses application of these metrics to process improvement. We deal here with effectiveness from the perspective of execution - selecting the right things to do is certainly important, but is not our topic here. We concern ourselves here with quality, cost, and cycle time. (9 pages) Click Here to Read "Cost of Quality: a Key Effectiveness Metric for Software and IT"!

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Product Management

Software Product Management
It's easy to confuse the disciplines of project manager and product manager. Simply put, the development of the product or service falls to the project manager, while the market success of software and system products depends on the skills and competence of the product manager. This article provides an overview of software product management and the role of a product manager, and describes concrete practices that can boost an organization's software product management and thus the success rate of products in terms of predictability, quality, and efficiency. (5 pages)
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The Impacts of Software Product Management
The success of any product depends on the skills and competence of the product manager. This article evaluates the relevance of good product management on the success of a product. The empirical study is supported by data from 178 industry projects from telecommunication industry over a period of three years throughout which the product management role and competency was defined, deployed and improved. The behaviors and project performance before and after strengthening the product management discipline are compared. We found that with increasing institutionalization of a consistent and empowered product management role, the success rate of projects in terms of schedule predictability, quality and project duration improves. To allow better transfer of achieved results to other settings, the article provides concrete guidelines about key success factors for good product management. (12 pages)
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Understanding the Product Life Cycle: Four Key Requirements Engineering Techniques
Many enterprises view time to market and schedule performance as the key differentiators between market leaders and followers. By maintaining schedule commitments and shortening cycle times, companies become more reliable suppliers and can optimize profitability. Pressed to accelerate project handover and new-product commercialization, companies have improved R&D execution over the years with instruments such as CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration). (7 pages)
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The Battle for the Right Features (Or How to Improve Product Release Decisions?)
A release is a major (new or upgraded) version of an evolving product characterized by a collection of (new, corrected or modified) features. The terms "product release planning" refers to the process of deciding which features will be offered, and if so, in which of the future product releases. This article by Guenther Ruhe describes the Why, What and How of improving the process of product release planning. The emphasis is on a systematic and transparent process which is combining the intuition of the human decision-maker with the capabilities of a process-centric support tool. (6 pages)
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The Battle for the Right Developer (Or Who Should Be Assigned to This Task?)
Software project management includes management of human and other resources. Human resources are often the most expensive ones. Their proper usage is of key relevance for project success. This article by Guenther Ruhe suggests considering assignment of tasks or bugs to developers as a systematic decision-making process. Using advanced IT services such as the ones offered by the decision support tool ReleasePlanner™ can substantially reduce the effort needed for hiring and staffing decisions. Results from a case study project are reported. (7 pages) 
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