How can we estimate a project in advance, while still maintaining the ability to manage the backlog in an Agile manner? In this article, Andy Berner answers that question, compares release-level estimation to the techniques used for iteration estimation, and gives some pointers on getting started with release estimation in an Agile environment.
How can I quantitatively evaluate potential suppliers and determine whether or not a potential supplier is likely to perform as promised?
How many people should I use on my development team?
What actions can I take that will have an immediate and lasting positive impact on my development project(s)?
There are also some strategic (longer term) capital investments we can make and some process improvement policies we can adopt that will have a large impact on reducing cycle time, cutting costs, and increasing quality on future projects. The benefits of these actions can be quantified through the notion of process productivity.
What will happen to your date-dependent software when the year rolls from 1999 to 2000?
There is no doubt that the millennium date change problem is huge. Thus according to Gartner Group’s strategic planning assumptions:
“Information development must be spearheaded by a general, not coordinated by aides-de-camp.”
Peter G. W. Keen 1981 1
This article discusses process productivity and its continued relevance as far more than a passing fad.
Yes! Do you want to be on the trailing edge of this paradigm shift while your competitors are using objects to consistently maneuver inside your development cycle.
John A. Strand III
“That phrase, time boxing, has a fine manly ring to it,” the vice president said, grinning broadly. “I like it.”
“What does it mean to you,” we inquired.
“First you box in the development time you allow a project to have,” he answered.
“No more shilly-shallying around. You draw a box on the time line, like this (Figure 1). The project people know they have to deliver at the end of the box.”
“The current model leads us to the conclusion that the limiting factor is the rate at which ideas or insights can be generated, and that the rate is not widely affected, if at all, by the number of men on the job, but rather by some capability level of the group.” Peter V. Norden 1