Software Process and Measurement Cast

SPaMCAST SIX Estimation Interview with Michael Bragen The Software Process and Measurmeent Cast Six continues the the theme arc on estimation with a conversation with Michael Bragen of Software Productivitity Research, LLC (SPR).  This is an interview where having a pencil and paper to take notes will come in handy (at least it did for me and I was there).   SPR's website is Mr. Bragen's email address is   The essay in this cast is titled 'An Estimate Is Just A Number, Right?'  It is way too easy to forget that an estimate carries alot of wieght even when it is given off-the-cuff.  The full text version of the essay can be found at . Next Cast: The next cast will be posted on Sunday April 22 (programing notes on April 15) and will feature an interview with Kenji Hiranabe in which we will talk about using Mind Maps in Agile projects.  The essay I hae planned will be titled 'Whay Are Requirements So Hard To Get Right'.  Your thoughts on the topic as I write the document will be appreciated (afterwards also). Currently I have four more interviews in the 'can' after Kenji with names that include Finegold, Herron, Ferdinandi and Symons.  Other are being lined up!  If you have a suggestion please let me know at ! Events: IFPUG Spring Workshops and Functional Size SummitApril 22 - 27Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada'Counting New Medias: Blogs, WIKIs, Podcasts and Second Life' (April 24) Better Software Conference and ExpoJune 18 - 21Las Vegas, Nevada'When Good Numbers Go Bad' (June 21 at 3 PM) Contact SPaMCAST at

SPaMCAST 24 - Edelson, Coaching, Specialization ** Note – Traceability paper will be out on the feed this week. ** Show 24 features an interview with Marilyn Edelson, a Principal at IT Decisions Coaching LLC.  The interview covers project management, leadership, the similarities, differences and how coaching can make both better.  This was a wide ranging interview with lots of tips and take “aways"! Marilyn Edelson, cofounder, is a Master Certified Coach, entrepreneur and certified Best Year Yet® program leader with over 25 years experience in behavioral management. She has has been coaching executives, managers and corporate teams for the past 10 years and was voted 'Top 10 Coach 2007' by Women's Business Boston (a division of The Boston Herald). She has a strong behavioral background and easily integrates the principals of emotional and social intelligence with the structured, measurable results oriented approach provided by the Best Year Yet® system and DiSC behavioral and values assessment tools. She teaches, mentors and trains professional coaches, and is the coaching consultant for the first National Institute of Health study on the efficacy of coaching in healthcare. She holds a Master of Science degree from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.   Here are the links for ITDC and Marilyn! IT Decisions Coaching - ITDC email:  Marilyn’s email:  m.edelson@itdecisionscoaching.com The essay this week is titled “Specialization: Making It Work For You!" The essay seeks to answer the question, “when did process, documentation and certifications become the goal rather than a path for attaining project success?"   This frightening question caused me to relate two seemingly different concepts during quite times of contemplation over the past few weeks.  The first was the impact of hyper-specialization in the process improvement world (and by extension anywhere it is used) and the second was a need to refocus process improvement groups on helping organizations deliver project results.  This could be scary stuff but solvable and solvable in a way that won’t break the bank.  The text of the essay can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome. There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . Email SPaMCAST at  Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG –  Future Events and the next . . . I have a couple of free webinars coming up in early 2008.  The first is “Getting Performance Improvement Out of Your Software Process Improvement" on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT And the second is titled “A Cost Effective Approach to Enterprise Wide Software Process Improvement" May 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time More information and registration information can be found at Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features an interview with Grady Booch chief scientist of (now a part of ).  We will discuss structure, design, architecture, agility and discipline amongst other things.  This is another of those interviews where you will want to take notes!

SPaMCAST 23 - Rothman, Project Management , Traceability ** I believe I am back on track since the motherboard failure.  We should be back on track for delivering your favorite process improvement and measurement content every other week! **   Show 23 features an interview with Johanna Rothman.  The interview is titled, “Project Management in the Post Waterfall World".  While the title is a bit fanciful I would suggest that the ideas espoused are very powerful and pertinent to how work is done and managed.    Johanna Rothman consults, speaks, and writes on managing high-technology product development. She assists managers, teams, and organizations to become more effective by applying her pragmatic approaches to the issues of project management, risk management, and people management. She’s helped Engineering organizations, IT organizations, and startups hire technical people, manage projects, and release successful products faster.   Johanna is the author of Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management, the coauthor (with Esther Derby) of Behind Closed Doors, Secrets of Great Management, and the author of Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People. Johanna is a host and session leader at the Amplifying Your Effectiveness (AYE) conference.   The AYE site is   Here are the links to Joanna’s books and blogs:   Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management:     Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management:     Hiring The Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets & Science of Hiring Technical People:     Hiring Technical People blog    Managing Product Development blog     The essay is titled is the synopsis of “Traceability:  A Radical Approach Based on User Involvement." I am excited as I have finally completed the essay and I think it adds a lot to the discussion of traceability and tailoring.   I will push entire document out on the SPaMCAST feed later this week.   The text of the synopsis can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome. There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . Email SPaMCAST at  Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG –   Future Events and the next . . . I have a couple of free webinars coming up in early 2008.  The first is “Getting Performance Improvement Out of Your Software Process Improvement" on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT And the second is titled “A Cost Effective Approach to Enterprise Wide Software Process Improvement" May 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am Eastern Time More information and registration information can be found at Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features an interview with Marilyn Edelson of IT Decisions Coaching (ITDC).  We will be discussing unlocking the door of success via coach, mentoring and goals just in time to plan the New Year

** I know this show is a week late.  I had a motherboard failure; I am working on a replacement. **   Show 22 features an interview with Joe Levens of Wolters Kluwer discussing Configuration Management (CM).  Joe has worked in development, testing, configuration management, and process improvement roles for 24 years. He formed and led the Configuration Management group at Reuters for 8 years, which performed a unique process of integrity checking on software releases, to significantly improve product quality delivered to the customer. His group managed an average of 1000 software and document releases per year, distributed globally. Joseph is currently a Program Manager for Wolters Kluwer, where he chairs a Software Process Improvement Collaboration Forum among organizations throughout North America.                                                       The essay is titled "Attention as an Asset in Outsourcing".  The text of this commentary can be found at www.tcagley.wordpress.com.  Comments and corrections are welcome.   Remember that comments and feedback are welcome!  There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . Email SPaMCAST at spamcastinfo@gmail.com Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter - www.twitter.com/tcagley BLOG – www.tcagley.wordpress.com Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features an interview with Johanna Rothman titled “Project Management in the Post Waterfall World.  Johanna is an author, consultant and guru if you have any interest in Project Management you will not want to miss this interview!

Software Process and Measurement Show 21! Show 21 features an interview with Miranda Mason of Accenture on metrics consulting and sourcing programs.  The interview has a ton of information on how to make metrics programs useful and how to approach sourcing these kinds of programs. MS Mason is the global Performance Management and metrics lead for Accenture’s Outsourcing practice. She has extensive experience in IT metrics, Balanced Scorecards, Six Sigma, and application outsourcing. Miranda lives in Denver with her husband and 3 year old son.                                The essay is titled “Marine Corp Marathon 10k and Process Improvement, One Year Later . . ." The text of this commentary can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome! Remember that comments and feedback are welcome!  There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . Email SPaMCAST at  Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG – Future Events: On Tuesday November 13th I am presenting Traceability: A Proposal for a Scalable Approach, Agile To Formal at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Software Process Improvement in Orlando.    Information can be found at .  On November 16th I will be delivering a tutorial titled “Implementing an Effective Measurement Program."  Spamcast listeners should let me know if you are coming and we can schedule a meet up.   Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature a brilliant interview with Joe Levens of Wolters Kluwer on configuration management (CM).

Software Process and Measurement Show 20! Show 20 features Part 2 of an interview with Dave Garmus discussing IFPUG Function Points.  David Garmus is one of the Founders of The David Consulting Group (DCG). David is an acknowledged authority in the sizing, measurement and estimation of software application development. He is a Past President of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) and a member of their Counting Practices Committee. Mr. Garmus is also a member of PMI, SEI and QAI. He has a BS from UCLA and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He has spoken at numerous conferences and has written many articles and several books, including: ·        Measuring The Software Process: A Practical Guide To Functional Measurements, Prentice Hall, 1996 ·        Function Point Analysis; Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects, Addison-Wesley, 2001 ·        IT Measurement; Practical Advice from the Experts, Addison-Wesley, 2002 as a Contributor ·        “IT Metrics and Benchmarking," Cutter IT Journal, June & November 2003 issues, Guest Editor ·        “Identifying Your Organization’s Best Practices," CrossTalk, June 2005 ·        “An Introduction to Function Point Counting," Projects & Profits, ICFAI, June 2005 ·        “The Principles of Sizing and Estimating Projects Using IFPUG Function Points," Software Tech News, June 2006                                                       The essay is titled “Tailoring and Worktypes."  The text of this commentary can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome.   Remember that comments and feedback are welcome!  There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . .  Email SPaMCAST at spamcastinfo@gmail.com Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG – Future Events: On Tuesday November 13th I am presenting Traceability: A Proposal for a Scalable Approach, Agile To Formal at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Software Process Improvement in Orlando.    Information can be found at .  On November 16th I will be delivering a tutorial titled “Implementing an Effective Measurement Program."  Spamcast listeners should let me know if you are coming and we can schedule a meet up.   Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature an interview with Miranda Mason of Accenture on sourcing metrics programs.   Sourcing your metrics program is not a topic that gets a lot of press however the practice is becoming more common and bears examination.

Software Process and Measurement Cast Show 19! Show 19 features an interview with Dave Garmus discussing IFPUG Function Points.  David Garmus is one of the Founders of The David Consulting Group (DCG). David is an acknowledged authority in the sizing, measurement and estimation of software application development. He is a Past President of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) and a member of their Counting Practices Committee. Mr. Garmus is also a member of PMI, SEI and QAI. He has a BS from UCLA and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He has spoken at numerous conferences and has written many articles and several books, including: ·        Measuring The Software Process: A Practical Guide To Functional Measurements, Prentice Hall, 1996 ·        Function Point Analysis; Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects, Addison-Wesley, 2001 ·        IT Measurement; Practical Advice from the Experts, Addison-Wesley, 2002 as a Contributor ·        “IT Metrics and Benchmarking," Cutter IT Journal, June & November 2003 issues, Guest Editor ·        “Identifying Your Organization’s Best Practices," CrossTalk, June 2005 ·        “An Introduction to Function Point Counting," Projects & Profits, ICFAI, June 2005 ·        “The Principles of Sizing and Estimating Projects Using IFPUG Function Points," Software Tech News, June 2006 The essay is titled “Stockholm Syndrome and Outsourcing."  The text of this commentary can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome. Remember that comments and feedback are welcome!  There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . .  Email SPaMCAST  at spamcastinfo@gmail.com Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG – Future Events: On October 11 I will be presenting a DCG / CAI Webinar titled Benchmarking Performance for the Bottom Line - October 11th, 2007, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EST go to website to register.   On Tuesday November 13th I am presenting Traceability: A Proposal for a Scalable Approach, Agile To Formal at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Software Process Improvement in Orlando.    Information can be found at .  On November 16th I will be delivering a tutorial titled “Implementing an Effective Measurement Program."  Spamcast listeners should let me know if you are coming and we can schedule a meet up.  Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature Part 1 of the interview with Dave Garmus covering IFPUG Function Points, if you are interested in functional measurement this is a must cast.

Software Process and Measurement Show 18! Show 18 features an interview with Kent Beck discussing transparency.  Kent Beck is the Founder and Director of Three Rivers Institute (TRI). His career has combined the practice of software development with reflection, innovation, and communication. His contributions to software development include patterns for software, the rediscovery of test-first programming, the xUnit family of developer testing tools, and Extreme Programming. He currently divides his time between writing, programming, and coaching. Beck is the author/co-author of Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change 2nd Edition, Contributing to Eclipse, Test-Driven Development: By Example, Planning Extreme Programming, The Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns, and the JUnit Pocket Guide.  He received his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Oregon.   The Three Rivers Institute can be found at www.threeriversinstitute.org/ The essay in this cast is three mini-segments of a new thread titled “Life Lessons in Measurement and Process Improvement."  The text of this commentary can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome.  Remember that comments and feedback are welcome!  There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . .  Email SPaMCAST at spamcastinfo@gmail.com Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG – Future Events: On October 11 I will be presenting a DCG / CAI Webinar titled Benchmarking Performance for the Bottom Line - October 11th, 2007, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EST go to website to register.  On Tuesday November 13th I am presenting Traceability: A Proposal for a Scalable Approach, Agile To Formal at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Software Process Improvement in Orlando.    Information can be found at .  On November 16th I will be delivering a tutorial titled “Implementing an Effective Measurement Program."  Spamcast listeners should let me know if you are coming and we can schedule a meet up. Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature an interview Dave Garmus covering IFPUG Function Points, if you are interested in functional measurement this is a must cast.

Software Process and MeasurementShow 17! Show 16 features an interview Paul Radford of Charismatek Software Metrics discussing using functional metrics to build software.  Paul is one of the movers and shakers behind Charismatek Software Metrics a multifaceted organization that has brought us Function Point Workbench and a wide range of consulting.  Paul is a master at making software measurement relevant to controlling and delivering software. Contact data:   Phone:  + 61 (0) 3 9696 1255Email:    The essay titledfor this cast is titled ““You Get What You Look For, So Look," discusses the common measurement short coming of stock piling data before reporting or using it.   The text of this commentary can be found at .  Comments and corrections are welcome.   Remember that comments and feedback are welcome!  There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . .  Email SPaMCAST at spamcastinfo@gmail.com Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – BLOG –   Future Events: In September, I will  be presenting ‘Life on the Edge: Counting Weird Things on the Web’ on Thursday September 13th at 11:20 at the International Software Measurement and Analysis Conference in Las Vegas.  The conference and workshops run from Sunday September 9 through the 14th.  Details are available at http://www.ifpug.org/educational/workshopagenda2007.htm   Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features a wonderful interview with Kent Beck in which we discussed transparency.  If you are interested in the cutting edge of software development from a humanistic point of view you will need to be here in two weeks.

An open letter to IFPUG members: Board of Directors Election (This letter is not authorized by IFPUG or IFPUG's Board of Directors)  Four Board of Director Candidates speak out on the Issues!  I offered all of the candidates running for the IFPUG Board of Directors the opportunity to answer one question to be posted on the Software Process and Measurement Cast (SPaMCAST).  The question was “in your opinion what is IFPUG’s most significant problem and if elected what would you do about it."   Four of the eight candidates took me up on the offer.  I have packaged their answers on this special edition of SPaMCAST.  Note, I did  no editing  on these responses.  Also the fact that they’re appearing on SPaMCAST is not a recommendation by me or IFPUG.   It is merely a public service for the membership.  If you are interested in listening to the podcast you can subscribe via ITunes, other podcatchers or go to for streaming.   Commentary:   As in IFPUG member you have a deep interest in how IFPUG governed. Board members have a significant hand in whether new ideas are embraced or the status quo maintained, whether offerings are expanded or maintained.  Your vote for the members of the IFPUG Board of Directors is an important tool for you to make your voice heard.  If you’re voting member in good standing (one good indication is whether you paid your dues) you should have recently received a ballot in the mail or an e-mail with instructions on how to vote if you have not received one or both please:   Validate you are a voting member.  Remember that corporate members have the specific people identified as voting members.  After validating your voting member make sure you paid your dues for the 2007 – 2008 year.  If  you still think you are should have received a ballot contact the office at IFPUG@IFPUG.org and please copy me at tcagley2@oh.rr.com  Voting is an important obligation of membership.  Voting is part of the theme of involvement I will be stressing when I become president later this year.  Begin your involvement with IFPUG by voting.   Note this entry will be posted at .  I will be update this blog periodically during my presidency. I’m looking to serving you on the Board of Directors.  If you are interested in software process or measurement the Software Process and Measurement Cast is a great opportunity for you to listen to such a people in as Kent Beck, Capers Jones, Will McKnight, Mary Poppendieck Dave Garmus, Scott Goldfarb and many others.   Please subscribe via I Tunes or directly at