

Software Process and Measurement Cast
Thomas M. Cagley Jr
SPaMCAST explores the varied world of software process improvement and measurement. The cast covers topics that deal with the challenges found in information technology organizations as they grow and evolve.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 2, 2008 • 34min
SPaMCAST 28 - Ivar Jacobson, The Future, Social Media
Show 28 features Part Two of an interview with Ivar Jacobson, author, pundit and one of the creators of UML. The discussion covered topics ranging from methodologies to his new concept, practices. If process improvement and methodology are important to you, this is an important interview full of new concepts. An abridged version of Mr. Jacobson's Wikipedia biography notes that he is a Swedish computer scientist he holds a Masters of Electrical Engineering at Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg and a Ph.D. from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 1967 he proposed the use of software components in the development of the new generation of software controlled telephone switches Ericsson was developing. In doing this he invented sequence diagrams, and developed collaboration diagrams. He also applied state transition diagrams to describe the message flow between the components. At Ericsson he also invented use cases as a way to specify functional software requirements. In April 1987 he quit Ericsson and started Objective Systems. A majority stake of the company was acquired by Ericsson in 1991 (you can run but . . .), and the company was renamed to Objectory AB. In October 1995 Ericsson divested Objectory to Rational Software [1] and Ivar started working with Grady Booch and James Rumbaugh to first create the UML, and later develop the Rational Unified Process. In mid 2003 Ivar formed Ivar Jacobson International (IJI) which is an umbrella company for Ivar Jacobson Consulting (IJC) which operates across 4 continents with offices in the UK, US (West and East Coast), Scandinavia, China, Korea, Singapore and Australia. In November 2005, Jacobson announced the Essential Unified Process or "EssUP" for short. EssUP is a new "Practice" centric software development process that stands on the shoulders of modern but established software development best practice. It is a fresh new start integrating successful practices sourced from the three leading process camps: the unified process camp, the agile methods camp and the process maturity camp. Each one of them contributes different capabilities: structure, agility and process improvement. Ivar has described EssUP as a "super light and agile" RUP and IJC have integrated EssUP into Microsoft Visual Studio Team System and Eclipse. Check out http://www.ivarjacobson.com and http://www.ivarblog.com/ The essay for this cast is titled "Social Media and Process Improvement." The essay discusses the impact of social media on the practice of process improvement. The text of the essay can be found at www.tcagley.wordpress.com. Comments and corrections 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 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 http://www.itmpi.org/webinars/ Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The Software Process and Measurement Cast 29 will feature an interview with Murali Chemuturi on estimation. Murali's take on estimation is razor sharp and will be a valuable addition to your knowledge base. Your thoughts and comments would be a welcome addition . . .

Feb 10, 2008 • 30min
SPaMCAST 27 - Jacobson, Practices, Futurists
Show 27 features part one of an interview with Ivar Jacobson, author, pundit and one of the creators of UML. The discussion covered topics ranging from methodologies to his new concept, practices. If process improvement and methodology are important to you, this is an important interview full of new concepts. An abridged version of Mr. Jacobson's Wikipedia biography notes that he is a Swedish computer scientist he holds a Masters of Electrical Engineering at Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg and a Ph.D. from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 1967 he proposed the use of software components in the development of the new generation of software controlled telephone switches Ericsson was developing. In doing this he invented sequence diagrams, and developed collaboration diagrams. He also applied state transition diagrams to describe the message flow between the components. At Ericsson he also invented use cases as a way to specify functional software requirements. In April 1987 he quit Ericsson and started Objective Systems. A majority stake of the company was acquired by Ericsson in 1991 (you can run but . . .) , and the company was renamed to Objectory AB. In October 1995 Ericsson divested Objectory to Rational Software [1] and Ivar started working with Grady Booch and James Rumbaugh to first create the UML, and later develop the Rational Unified Process. In mid 2003 Ivar formed Ivar Jacobson International (IJI) which is an umbrella company for Ivar Jacobson Consulting (IJC) which operates across 4 continents with offices in the UK, US (West and East Coast), Scandinavia, China, Korea, Singapore and Australia. In November 2005, Jacobson announced the Essential Unified Process or "EssUP" for short. EssUP is a new "Practice" centric software development process that stands on the shoulders of modern but established software development best practice. It is a fresh new start integrating successful practices sourced from the three leading process camps: the unified process camp, the agile methods camp and the process maturity camp. Each one of them contributes different capabilities: structure, agility and process improvement. Ivar has described EssUP as a "super light and agile" RUP and IJC have integrated EssUP into Microsoft Visual Studio Team System and Eclipse. Check out http://www.ivarjacobson.com and http://www.ivarblog.com/ The essay for this cast is titled "We Are All Futurists." The essay discusses the basis for predicting the future (can you say estimation) and why some people shy away from being a futurist. The text of the essay can be found at www.tcagley.wordpress.com. Comments and corrections 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 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 http://www.itmpi.org/webinars/ Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will be a special show. Cast 28 will feature part two of the interview with Ivar Jacobson. Your thoughts and comments would be a welcome addition . . . Technorati Profile

Jan 28, 2008 • 33min
SPaMCAST 26 - Carr, The Big Switch, Center
SPaMCAST 26 - Carr, The Big Switch, Center Show 26 features an interview with Nicolas Carr, author of "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google" and "Does IT Matter". The discussion ranged from computing as a utility to the impact of ubiquitous computing on business and society. Mr. Carr is a former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review. He writes and speaks on technology, business, and culture. His 2004 book Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage, published by Harvard Business School Press, set off a worldwide debate about the role of computers in business. His new book, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, examines the future of computing and its implications for business and society. He also edited and wrote the introduction for The Digital Enterprise, a book of HBR writings on the Internet, and contributed to World View, Organizing Business Knowledge, and When Good People Behave Badly. Check out www.roughtype.com/ and www.bigswitchbook.com The essay for this cast is titled "The Center Will Not Hold." The essay discusses change and the life cycle of how extreme changes evolve the mainstream over time. The text of the essay can be found at www.tcagley.wordpress.com. Comments and corrections 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 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 http://www.itmpi.org/webinars/ Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will be a special show. Cast 27 will feature a interview with Ivar Jacobson. Your thoughts and comments would be a welcome addition . . .

Jan 14, 2008 • 32min
SPaMCAST 25 Booch, Ominbus Frameworks
SPaMCAST 25 - Booch, Omnibus Framework A few hours late . . . for some reason Audacity and Vista had a wrestling match this afternoon. A couple of reinstalls later we are back in action however I think the interview and essay might be the some of the best of year one! Show 25 features an interview with Grady Booch. The interview covers topics ranging from high ceremony processes, anarchy, and organizational governance to virtual worlds. Humboldt Curve and even Moore's Law even make appearances. Grady is recognized internationally for his innovative work on software architecture and software engineering. A renowned visionary, he has devoted his life's work to improving the effectiveness of software developers worldwide. Grady served as Chief Scientist of Rational Software Corporation since its founding in 1981 and continues to serve in that capacity within IBM. Grady is one of the original authors of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and was also one of the original developers of several of Rational's products. Grady has served as architect and architectural mentor for numerous complex software-intensive systems around the world in just about every domain imaginable. Grady is the author of six best-selling books, including the UML Users Guide and the seminal Object-Oriented Analysis with Applications. He has published several hundred articles on software engineering, including papers published in the early '80s that originated the term and practice of object-oriented design (OOD), plus papers published in the early 2000's that originated the term and practice of collaborative development environments (CDE). At random times, the laws of physics do not apply to him. He is not dead yet. Check out www.booch.com/architecture/ Contact Grady at architecture@booch.com The essay for this cast is titled "Omnibus Frameworks, Collaboration and Social Media." The essay wrestles with balancing frameworks, collaboration and a new world order in process improvement. Humans are generally social by nature, IT personnel are no different (although the stereotype indicates differently) the new focus on social media whether in second life, Twitter or other platforms are tools that will let you break down high ceremony processes into more manageable 'practices.' The shift from one size fits all frameworks to highly granular practices will allow you to shift control closer to work and support usage via social media tools. The text of the essay can be found at www.tcagley.wordpress.com. Comments and corrections 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 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 http://www.itmpi.org/webinars/ Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will be a special show. Cast 26 will be a retrospective of the past year highlighting SPaMCAST's first year. Your thoughts and comments would be a welcome addition . . .

Jan 9, 2008 • 35min
SPaMCAST 6 - Estimation Interview with Michael Bragen
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 www.spr.com Mr. Bragen's email address is michael.bragen@spr.com 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 www.tcagley.wordpress.com. 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 spacastinfo@gmail.com! Events: IFPUG Spring Workshops and Functional Size SummitApril 22 - 27Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadawww.ifpug.org'Counting New Medias: Blogs, WIKIs, Podcasts and Second Life' (April 24) Better Software Conference and ExpoJune 18 - 21Las Vegas, Nevadawww.seq.com/bscereg'When Good Numbers Go Bad' (June 21 at 3 PM) Contact SPaMCAST at spamcastinfo@gmail.com

Dec 30, 2007 • 39min
SPaMCAST 24 - Edelson, Coaching, Specialization
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 - www.itdecisionscoaching.com/ ITDC email: info@itdecisionscoaching.com 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 www.tcagley.wordpress.com. Comments and corrections 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 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 http://www.itmpi.org/webinars/ Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features an interview with Grady Booch chief scientist of Rational Software (now a part of IBM). 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!

Dec 16, 2007 • 36min
SPaMCAST 23 - Rothman, Project Management , Traceability
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 http://www.ayeconference.com 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 www.tcagley.wordpress.com. Comments and corrections 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 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 http://www.itmpi.org/webinars/ 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

Nov 25, 2007 • 34min
SPaMCAST 22 – Levens, Configuration Management, Attention as an Asset
** 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!

Nov 5, 2007 • 32min
SPaMCAST 21 - Mason, Sourcing Metrics Programs, Teams
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 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 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 www.icspi.com. 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).

Oct 21, 2007 • 35min
SPaMCAST 20 Garmus, IFPUG Function Points, Tailoring
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 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 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 www.icspi.com. 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.


