Software development is all about collaboration; you might think this is an obvious statement; however, you would be surprised at just how many developers we have come across that never heard about ALM software. First ALM software is a collaboration tool; often the limit of their understanding is that it is a yet another collection…
For developers considering adopting continuous integration or continuous delivery and are using a wide range of tools for development purposes, you have a golden opportunity to take the step that all growing developers eventually take, to leapfrog competitors to the adoption of an integrated development environment. Developers should take the time to review their existing…
Constant innovation is central to building a great product, sounds great doesn’t it? However, often for the operations teams, constant innovation is tiring, – a roadblock to doing their job effectively. It means more changes to communicate to the customer, as well as having to deal with the likely fallout from the disruption of service…
Programming is typically a solitary business, requiring extreme concentration for long periods. Hence, programmers tend to enjoy their quiet, and generally prefer to work in smaller teams and so in many ways, the very idea of Mob Programming is counter intuitive, akin to back seat driving. What is Mob Programming exactly? Mob programming is based…
The reality of undertaking a business process improvement drive is a pix and mix approach to adoption of both improvement strategies and methodologies along with their associated processes, those necessary to achieve the desired outcome. In terms of Six Sigma and CMMI, there is no need to choose between the two, since they have different…
DevOps integrates development and operations teams to improve collaboration and productivity by automating all sorts of processes. There are situations where this may not be appropriate. Similar to any other domain or solution, one size does not fit all. DevOps Teams: Why Does Automation Matter? Before talking about the “dark side” (downsides) of DevOps let’s see…
The question “Is continuous delivery replacing Agile?” is often discussed today. It is frankly an absurd question, with no evidence supporting that it is the case. More often than not the question is raised by Continuous Delivery vendor advocates (targeting developers without an integrated development environment – ALM Software). In actual effect, the reverse is…
Innovation in the Medical Device Development industry is hampered by complex standards and regulations and once the medical device prototype is developed and tested, it then faces a long approval process. Traceability is essential for ensuring compliance with medical device standards and regulations but this often overshadows its most important function as an enabler for…
With the release of Scaled Agile Framework 4.0 a new 4th level is added to the freely available knowledge base. It is for a higher level of operation for larger organizations, providing a greater value stream for those businesses that have both software and systems engineering teams, developing both hardware and firmware (embedded software). Scaled…
The Internet of Things does away with the throw away society of yesteryear and ushers in a new age where the software development and networked embedded electronics (smart devices) provides the means to facilitate a new order of things, a society where things are updated rather than thrown away. Dubbed Industry 4.0 by the German…
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016 was entitled “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, the event covered the potential applications of new technologies that collectively are referred to as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or Industry 4.0. The event did little to address the core technological challenges ahead. Much was said about IoT in a…
Source Control Management (SCM) is more than just a tool for developers to use for collaboration in development, tools such as Git, Mercurial and SVN, which we have already written about extensively. Beyond tools SCM is also a set of best practices that can include the concept of a change lifecycle and a change request…
Anecdotal evidence from surveys suggests a steep rise in the number of software development migration projects in 2015; is this a new trend in development? Migration projects typically make good financial sense for companies that have already invested in proven application software and the stores of data they provide. This is true even if there…
Building an autonomous (driverless) car has entertained the imagination of automotive companies since the earliest days of automobiles. The idea has first popped up in a newspaper back in 1926, and has continued to haunt the dreams of automotive developers ever since. The emergence of reliably operating driverless cars is already dubbed the next revolution…
Software is increasingly used in all kinds of physical devices to expand the functionality of (or even completely replace) hardware components. This has been a trend in recent years across various industries, and is also the case with medical devices. Software enables the sophistication of even relatively simple devices such as insulin pumps, bringing new…
An interconnected world dependent upon proprietary business networks is dependent upon the ability to share data, the principle mechanism for doing so is the application programming interface, otherwise known as the API. Despite the clear importance of API testing, it is sorely neglected due to a lack of awareness of the business value. Business growth…
Have you ever wondered how DevOps can support your business? Is DevOps only an IT support tool or is it more than that? What else is DevOps good for? Although there is no agreement on the definition of DevOps, with everyone using slightly different terminology to describe it, there is a working consensus of implementation. DevOps…
All software fails eventually, it is just a question of when, and therefore it should be expected to fail. Is your business prepared for when the inevitable failure occurs? Most Enterprises have backup systems in place; however, these can fail too. The more complex a system is, the more likely it is to fail. In…
In an ideal world, the stakeholders would know what features they want in their product from day 1. Developers (Scrum Master) would know the cost of each feature in terms of time and effort and therefore be able to estimate cost correctly. A simple low risk formula for success. Unfortunately, the reality is very different…
Outsourced Software Development at Fixed Price with a variable scope is recipe for disaster for both owners and the software developer. Potential Problems Associated with Fixed Priced Projects. Out Sourced developers often do not speak up and expose issues simply because it complicates the work they are already doing thus avoiding immediate pain (human nature).…
Which of the two main distributed version control systems (DVCS), Mecurial and GIT, is better and why? This is an old argument, with forum posts galore about which is better; with users of both arguing their case, however this argument never seems to be resolved. This is because the feature sets are so similar, and…
We have talked alot about Scrum, Scrumban and Agile Software Development methodologies lately but less about Extreme Programming. What are the similarities to Scrum? There is much confusion about Extreme Programming in that it is often thought of as an alternative to Scrum, Scrumban or Kanban Agile methodologies. Of course XP is most certainly an…
Nowadays chips, tags and applications are all around us, embedded into cars, medical devices and home appliances, all to ensure a more comfortable life. As users we enjoy the increased functionality and how it makes our lives easier, providing entertainment possibilities, power saving features or even features that can save lives. Behind the scenes, these…
…and why the compromise in functionality is no longer necessary. There is a lack of understandable information on the benefits of GIT and Distributed Version Control (DVCS) over Version Control with Apache Subversion (SVN). While there are always those happy with the features of SVN, this is usually where the more advanced features of GIT…
Version control systems are divided into two groups: “centralized” and “distributed”. Centralized Version Control Systems (CVCSs) and Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCSs) serve different needs. Comparing Centralized Version Control Systems to Distributed Version Control Systems is like comparing hammers and screwdrivers. Centralized Version Control Systems (CVCSs): The One True Source Centralized Version Control Systems (CVCSs)…
Initial release planning determines what product requirements listed in the product backlog should be prioritized and entered into the release backlog. Task estimation and development tasks are entirely the responsibility of the developers whereas the feature prioritization is the decision of the customer. In combination it is these decisions that determine which features will be…
Kanban was originally implemented in production, but today it is widely used in other business areas including software development where its benefits have been realized improving efficiency and productivity. Kanban is based on the principles of a pull system, pioneered in Lean manufacturing. Lean thinking helps to refine and improve development in areas such as process flow,…
Work Culture is essential when adopting a new Requirements Management tool. Every enterprise already has systems or mechanisms in place to manage documentation, this includes the creation, review, approval, storage and distribution of, and the subsequent modification of documentation. The very idea of updating documentation handling suggests that there should be an improvement and simplification…
Regardless of errors made during Software Development, the final failure of an entire project is a Requirements Management failure. Failure is a either a final product that does not meet expectations (does not meet clients requirements – a failure of requirements management) or the cancellation of a project due to escalating costs, usually the direct…
Nowadays, the real added value of engineered products is the embedded software. Software development complexity is a new experience in the engineered product world. Businesses that were quick to adapt have gained a clear advantage over competitors, however it is not too late for the rest. What does complexity mean in the embedded industry? Complexity…
The Internet of Things is all about high technology gadgets, connecting the real world to the digital world through sensory data, – the demand for such products is driving the exponential growth of structured and unstructured data – Big Data. According to Mark Beyer at Gartner Symposium “the total volume of data is growing at…
What are the benefits of Scrumban + What Kind of Work is Agile Scrumban Best Suited For? The Agile Scrumban approach combines the use of Scrum and Kanban and is commonly used in development and maintenance projects. It contains the best features of both methods with the fundamental elements of Scrum’s Agile working in combination…
codeBeamer ALM software is the Orchestra of ALM software solutions in that it provides a holistic approach to Enterprise software development. In a musical orchestra a conductor co-ordinates groups of professional musicians who play in unison, separated by section (brass for example) and specialty, – the type of instrument (such as trumpet). In the world…
Kanban is a very popular for collaborative task management and the Kanban Board is widely used task Management tool in all areas of business, including front and back office activities. The Kanban method comes from production, and was first deployed in project management, then later many other areas of business explored the added value of Kanban…
The purpose of adopting a hybrid software development approach is to create a more effective, efficient method of software development. Hybrid software development approach might be a solution for companies that have multiple teams using different methodologies for different purposes. Unfortunately there is no one single methodology that is best for all situations. Agile-Waterfall Hybrid:…
What is the most frequent cause of failures in software development? It’s the lack of definition and change management of requirements. This is what causes most of the catastrophes experienced in software development. Most IT practitioners are aware of this, but achieving a well-managed system of requirements is difficult. The most common cause of requirements management failures is the inadequate…
Fast changing requirements and expectations “push” companies to find ways to increase revenues and decrease the costs of software development. Agile development has been around for more than a decade since at its core it is designed for changing requirements. Agile software development has been adopted by most software developers to some degree to improve…
