We all know that protocols are an essential building block of our craft. What would our jobs look like without TCP/IP or HTTP? While there is room for improvement in all of them, they're definitely helpful in defining how our systems work together. But systems programming are not the only area where protocols play an … Continue reading Devops Protocols
Code Inventory and Tracking Releases
You know by now that Code Inventory is something of an obsession with me. Like it or not, most of us, whether developers or sysadmins, work in a service industry. It's fast and furious, and we don't have time to build features that nobody wants. With sufficient test coverage, there's no code that can't be … Continue reading Code Inventory and Tracking Releases
Forget Trains. Take off on a Release Plane!
This is a guest post by Kevin Parker, VP and Evangelist, Serena Software For those that have to deal with release management, release train is a well-understood term. It refers to a software development schedule where multiple products are released as a part of a single ‘train’ on a regular, pre-planned schedule. But just as … Continue reading Forget Trains. Take off on a Release Plane!
Why Agile Fails
In the past decade we've seen thousands of companies introducing agile methodologies. A lot of teams started introducing scrum, re-structuring the way they work, and ... getting stuck after a couple of months. Why do most agile introductions come to a screeching halt? Why do so many teams either fall back into old habits or … Continue reading Why Agile Fails
Kanban Boards: Physical or Electronic?
This is a story about merging two teams. One was using a physical Kanban board and the other was using an electronic one. Of course we were discussing the pros and cons of electronic versus physical boards. My role in the discussion was pretty funny: I used to be a very strong fan of physical … Continue reading Kanban Boards: Physical or Electronic?
Devops and The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup teaches us to focus on learning about what really works for our customers. It advocates using the scientific method for running data driven experiments in very short cycles. But, continuously running end-to-end experiments need the total cooperation of the entire business. Truly cross-functional teams are required which is also one of the … Continue reading Devops and The Lean Startup
How are Lean, Agile, and Devops related to each other?
You hear a lot about various agile approaches. Things like Lean, Scrum, Kanban, and Devops seem to be important but it's hard to sort them out. How do they relate to each other and where to start? Let me try to structure these ideas for you. Lean is the basis of Agile Lean tells you … Continue reading How are Lean, Agile, and Devops related to each other?
Has your Scrum implementation caused more problems than it solved?
Implementing Scrum helps your development department but breaks the old way of doing things, so the overall process actually slows down. Everyone was bashing your development department. You were too slow, you were the bottleneck - if only development would be faster, we could earn so much more money ... you know what I'm talking … Continue reading Has your Scrum implementation caused more problems than it solved?
Good Communication as the Starting Point of Change
I'm an OK speaker and a better listener. I tend to passively engage in regularly scheduled meetings (you know which ones I mean). When some interesting points arise, my radar lights up and I lean forward. When some of those points turn into horrifying half-truths, I gasp inside my head and wonder what in the … Continue reading Good Communication as the Starting Point of Change
Why projects fail and how to make them succeed with more transparency
Imagine you’re driving your car through uncharted territory to a destination only vaguely described by "That Guy" who told you to go there. "That Guy" was kind enough to give you an absolutely non-negotiable deadline too. With that in mind, you race to the first waypoint - you should already be able to see it … Continue reading Why projects fail and how to make them succeed with more transparency
