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Posts Tagged 'technical debt'

EA New Year’s Resolutions, Seventh Edition

Mike Rosen | Jan 6, 2012 1 Response

Jan 062012

Welcome to the seventh-anniversary edition of my enterprise architect’s New Year’s resolutions. I hope it will give you food for thought and some inspiration for architectural growth in 2012. Understand business analytics. The past few years have seen dramatic increases in the capabilities of business intelligence systems, accompanied by decreases in costs, to the point where most organizations can easily afford to take advantage of business analytics. The problem is that the information that these systems need to analyze is not readily available. While this is not a trivial problem to solve, it does present a major opportunity for enterprise architecture. When we provide management or decision makers with information that they don’t currently have …

Code Does Not Hype

Israel Gat | Nov 25, 2011 6 Responses

Nov 252011

It is the story of my adult life. A VC dispatches me to some city to perform due diligence on a company he/she contemplates investing in. Upon arrival I meet the “reception committee.” It usually includes the CEO, the CTO and the CMO. Nine times out of ten the folks on the committee are intelligent, knowledgeable and accomplished. Moreover, they do their very best to charm me. I still remember the reception committee from the due diligence on Tideway I did for Apax Partners some seven years ago. The folks were awesome. I am fairly certain they could convince birds to fly off the tree if they chose to apply their very many talents toward …

Delving into Technical Debt

Kara Letourneau | Nov 2, 2011 No Responses

Nov 022011

Over the past twelve months, many diverse organizations worldwide have benefited from Cutter Consortium’s considerable expertise in conducting technical debt assessments. According to our experts Israel Gat and Chris Sterling, many of the findings and recommendations made during these engagements are broadly applicable in concept. The new Executive Update “Delving into Technical Debt” explores the considerations that most organizations go through while devising a technical debt reduction strategy. (You can register and download a complimentary copy of this 11-page report using promotion code DELVING.) From typical opportunities that arise during a technical debt assessment to common areas that need improvement, and from creating a technical debt mitigation strategy to leveraging the open source software quality …

The Runway of Software Products

Israel Gat | Oct 6, 2011 2 Responses

Oct 062011

In her October 4, 2011 HBS blog post Can HP Change its DNA?, Judith Hurwitz contrasts corporate DNA for hardware versus DNA for software, as follows: The DNA that has been in HP’s bones from the start is all about excellence in hardware engineering…. With hardware markets, money is spent upfront to develop a system. However, once that product is launched, revenue streams in quickly and evenly. .. By contrast, when software is delivered to the market, it may take a year or even several years before it becomes a well-accepted and profitable endeavor… This is what I’ve observed at HP. As it has tried to invest in software, again and again it has killed products off before …

A Seven Year Retrospective

Israel Gat | Sep 30, 2011 1 Response

Sep 302011

I felt like a psychiatrist in October 2004. An endless stream of strangers was coming to my office to complain about the software I was responsible for. I did not need to ask the classic question “How did you feel about the software bug?!” – I was proactively advised how the person calling upon me – every person! – felt about it… Some actually reverted to Hebrew (my native tongue) in order to make doubly certain I did not miss any nuance of their disappointment, dismay, despair, anger, anxiety and anguish. The only saving grace I had was that I have just been hired to turn the product around. It was a little difficult to implicate me …

A New Arithmetic for the Backlog

Israel Gat | Sep 27, 2011 8 Responses

Sep 272011

The delineation ‘functional vis-a-vis non-functional’ requirements has been used by many/most of us for quite a few years. Useful that it is, I find various Cutter clients needing a more granular delineation. For example, in a recent engagement the client has actually identified the following kinds of requirements: Functional “Traditional” non-functional Devops Technical debt (TD) Striking the balance between the four is a tricky business. It is hard enough to generate some kind of (fast changing) equilibrium between the first two. Doing so across all four is a stretch for most teams. It requires good grasp on numerous subject matters. Even if the team includes a member versed in devops and another one who is …

San Francisco on the Water

Israel Gat | Aug 21, 2011 No Responses

Aug 212011

San Francisco, CA Aging Israelis like me are very fond of the song San Francisco on the Water [1]. We actually melt when we hear Arik Einstein sing it. His golden voice brings back to our hearts precious memories of what we call Good Old Israel: being in harmony with ourselves, with one another and with the mission. In our youth we did not need the inspiring words of JFK – we were really really really asking what we could do for our country. I am literally sitting at this very moment on the water in San Francisco. I am sure I look absolutely lost to the world. I did not have the time to …

Now On Stage …

Anne Mullaney | Aug 4, 2011 No Responses

Aug 042011

If you’re going to Agile2011, be sure to check out the Testing and Quality Assurance stage. Cutter’s Ken Collier is co-producer, with Lisa Shoop from Sabre, of this stage. They’ve pulled together a powerhouse lineup of thought leaders in the Agile testing and QA space. The sessions on this stage will be highly interactive; they’re designed for sharing and learning from others. A few of the questions that will be addressed on Ken and Lisa’s Testing and QA stage include: How do quality metrics improve testing practices? How do you effectively manage technical debt in test suites? (This one will be answered by our own Israel Gat!) How do you ensure that testing “keeps up” …

Getting Ready for Agile 2011 – Part II

Israel Gat | Jul 28, 2011 No Responses

Jul 282011

In her recent post Getting Ready for Agile 2011, Anne Mullaney gave an outline of my forthcoming sessions at the conference. Specifically, she highlighted the emergence of new forms of Agility: “Super-Fresh Code” is a term Israel coined (an extension of the “Super-Fresh Web” concept) to describe code that results from seizing upon the opportunities opened by combining recent advances in Agile software methods, cloud computing, mobile applications, and social networking. With the right mix, a company can outgun, outclass and outmaneuver its competition through real-time requirements management and superior business designs. Essentially, super-fresh code becomes the source of competitive advantage. This is a workshop that will make you think about Agile in ways you never …

Getting Ready for Agile 2011

Anne Mullaney | Jul 11, 2011 1 Response

Jul 112011

The AgileAlliance’s annual Agile Conference is right around the corner. Israel Gat, Director of Cutter’s Agile practice, is slated to give a Technical Debt workshop on Monday afternoon (8/8). In it, participants will go through a series of exercises that demonstrate a broad range of applications of the technical debt concept, from effective governance of the software process to its use as a boundary object to streamline the flow from development to IT operations. Israel is also leading the Super-Fresh Code workshop on Wednesday morning. “Super-Fresh Code” is a term Israel coined (an extension of the “Super-Fresh Web” concept) to describe code that results from seizing upon the opportunities opened by combining recent advances in …

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Posts Tagged 'technical debt'

EA New Year’s Resolutions, Seventh Edition

Code Does Not Hype

Delving into Technical Debt

A Seven Year Retrospective

A New Arithmetic for the Backlog

San Francisco on the Water

Now On Stage …

Getting Ready for Agile 2011

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