quality

6 years, 2 months ago

Continuous Delivery and Release Automation – Critical To DevOps Success

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I am seeing more and more inquiries focused on driving business transformation where the transformation depends on software and business technology.  ING is a model for digital transformation, and Ralph Hamers, CEO, has publicly reinforced the bank’s transformation. Hamers stated “We have to recognize that technology is what Banks do”[i]. Every business today must focus […]

6 years, 7 months ago

Stopping Accidental Technical Debt

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In one of my earlier posts about technical debt, I differentiated between intentional debt (that taken on deliberately and purposefully) and accidental debt (that which just accrues over time without rhyme or reason or record). Dealing with (in the sense of evaluating, tracking, and resolving it) technical debt is obviously a consideration for someone in […]

6 years, 7 months ago

Pride, Prejudice, and Professionalism in the Business of IT

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Twenty-plus years in IT have led me to believe that there are very few absolutes when it comes to software systems. Two that do seem to hold true are these: Creating systems is esteemed far more highly than maintaining systems. Systems that are not maintained, will decay. There are a variety of reasons for this […]

6 years, 10 months ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 426

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One of the benefits of being a regular on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast is getting to take part in the year-end round table (episode 426). Jeremy Berriault, Steve Tendon, Jon M. Quigley and I joined Tom for a discussion of: Whether software quality would be a focus of IT in 2017 […]

7 years, 6 months ago

Dealing with Technical Debt Like We Mean it

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What’s the biggest problem with technical debt? In my opinion, the biggest problem is that it works. Just like the electrical outlet pictured above, systems with technical debt get the job done, even when there’s a hidden surprise or two waiting to make life interesting for us at some later date. If it flat-out failed, […]

10 years, 1 month ago

Pay, performance and the NHS

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What can we do about the NHS – the UK’s National Health Service? Costs are spiralling, its IT failures are internationally infamous, and after several horrendous scandals, morale is at an all-time low. The British government knows exactly what to…

10 years, 10 months ago

How To Understand The Difference Between Value-Proposition and a Product or Service

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One of my startup heroes Steve Blank wrote in a blog post that “value proposition is the fancy name for your product or service” It is with some trepidation that […]