Each month the CM Journal provides original content articles and regular columns from industry thought leaders and software providers on a wide variety of configuration management and application lifecycle management topics.
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Year End Wrap-up: Lessons Learned and Goals Achieved
Volume 7 - Number 12 - December 2009
 In this issue, I would like to examine the relationship between studying full contact Karate and Configuration Management. This month's "Year end wrap-up - lessons learned and goals achieved" serves an import role in our ongoing efforts to promote excellence in Configuration Management. In my column, I take you onto the mats of my dojo where my Sensei always drilled into us the awareness that "we can only know where we are heading if we fully understand where we have come from". I trained in a school where the black belts would circle me and I would learn their location only after they hit me (fortunately not too hard). They were all very good and I was only a beginner to intermediate student. I was also blind and very determined to be able to handle myself in a confrontation where I would never be able to see my opponent - let alone his hands and feet.
The year behind us was filled with incredible challenges, with a few thrilling highs and many very deep low points as well. New and improved CM technologies moved the industry forward while everyone seemed to be suddenly implementing ITIL CM. Large corporations struggled to stay afloat, sometimes tripping and, in a few cases, falling completely on their face. Still build engineers, release managers and CM gurus were needed to hold down the fort. This month we welcome Bob Kaylor who fills us in on the State of IT Change. Joe Farah gives us his view of the year behind us and Ben Weatherall gives us the CM Wrap-up for 2009. Brad Appleton, Robert Cowham and Steve Berczuk tell us about The Decline and Fall of Agile SCM while I take a look at the challenges behind us and also take you deep into the world of handicapped people who can drop you to the ground and step on you. Corporations stealing money creates opportunity for IT Governance and Compliance so Mahshad Koohgoli and Sorin Cohn-Sfetcu of Protocode tell us about the Compliance Obligations we need to consider when using Open Source while Jim Moore gives us the second installment of Entry-Level Standards for Process Definition - very practical and useful guidance. If you want to start 2010 with a roar then make sure you join us for closing out 2009 in style!
Bob Aiello
Editor in Chief
CM Crossroads
raiello@acm.org
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The State of IT Change
by Robert Kaylor
We who work in IT know that all businesses can now be considered technology companies to some extent or another from the large Financial firms to the smallest home town Bank, Networking companies, Manufacturing, Utilities and Energy, Retail, Insurance, Health Care, Government agencies to the local Law firm and Mom and Pop retail shops around the corner. This is due to the overwhelming reliance each and every second, or 24/7, on technology. If any of these companies were to lose their technology at any given time they could stand to lose money (in some circumstances millions of dollars or more). It is estimated that %70 of all problems related to IT can be traced back to some type of change that occurred within the infrastructure or application.
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CM: THE NEXT GENERATION - Another Year Gone By
by Joe Farah
Another year has gone by. We've seen what's happening out there and what's not. So looking back, what's my Christmas wish for the SCM world. I think I can actually put it down to 3 key points:
1. Bring Next Generation CM and ALM education to the market place.
2. Give Software Configuration Managment training and certification a boost.
3. SCM: Aim higher.
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CM Wrap-up for 2009 and Predictions for 2010
by Ben Weatherall
This month is the annual retrospective for the year and normally next month is the predictions for the coming year, but they are too coupled in my mind to separate. So, just to frustrate our overworked and underpaid editor, I am combining them this year. Note that the topics presented below primarily reflect changes in the way software is developed, tested and released and affect CM more than they are based in CM. They are in no particular order.
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Behaviorally Speaking – Year End Wrap-up – Lessons Learned and Goals Achieved
by Bob Aiello
Writing the Year End wrap-up for 2009 feels like I am describing my personal experience taking a rubber raft through for an afternoon ride through a tsunami. This was an incredible year with highs and lows that were breathtaking. The financial services meltdown had a catastrophic effect on many businesses with its impact felt throughout the entire world. Still my phone rang constantly with recruiters and businesses looking for Configuration Management experts including Build Engineers, Release Managers and Source Code Management (SCM) tools administrators. New ALM solutions raised the bar for SCM and best practices highlighted the value of Configuration Management. Businesses were cash strapped, many in danger of bankruptcy but still needed to also safeguard their source code – especially when caught by Federal Regulators.
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