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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2010 - The Year Ahead
Volume 8 - Number 1 - January 2010
 Honestly, it is hard to know where to start in terms of Predicting what lies ahead. The year behind us was a wild roller coaster ride in so many ways and 2010 promises to be just as exciting - if not more so. There will be many challenges and fortunately you have come to the right place to learn the skills that you need for achieving success in the technology environment that we will all face. Let's get started.
I am thrilled to kick-off 2010 by introducing our newest columnist, Donna Reed, also known as the Agilista PM who gives us her 2010 Trends in Project Management. I am looking forward to Donna sharing her expertise both here in the CM Journal and over in our sister publication, the Agile Journal. Along with project management, in 2010 all eyes will be on budgets and spending this year so Siamak Farah, founder and CEO of InfoStreet gives us TOP 5 TIPS: Getting a Jump on IT Spending for 2010. Mike Maciag, the CEO of Electric Cloud gives us Electric Cloud’s Software Development Predictions for 2010 while Mario Moreira gives us his 2010 prediction in Cloudy with a Chance of Agility. Um er - Mario check with your kids - that was supposed to be meatballs! Make sure that you read my review of Mario's excellent new book, "Adapting Configuration Management to Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed."
Joe Farah gives us his 2010 predictions in his Next Generation and I weigh in with my own Predictions for 2010 in Behaviorally Speaking (hint - 2010 will require strong skills and flexibility). Part of my predictions is that we all need to raise the bar on our technical skills - so towards that end we invite you to enjoy an article by Yaniv Yehuda, the CTO of dbMaestro who explains how we can do database compare and synchronize as part of the Software Release Management Process. And Ben Weatherall gives us his 2nd in a four part series on Small Teams within the Framework of a Large Organization. Ben gave us his predictions in the December issue, but this article is also very relevent to the way that many of us will be working in 2010.
No matter what challenges lie ahead, we are glad that you chose to join us as we begin our journey.
Seat belts on!
Let's roll!
Bob Aiello
Editor in Chief
CM Crossroads
raiello@acm.org
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2010 Trends in Project Management
by Donna A. Reed
2010 brings with it multiple trends for Project Management. It is not surprising that many of these trends will help mature the world of project management as we know it today. Just as businesses must be flexible with market conditions - Project Management professionals and organizations must also adapt accordingly. In talking to industry leaders in Project Management - several trends stand out.
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TOP 5 TIPS: Getting a Jump on IT Spending for 2010
by Siamak Farah
1. The OS Is Irrelevant!
As the battle of operating systems (OS) wages on between Apple and Microsoft, many businesses feel caught in the middle, unclear of which system to choose. Once a side has been chosen, there is still the ever-present (and recurring) dilemma over which version to choose – not to mention the potential nightmare of migration! (e.g., Should we migrate from XP to Windows 7; What pitfalls, if any, might we encounter?, etc...). Consider, instead, going OS neutral.
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Electric Cloud’s Software Development Predictions for 2010
by Mike Maciag
There is certainly more optimism among app dev organizations than was the case a year ago. While the shock of early 2009 has passed, they are left with the sobering reality that every investment in tools, processes and people must make a significant contribution to the bottom line. In 2010 managers will face increasing demands without a corresponding increase in headcount, which will cause them to ask themselves in whatever they do: “How can I automate this?”
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Cloudy with a Chance of Agility – CM Predictions for 2010
by Mario Moreira
Happy New Year! The hope of a better year is ahead. What is your CM weather report? Some of us have sunny Configuration Management (CM) efforts ahead of us and have begun the planning process. Some are looking across the CM field and into the clouds, some are looking for some agility, and others are considering strategies for CM improvements. As we gaze in the horizon, what do we think will be hot in the CM landscape and improve our working lives?
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CM: THE NEXT GENERATION - The 2010s
by Joe Farah
As we begin 2010, we're not just starting a new year, but a whole new decade. I thought it might be worthwhile, then, to look back at the last 10 years, to see where CM/ALM has come from, and then forward 10 years to see where it's going. In some ways, a lot has happened in the past decade, but in other ways, the progress has been painfully slow. I would certainly have expected more consolidation of standards and easier to customize tools. Still, there's a lot that has happened so let's start there.
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Behaviorally Speaking – 2010 – the Year Ahead
by Bob Aiello
The Year Ahead promises to provide us with challenges and opportunities that will certainly result in a bumpy ride for anyone working in the field of technology, especially large scale software and systems development. The year behind us was certainly challenging although CM gurus still found themselves being called for positions that were considered essential to running the organization. No doubt salaries and consulting rates were depressed and many technology professionals found themselves unemployed or at least under-employed.
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Database Compare and Synchronize Methods as a Part of the Software Release Management Process
by Yaniv Yehuda
By nature, the software lifecycle is circular; as such, it demands recurring implementation of versions and updates in different work environments, deploying our changes and updates to testing and production environments, as well as among the customers that buy the software systems we develop. When releasing new software or updates, it is required to package them in a setup package.
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Small Teams in a Large Organization
by Ben Weatherall
This, the second in a four part series on Small Teams and SCM, deals with small teams within a larger organization. There are two categories where this applies – where small teams are the norm and where they are the exception – and both will be covered here.
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FEATURED BOOK: Adapting Configuration Management to Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed
by Bob Aiello
Mario Moreira’s new book on Adapting Configuration Management to Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed excels at demonstrating the synergy between Configuration Management and Agile by describing a unique and robust approach to software development. Mario manages to take the deep dive into becoming Agile and provides an equally robust discussion of Configuration Management. If you are involved with developing software then you need to read this book.
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