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The Road to Quality

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Alan S. Koch, PMP, author of Agile Software Development: Evaluating the Methods for your Organization, speaks, writes, and consults on effective software development. He is an SEI-Authorized PSP Instructor, and he welcomes your feedback and questions; send e-mail to Road2Quality@ASKProcess.com. Visit http://www.ASKProcess.com to learn how to improve the return on your software investment by focusing on the quality of both your software products and the processes you use to development them.



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Change Management is not Change Control

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Written by Alan S. Koch   
Thursday, 20 August 2009 09:19
sep09change200A key part of planning configuration management for our projects is determining how we will manage change. After all, "change happens", and any good configuration manager is concerned with how it is managed.

Unfortunately, more often than not, our processes focus more on controlling change than on managing it! That is, we put a lot of effort into trying to keep change from happening, and relatively less effort into ensuring that when (not if, but when) change happens, we manage it effectively.

 

Tool Choice as a Quality Issue

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Written by Alan S. Koch   
Monday, 17 November 2008 18:00
nov08toolchoicebig.jpgWe need to choose an SCM tool. It will mean some work to make the choice, and then more work to put it into practice. But at least we don’t have to worry about it from a quality perspective. After all, the tools we choose to employ don’t affect the quality of the software we produce.
Last Updated on Thursday, 23 July 2009 10:54
 

Standards That Are Worth Following

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Written by Alan S. Koch   
Monday, 18 February 2008 16:52
feb08followingwideConventional wisdom tells us that standards are a good thing. They are based on best practices, and they provide guidance to help people do their jobs well. They are so widely accepted that their worth almost goes without saying.

But as with most things that go without saying, standards are not always what they are billed to be. In spite of the plethora of standards in the software industry, we still struggle mightily to achieve successful projects. Even in organizations that are standard-centric, projects end up in challenged (or worse) states.
Last Updated on Monday, 14 April 2008 07:16
 

The Definition of "Done"

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Written by Alan S. Koch   
Monday, 17 December 2007 10:51
dec07dictionarysmall"I thought you said you were done with the Cranfragle last week!" Sue demanded. "I just talked with Alan and he said that you haven't even started on the GreenFlop."

"Yes", Joe answered, "I'll be starting on that tomorrowies that have to do with the Cranfragle?"

Sue's jaw dropped. "How can you ask that? You're not done until the GreenFlop is done! " What does it mean when a member of your team says that something is "done"? Taking the time to define this critical term does much more than avoid disagreements. It can also save critical project time and avoid embarrassing oversights.
Last Updated on Monday, 14 April 2008 07:16
 

The One Right Way to Achieve High-Quality Requirements:

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Written by Alan S. Koch   
Sunday, 16 September 2007 15:38
Don't Expect There Is One Right Way!
Many authorities have undertaken to lay out the One Right Way to engineer system requirements. Although there are similarities among them, what is most striking is the diversity in approaches, and in some cases, conflicting philosophies. What are we to make of these dueling authorities and their competing guidelines?
Last Updated on Monday, 14 April 2008 07:18
 
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