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getting on the FastTrack

Written by Bob Aiello

Implementing a large scale SCM solution is an exciting, challenging and event daunting task. I worked in one company which had spent a lot of money on a particular commercial SCM tool that was for the most part not being used by the members of the firm due to the complexity of implementing the tool and the lack of support resources within the firm. Two consulting agencies had already been in and had not helped the organization setup and train the developers on the successful use of this tool. I started to help out informally with supporting the SCM effort and pretty soon found myself implementing this SCM solution from scratch. By the time I was done, I had 700+ developers using the tool with over 1700 source code repositories worldwide. We used an implementation methodology that I began calling my "FastTrack" for SCM solutions. If you would like to get on the FastTrack with me, then please read on as we share best practices for architecting successful SCM Solutions!

Getting SCM solutions in place is not always without challenges and I have personally experienced both the good and the bad of these efforts. I've learned alot about how to implement CM solutions along with my 5 other previous positions that involved supporting SCM tools including SCCS, PVCS, ClearCase, IBM's Team Connection (originally CMVC). Recently, I have worked with Subversion (SVN) and of course the legacy SCM tool - CVS. In my current assignment I have had to listen to everyone's horror stories about how their firm tried unsuccessfully to implement a commercial SCM solution (actually one of the aforementioned but I will leave that detail off). The general view was that the commercial tool was impossible to implement successfully. I know that's just not true and I am glad to share with you a straight and clear approach to implement your
own SCM solution.

Assess your requirements!
Start with the Requirements! The technology is certainly important and I have made many decisions to protect my own SCM infrastructure. But more importantly is to understand the requirements for SCM functionality. There is no one right tool for everyone and there is no one right process either. Process and tools need to be right sized and aligned with the needs of the organization.

Training is the most critical success factor!
Training is the critical success factor! Training is absolutely the hill to die on! My success in implementing SCM solutions is in large part due to the fact that I love giving the hands-on training myself. I insist on training (and testing) every single user. People who take my class are successful. One of the reasons is that I teach how the tool SHOULD be used and not just what the tool could be used for. That means that I explicitly tell people not to do things because they are just not a great way to work with the tool or even because I happen to know of a software bug that may bite them if they use the the way that it is described in the users guide. So I arm my students and colleagues with practical knowledge about what works and what doesn't with each tool.

Now four of my esteemed colleagues have responded with their own list of items that must be considered in implementing any SCM solution. I am reviewing and synthesizing these lists and I will present them in a future posting. But I would like you to email your own opinion on what your team's requirements are for good SCM solutions.

How many developers are you supporting?
What technologies and platforms are you supporting?
Where are you developers located?
How complex is your desired approach for branching and merging?
And of course what kind of budget do you have for CM?

Your Turn!
I would like to use your input in my next posting in which I will discuss SCM tools requirements as part of this
initial effort at mapping out a FastTrack approach for implementing your SCM solution!

Please use raiello [at] acm.org to send me your input or you can link to me
via LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobaiello and send me mail via LinkedIn...