Items to be Reviewed

The following are a list of items that should be reviewed in software development projects:

• Marketing documents, requirements specifications, use cases, and analysis models
• Business process models and business rules
• Project charter documetns and all kinds of project plans (project management plan, task list, schedule, configuration management plan, quality assurance plan, risk management plan, and so on)
• Architecture descriptions
• User interface designs and prototypes
• Software and databse design descriptions and models
• Source code, including scripts, macros, stored procedures, and the like
• Program documentation and system maintenance documentation
• Test plans, designs, cases, and procedures
• User guides, reference manuals, help screens, tutorials, training materials, and field and customer support manuals
• Build, release, and installation procedures
• Software development procedures, standards, and process descriptions

Posted in Reviews

Signs of Management Commitment to Software Reviews

In every endeavor that we undertake to improve the quality of our process in the software development life cycle we need to have the support and commitment of management. Majority of the people in management doesn’t always understand what software reviews are and the importance of it to shipping quality products on time. The following are the signs that your management is committed to software reviews:

• Providing the resources and time to develop, implement, and sustain an effective review process
• Setting policies, expectations, and goals about review practice
• Maintaining the practice of reviews even when projects are under time presure
• Ensuring that project schedules include time for reviews
• Making training available to the participants and attending the training themselves
• Never using review results to evaluate performance of individuals
• Holding people accountable for participating in reviews and for contributing constructively to them
• Publicly rewarding the early adopters of reviews to reinforce desired behaviors
• Running interference with other managers and customers who challenge the need for reviews
• Respecting the review team’s appraisal of a document’s quality
• Asking for status reports on how the program is working, what it costs, and the team’s benefits from reviews

Posted in Reviews

EXIN and ISEB

The Dutch foundation “Exameninstituut voor Informatica” (EXIN) and the UK “Information Systems Examination Board” (ISEB) jointly developed a professional certification system for IT Service Management (ITSM). This was done in cooperation with the OGC and ITSMF. EXIN and ISEB cooperate to offer a full range of ITSM qualifications at three levels:

• Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management
• Prctitioner Certificate in IT Service Management
• Manager Certificate in IT Service Management

The certification system is based on the requirements for effectively fulfilling the relevant role within an IT organization. To date, Foundation Certificates have been awarded to over 250,000 IT professionals in more than 100 countries.

The Foundation Certificate is intended for all personnel who have to be aware of the major activities in IT service support and delivery, and the relationships between them. The practitioner Certificate is aimed at the practical level of how to perform a specific ITIL process and the tasks within that process.

The Manager Certificate is intended for those who are required to control all the ITSM processes, to advise on the structure and optimization of the processes, and to implement them in a way that meets the business needs of the organization.

Posted in ITIL

Information Technology Service Management Forum

The information Technology Service Management Forum (ITSMF), originally known as the Information Technology Infrastructure Management Forum (ITIMF), is the only internationally recognized and independent user group dedicated to IT Service Management. It is owned and operated solely by its membership. The ITSMF is a major influence and contributor to Industry Best Practice and Standards worldwide.

The first chapter of ITSMF was set up in the UK in 1991. The Dutch ITSMF (ITSMF The Netherlands) was the next chapter, set up in November 1993. There are now ITSMF chapters in more than 30 countries over the world, whcih cooperate in ITSMF International, and new chapters of ITSMF are emerging every year.

ITSMF chapters promote the exchange of information and experience which enables IT organizations to improve the services they provide. They organize seminars, conferences, special subject evenings, and other events about current IT Service Management subjects. They also publish newsletters and operate a website for information sharing. Task forces also contribute to the development of ITIL.

Posted in ITIL

Office of Government Commerce

ITIL is UK Crown Copyright and was originally created by CCTA. CCTA was the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency of the UK government. On 1 April 2001 the CCTA ceased to be an organization in its own right and became part of the OGC (Office of Government Commerce), which is an office of the UK Treasury and now the new owner of ITIL. The objective of the OGC is to help UK government to achieve best value for money in all its commercial relationships, through the use of best pratices. “OGC aims to modernize procurement in government, and deliver substantial value for money improvements.” The OGC promotes the use of “best pratices” in many areas. The OGC publishes several series of best practice material written by UK and international experts from a range of public and private sector user and vendor organizations.

OGC’s ITIL is a coherent set of clear, thorough and proven best practices to provide efficient and effective IT services.

Posted in ITIL

The A-Team of ITIL

There are four Organizations that are actively contributing to the development of ITIL and they are the following:

1. Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
2. Information Technology Service Management Forum (ITSMF)
3. Exameninstituut voor Informatica (EXIN)
4. Information Systems Examination Board (ISEB)

Posted in ITIL

Potential Problems and Mistakes with Using ITIL

People who does not understand how to use ITIL best practices in line with the needs of the business that the IT organization is there to support will experience the following list of potential problems and mistakes with using ITIL:

1. The introduction can take a long time and require significant effort, and may require a change of culture in the organization. An overambitious introduction can lead to frustration because the objectives are never met.
2. If process structures become an objective in themselves, the service quality may be adversely affected. In this scenario, unnecessary or over-engineered procedures are seen as bureaucratic obstacles that are to be avoided where possible.
3. There is no improvement in IT services due to a fundamental lack of understanding about what the relevant processes should provide, what the appropriate performance indicators are, and how process can be controlled.
4. Improvement in the provision of services and cost reductions are insufficiently visible, because no baseline data was available for comparison and/or the wrong targets were identified.
5. A successful implementation requires the involvement and commitment of personnel at all levels in the organization. Leaving the development of the process structures to a specialist department may isolate that department in the organization and it may set a direction that is not accepted by other departments.
6. If there is insufficient investment in appropriate training and support tools, justice will not be done to the processes and the service will not be improved. Additional resources and personnel may be needed in the short term if the organization is already overloaded by routine IT Service Management activities which may not be using “best practices”.

Posted in ITIL

Types of Software Reviews

There are many ways that a work product can be reviewed. Each kind of review is appropriate for different audiences or kinds of work product. The purpose of all reviews is to ensure that each reviewer is satisfied that the work product is correct, and that his or her perspective is represented.

The following are the Five Types of Reviews in Software Development:

1. Inspections
2. Deskchecks
3. Walkthroughs
4. Code Reviews
5. Pair Programming

Posted in Reviews

Measurement’s Text Models

Of the three types of Measurement Models, Text models tend to be the least effective, but the most common. It is difficult to adequately describe complex situations and dynamics using just words.

Here is a text model for software development:

Effort: The time required to develop a product, expressed as increments of staff development time (e.g., staff months/hours). In general, effort is a function of size and results in cost.

Features: The requirements of the product to be developed.

Size: The magnitude of the product to be developed. In general, size is a function of features.

Defects: The incompleteness of the product. In general, defects are a function of size and schedule.

Schedule: The total development time; completion times for principal milestones. In general, schedule is a function of effort and resources.

Resources: The number of developers applied to the product development.

This text model has advantages and disadvantages. Each item is clearly defined and easy to understand, but the relationships between items may be difficult to visualize. But notice that this text model describes software development in such a way that we can discuss it, measure it, and predict it: if the size changes, the number of defects will change. This text model gives structure to the abstract concept of software development.

Posted in Estimation

Models - The Key to Measurement

The key to making the unmeasurable measurable is models. A model is an abstraction, which strips away unnecessary details and views an entity or concept from a particular perspective. Models allow us to focus on the important parts, ignore those that are irrelevant, and hypothesize and reason about an entity. Models make measurement possible.

We must have models of whatever we want to measure. For example, say we want to know how much of the total system development effort is testing. To determine that, we need a model of both the overall development process and the testing process, which specifies when testing starts and when it ends, what is included, and the number of people involved. If our model starts with unit test by the programmer, it is a different model and will give different results than one that includes only system test.

There are three types of models you can use: text, diagrammatic, and algorithmic that is, words, pictures, and numbers.

Posted in Estimation