Better Software - November 2007 - (Page 48)

The Last Word Index to Advertisers that estimates are perfect and nothing untoward will happen. During project initiation and planning, be sure to incorporate contingency buffers into project schedules to account for the inevitable surprises, scope growth, underestimates, and risks that materialize. Contingency buffers based on previous experience provide a way to cope with the reality that projects never go exactly as planned. Also consider using group estimation techniques such as Wideband Delphi, which can produce better estimates than any one individual will generate (see the StickyNotes for more information). ACULIS Software Development Services AutomatedQA Agile Development Practices Conference Blueprint Empirix HP Software IBM McCabe Software, Inc. Microsoft www.aculis.com www.testcomplete.com www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices www.blueprint.com www.empirix.com www.hp.com/go/software www.IBM.com/TAKEBACKCONTROL/INNOVATE www.mccabe.com msdn.microsoft.com/teamsystem www.mks.com www.netobjectives.com www.pragmaticprogrammer.com www.rallydev.com/bsm www.seapine.com codecollab.com codecollab.com www.sqe.com/eMTD www.sqe.com/Training www.StickyMinds.com www.targetprocess.com www.techexcel.com www.versionone.com 17, 18 Inside Front Cover 15 40 1 Back Cover 10 33 8 42 Inside Back Cover 44 41 2 Front Cover 23 37 27 43 6 5 46 Accumulate and Study Lessons Learned Project initiation is an excellent time to study the lessons garnered from previous projects and to select appropriate industry best practices to apply—and worst practices to avoid. To build a lessons-learned collection, the wise project manager will take the time to harvest knowledge from completed projects or iterations that can benefit future work. Therefore, be sure to schedule project retrospectives at strategic project milestones. In my view, there is really no such thing as project management. What we call “project management” is a composite of managing many other project elements: people, requirements, commitments, resources, change, risks, opportunities, expectations, technology, suppliers, and conflicts. Nearly every project includes these elements, and the successful project manager must keep an eye on them all. Use the initiation practices described here to help you launch your next project on a solid foundation. {end} Karl Wiegers is principal consultant at Process Impact in Portland, Oregon. His interests include project management, requirements engineering, peer reviews, and process improvement. Karl's latest book is Practical Project Initiation: A Handbook with Tools (Microsoft Press, 2007). You can reach Karl at www.processimpact.com. MKS, Inc. Net Objectives Pragmatic Programmers Rally Software Seapine Software Smart Bear Smart Bear SQE eLearning SQE Training Weeks StickyMinds.com TargetProcess TechExcel, Inc. VersionOne Display Advertising Shae Young syoung@sqe.com All Other Inquiries info@bettersoftware.com Better Software (USPS: 019-578, ISSN: 1532-3579) is published twelve times per year. Subscription rate is US $75 per year. A US $35 shipping charge is incurred for all non-US addresses. Payments to Software Quality Engineering must be made in US funds drawn from a US bank. For more information, contact info@bettersoftware.com or call (800) 450-7854. Back issues may be purchased for $15 per issue (plus shipping). Volume discounts available. Entire contents © 2007 by Software Quality Engineering (330 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073), unless otherwise noted on specific articles. The opinions expressed within the articles and contents herein do not necessarily express those of the publisher (Software Quality Engineering). All rights reserved. No material in this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Reprints of individual articles available. Call for details. Periodicals Postage paid in Orange Park, FL, and other mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Better Software, 330 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073, info@bettersoftware.com. Sticky Notes For more on the following topics go to www.StickyMinds.com/bettersoftware. I I Wideband Delphi Practical Project Initiation 48 BETTER SOFTWARE NOVEMBER 2007 www.StickyMinds.com http://www.aculis.com http://www.testcomplete.com http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices http://www.blueprint.com http://www.empirix.com http://www.hp.com/go/software http://www.IBM.com/TAKEBACKCONTROL/INNOVATE http://www.mccabe.com http://msdn.microsoft.com/teamsystem http://www.mks.com http://www.netobjectives.com http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com http://www.rallydev.com/bsm http://www.seapine.com http://codecollab.com http://codecollab.com http://www.sqe.com/eMTD http://www.sqe.com/Training http://www.StickyMinds.com http://StickyMinds.com http://www.targetprocess.com http://www.techexcel.com http://www.versionone.com http://www.processimpact.com http://www.StickyMinds.com/bettersoftware http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - November 2007

Better Software - November 2007 Contents MarkYour Calendar Technically Speaking What’s Happening @StickyMinds.com Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles The Measure of a Management System Behind the Scenes A Story About User Stories and Test-Driven Development Product Announcements The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - November 2007

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