Improved governance has been heavily on the minds of business leaders over the past several years, and for many companies, the trend has moved from the corporate office into all major areas of business competency, including IT. But, as Scott Ambler and Per Kroll put it in this month's cover story, an explicit command-and-control strategy for IT governance "is akin to herding cats." By contrast, they explain, lean software development governance is an improved approach that instills a sense of business responsibility in each software development team member, by making governance implicit and as manageable as the development process itself.
Also this month, we have an overview of software estimation; a look at use-case realizations; a comprehensive introduction to the new RUP plug-in for System z development, and much more. And for those of you doing the educational work of software consulting, George Spencer is someone who can help you. Be sure to check out his "Waterfalls in the Land of Oz."
Cover story:Best practices for lean development governance -- Part 1: Principles and organization, by Scott Ambler and Per Kroll
The first in a series of articles covering IBM Rational's recommended approach to governing modern software development efforts, this article explores the mission and principles of lean governance, along with the organization and stakeholder collaboration required for project-by-project success.
Software Estimation, Enterprise-Wide -- Part I: Reasons and Means, by Vitalie Temnenco
This article, Part 1 in a two-part series, presents an overview of approaches, techniques, models, and tools used in estimating costs, schedules, and other factors on software projects. Emerging innovations are discussed in addition to well-established methods. Part 2 provides advice on what methods to apply in specific circumstances.
The IBM Rational Unified Process for System z: Making Development on System z More Agile, by Cécile Péraire, Mike Edwards, Angelo Fernandes, Enrico Mancin and Kathy Carroll Many software development practitioners in IBM System z environments have long believed that iterative development and other "modern" methods are not applicable to their projects. IBM, however, disagrees. This article introduces the IBM Rational Unified Process for System z (RUP for System z) -- a new process framework specifically created to support iterative development on System z software development projects, while making optimum use of proven System z development tools and principles.
Waterfalls in the Land of Oz, by George Spencer Read how the IBM Rational services organization faces and helps customers resolve obstacles in adopting iterative, incremental software development practices.
Webcasts, tutorials, demos, and more: A Rational roundup for June 2007, by The Rational marketing team Are you looking to jumpstart those summer projects with dynamic, Web-based tutorials or demos? If you couldn't make it to this year's Rational Software Developers Conference, or if you simply want to refresh your knowledge base, then check out this extensive listing of IBM Rational Web-based resources.
Book excerpt -- from Object-Oriented Analsyis and Design with Applications, Third Edition, written by Grady Booch, Robert Maksimchuk, Michael Engle, Bobbi Young,
Jim Conallen, and Kelli Houston
Read chapter one from Grady Booch et al.'s long-awaited update to Object-Oriented Analsyis and Design with Applications, which has been called "the essential reference to object-oriented technology."
Dynamically speaking, by Gary Pollice
Read about three of the most popular programming languages in use today -- the dynamic languages Perl, Python, and Ruby. Why are they used? What do they have in common, and what makes each one unique?
