tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37748517121752781742024-03-04T21:33:19.692-08:00Technology PerspectivesRandom thoughts about the past, present and (especially) future of Information Technology.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-57854864851839637052013-05-15T11:57:00.001-07:002013-05-15T14:08:59.486-07:00PMP here I comeThe lofty, often coveted, more often flaunted, Project Management Professional certification...<div><br></div><div>It's something I have considered attaining for myself at least a dozen times over the years. It was just never the right time...</div><div><br></div><div>I was too busy: </div><div>- raising a Daughter</div><div>- managing software teams</div><div>- learning and implementing RUP, ITIL and Scrum and Agile practices </div><div><br></div><div>So, here it is 2013 and I find myself preparing for a PMP bootcamp next week. It's daunting! Not being the best test-taker in the world, I'm obviously wary. I am drinking the cool aid, however, which is difficult with all the other stuff floating around in my head. </div><div><br></div><div>With any luck and a lot of studying, I hope to be ready in a couple weeks to take the exam and pass with flying colors. If I don't, I'll be sure to quickly change the subject and find something else to talk about.</div><div><br></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-57476058766837255372012-08-20T08:41:00.000-07:002012-08-20T08:41:31.278-07:00Punch Cards vs. Planning Poker CardsActually, there's really no correlation other than the years that have transpired in-between. That was just a catchy phrase to get you to read this!<br />
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I was thinking about my COBOL class in college back in the day. I remember having a programming assignment for a program that was about 500 lines of COBOL code. We were soon to get CANDE terminals that we could use to write our code in the computer lab, but that wasn't till COBOL II the next semester. <br />
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For the current assignment, I had to find a time that I could get on a card punch machine to punch those 500 cards, and then get on a schedule for another time to run my job through the card reader, and hope the output on the 132 column green bar printer was what I expected it to be. Guess what? It usually wasn't for the first 5 or 10 times I tried and repeated the process. <br />
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Our teacher warned against taking our cards out of the lab, because the humidity could make them unreadable, but since the lab was usually really crowded, I took them with me on day so I could check them against my COBOL coding forms. Pressed by a noon deadline (the Professor deducted 25 points for every hour late after the deadline), I rushed back to the computer lab from the student union where I had been checking my work. <br />
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On the way, you guessed it, I dropped them all over the wet grass. Sufficiently wet and shuffled, I completed my sojourn to the lab at 11:54 and proceeded to attempt a compile of the program. Can you imagine my surprise when I found that not only would my program not compile, but in fact, I could not get the cards to read through the card reader! Over to the card sorter I went. I dried the cards as well as could be expected, tried to make them as straight and readable as possible, then fed them through the sorter for the first time. I repeated this process for several attempts and glanced at the clock--12:11. I just lost 25 points! I continued the process until I had successfully sorted the cards into their intended sequence. <br />
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The clock read 12:37...there was still time before I got docked another 25 points (the program was worth 100 points, so 50 points deduction would not be good!) I fed the cards into the reader on the Burroughs B-series computer. They started reading through without a hitch! I watched them, tentatively, as they fed through. The first third of the deck sped through, then the second! The last third started out normally, but as it neared completion, it came to a grinding halt! I was mortified! I pulled the cards out and looked for the bad card. There it was. The third card from the end has a slight dog ear on one corner. Over to the key punch I went. I re-punched the culprit and as I did, took a glance at the clock on the wall: 12:45 Yikes! <br />
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I quickly moved back to the card reader only to find a couple people in front of me. I nervously tapped my card deck on the table beside the card reader. The anxious student in front of me shot me an annoyed look. Finally, it was my turn. I fed the cards in extra carefully. I started the job up. The cards began to feed, once again. The first third fed through, no problem. The second third had the same result. The last third also went though like a hot knife through butter. <br />
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There it was, the beauty of my hard work coming to fruition, and I still had time to spare! It was 11:53. I watched the computer terminal as my program compiled. It spun through without incident and said the program compiled and ran normally. I went to 132 column green bar paper printer to get the results of the job run, grabbed my card and assembled them together with my Pseudocode, and COBOL source code, ran to the Professor's office and turned in my project by 12:59. Not a moment too soon! <br />
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The Prof looked at me in disgust, as I handed her the results, but I felt pretty good!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-46053364256923384732011-11-30T14:17:00.001-08:002011-11-30T14:17:13.058-08:00AmazingI love this article from 50 years ago that envisions the "Home Computer". Isn't it amazing how far technology has come in 50 years!<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQg_Ogj3uweG3lkOi62Gbq1XF_BHKtbf3sDsqd0UcPvupUSvNNjJrdkae8_2dysWF2ItNLFEB1dUNjKV_dacgdFAafVGHSZYbHMKtcy3HWy3F6IN9ICvr8Lda7Yqk1LUhQzILrBemogU/s640/blogger-image--789584107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQg_Ogj3uweG3lkOi62Gbq1XF_BHKtbf3sDsqd0UcPvupUSvNNjJrdkae8_2dysWF2ItNLFEB1dUNjKV_dacgdFAafVGHSZYbHMKtcy3HWy3F6IN9ICvr8Lda7Yqk1LUhQzILrBemogU/s640/blogger-image--789584107.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-47776346578919595762011-11-03T19:49:00.000-07:002011-11-03T19:49:57.679-07:00Certified Scrum MasterFinished the Scrum Master Certification class yesterday and just got my certification. Very exciting!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-38613529622513325602011-11-01T08:58:00.001-07:002011-11-01T08:58:11.628-07:00Scrum MasterI was fortunate to get a spot in a Scrum Master Certification class and after the class is over, and I take the online certification exam, I will be a certified Scrum Master.<br />
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This is exciting for me. Even though I have been using agile Practices for a few years, it's good to be certified for the things that you do.<br />
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I'm also excited to see agile practices taking hold in State Govt. I think they are long overdue!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-7235542457530062712011-06-23T19:06:00.000-07:002011-06-23T19:06:51.634-07:00New Job!I guess I'm a little behind! Started a new job a couple months ago. It's going great! Maybe I'll get around to blogging occasionally.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-7978758593319158982010-10-19T18:59:00.000-07:002010-10-19T19:12:04.752-07:00A new roleI recently moved into a new acting role at work, at least temporarily, until a new CIO is hired. In this role, I have a much broader scope to manage than previously, at a higher level. I'm finding it an interesting challenge. After spending the last 2 years building an agile team, it's interesting to step back into leading teams who's processes do not necessarily fit the mold of "agile". I am observing their patterns and looking for opportunities. I'm a big believer now in being agile. Collaboration, communication, customer and product focus, minimal documentation. We'll have to see what's next.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-18780268068404147642010-04-12T09:31:00.000-07:002010-04-12T09:39:03.134-07:00Good Podcast on Teamwork and Adapting to ChangeI really enjoyed this podcast from This American Life<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi">http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-36890246686993392932010-04-02T09:43:00.001-07:002010-04-02T09:44:14.532-07:00Funny! This was from yesterday (April Fools Day)<a href="http://www.devagile.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=601">http://www.devagile.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=601</a><br /><br />Be sure to follow the links, too...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-71167866147855320302010-03-03T12:30:00.000-08:002010-03-03T12:31:08.817-08:00Scrum ToolsWe're checking out Jazz/RTC from IBM Rational Software right now as a possible solution for our team. We already use clearQuest, so RTC is a natural next step. It's very cool!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-10452410609031387242010-01-08T04:28:00.001-08:002010-01-08T04:44:39.780-08:00Agile North FloridaWe're starting a new user group in Tallahassee for people who are interested in learning more and sharing ideas about agile software development practices. Check out the website at:<br /><br /><a href="http://sites.google.com/site/agilenorthflorida/">http://sites.google.com/site/agilenorthflorida/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-72670850826449277952009-08-24T05:32:00.001-07:002009-08-27T10:02:07.123-07:004 Scrum MastersMy team now has 4 Certified Scrum Masters. The process we have implemented is very scrum-like, but also incorporates other agile and non-agile practices. It helps for people to get certified for the roles they perform. If certification is available, and if it is monetarily feasible, I would highly recommend it. Certification not only helps the people to feel more empowered to perform in their roles, but it also provides the team with with trained people to help steer the course and champion the ideals regardless of approach. Now, if I can only find a way to get our customers certified as Product owners!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scrumalliance.org/scrum_certification">http://www.scrumalliance.org/scrum_certification</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-1000184374019627732009-04-14T19:30:00.000-07:002009-04-14T19:30:00.774-07:00Florida's Budget WoesIt's a rough time for the US Economy. Duh. Who doesn't know that.<br /><br />It's been rough for State Government in Florida this year, too.<br /><br />Training $ have been hard to come by this year. They're never really easy to come by, but this year is especially bad.<br /><br />Shifting the team from a disciplined approach to an agile approach would certainly be easier if there was money in the budget for ongoing mentoring and training. Hopefully, things will improve next fiscal year!<br /><p>In the mean time, we learn by doing!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-91073911678740665262009-04-14T19:20:00.000-07:002009-04-14T19:20:00.704-07:00BalanceSuccessful software projects require a balance of discipline and agility.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-82748656277535183562009-04-14T16:28:00.001-07:002009-04-14T16:41:23.663-07:00Becoming AgileMoving from a disciplined software development approach to an "agile" software development approach is difficult, but not impossible!<br /><br />Here are some things to keep in mind:<br /><ul><li>Understand the current process before you try to change it</li><li>Look at the whole process</li><li>Don't think of any new method or tool as a silver bullet</li><li>Remember to set boundaries</li><li>Start small</li><li>Existing processes may only need to be streamlined and not replaced completely but...</li><li>Sometimes you just need to completely stop doing what you have been doing and try something totally different</li><li>Shifting people out of their comfort zone carries a risk, but it can also be very rewarding both for the team and the individual</li><li>Give people the freedom to learn from each other and self-organize</li><li>Involve your customer at every step for buy-in</li><li>Keep an open mind</li><li>Adopt and adapt</li><li>Mentor and teach</li><li>Review and improve</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-74806454427167261312009-02-12T18:35:00.000-08:002009-02-12T18:48:29.081-08:00Importing Use Case Requirements into a new modeling toolAs a manager, I don't get nearly enough time to do the fun, more technical aspects of software development any more. Still, occasionally I get to do something fun. Today was one of those days. The system I manage has 180+ use case specifications of varying size and complexity that we use to manage ongoing requirements changes. Recently, we have been experimenting with moving some of our modeling and requiremements management efforts into a different tool to see how the tool stacks up against our legacy tools. Anyway, after a little monkeying around with a CSV export file, I was able to get the use case requirements imported into the new tool. Yay me! So, that was my highly technical work activity---tomorrow I'm back to management stuff and writing a Service Level Agreement. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-62495878544175688482009-01-05T14:29:00.001-08:002009-01-05T14:38:04.565-08:00Happy 2009!Here we are in 2009! How did we get here so fast!<br /><br />For me, 2008 was a challenging but good year. I transitioned from a team that I built from the ground up over several years to a new team and role I knew nothing about. I had a goal--help the new team to transition from a disciplined, RUP-centric approach, to a more agile, collaboration-centric approach. I feel like we made great progress. There is still much to do, but we have implemented Scrum and are well on our way to becoming more agile in our requirements, testing, and build and release processes.<br /><br />2009 should prove to be an interesting year. Things are a little crazy in the world right now and we all have our challenges. But, with challenge comes opportunity. I think the world has the potential to rise to the occasion. <br /><br />I look forward to the challenges and opportunities of 2009!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-13250006511989830662008-11-05T19:13:00.000-08:002008-11-05T19:18:55.431-08:00Scrum WorkshopMy team spent the day today learning how to do Scrum. (Scrum is an agile project management methodology that's named after a Rugby term). Anyway, it was a great workshop, led by an excellent instructor, and we all learned a lot! I hope we can really apply what we learned and I hope we can get our customer to buy in 100% to their role as the product owner.<br /><br />What amazes me most about Scrum is its simplicity...so easy even a caveman (like me) can do it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-55219489052379969252008-10-06T19:12:00.000-07:002008-10-06T19:17:06.593-07:00The Code of No CodeYears ago, when I was a lowly mainframe programmer, I used to think that one day people would no longer be writing all these lines of code and would instead draw pictures of what they thought a system should do and the pictures would be used to generate the code. Today they call this "Model Driven Development" and I hear that some people actually use this technique to create programs. I can neither confirm nor deny this, however :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-40605959231504872122008-10-01T19:34:00.000-07:002008-10-01T19:35:34.063-07:00I Blog Therefore I AmActually, I can't think of anything else to write for this entry, but I always wanted to say that.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-62446952290175106772008-10-01T19:27:00.000-07:002008-10-01T19:29:12.866-07:00ScrumWe're taking a serious look at Agile methods at work right now and in particular Scrum for managing our software releases. I think it's going to be great for the team. All those Pigs and Chickens and planning poker and everything! Awesome!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-83875124150878715212008-07-10T18:40:00.000-07:002008-07-10T18:40:41.299-07:00Agility or Discipline, That is the Question...It seems that Agile methods have taken over as the status quo these days...but what about the old "Tried and True" methodologies? Are they dead? I don't think so. The best way to develop software surely lies squarely in the middle between agility and discipline.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-55385931710939214802008-04-25T04:19:00.000-07:002008-04-25T04:36:20.570-07:00RequirementsGathering and documenting software requirements is a discipline that has been approached in many different ways over the years. Detailed analysis and design documentation, feature lists, use cases, user stories, prototypes are all approaches I've seen and/or used.<br /><br />I'm not sure that any of these is the "best" approach. <br /><br />What I believe is more important than any requirements technique are 3 things:<br /><br /><ul><li>Requirements need to be simple, clear and concise<br /></li><li>It's important to get requirements from the right people</li><li>Requirements <span style="font-weight: bold;">will</span> change<br /></li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-46312452120165668912008-04-14T19:49:00.000-07:002008-04-14T19:56:38.079-07:00Linked ListsI remember one of my projects in college was to create our own database management system using linked lists. Do they still teach these kinds of things? <br /><br />I also remember that my decision to change my major from a focus on architecture (real architecture, not the software kind) to computers was based on thinking that nothing else really sounded very interesting at the time (besides hanging out in the student union and playing ping pong and they didn't have a major for that)<br /><br />So here I am a bunch of years later and I still play ping pong and I ended up as a software architect. Fate is strange, eh?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774851712175278174.post-43360597892935979502008-04-11T04:37:00.000-07:002008-04-12T21:29:10.625-07:00MethodologiesI have always been a fan of process. I've enjoyed watching software development processes evolve over the years. The one thing I've noticed is that there is no "Perfect Process". They all have their strengths and weaknesses and most need to be tailored to add value. I've followed SDLC's, written and implemented SDLC's, used RUP, and worked to incorporate elements of waterfall, spiral, agile, etc. as appropriate. In my experience, none of these approaches seems to be the "end all be all" of software development processes.<br /><br />What seems to work best, though, is to approach usage of any SDLC from a common sense perspective. Tailor the process to meet the specific needs of the project.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0