Mastering the Black Art of Software Project EstimationEstimation at the start of a software development project doesn't have to be done blindly; nor does it have to involve making empty promises. By incorporating agile—or even an estimation center of excellence—both customers and developers can have a much clearer view of the road ahead.
The Challenges and Rewards of DevOps and Agile IntegrationAgile and DevOps may be a perfect union, but you'll have to work hard to bring them together. Sumit Mehrotra looks at some of the ways that integrating these two can truly benefit any organization, while also looking at the challenges that lie ahead for anyone looking to make the change.
For Agile Program Iterations, Short Is BeautifulFor programs, the risks are too high to have longer times between integration points and demos. Waiting too long increases potential delays, which increases risks. You want feature teams in your program working together, so you want short iterations and small stories connecting often and everywhere.
Why Did Agile Fail on Such a Massive Stage?News of the recent collapse of a welfare reform project in the UK has agile in its crosshairs and does little else but blame the philosophy for the project's failure. But a recently released retrospective-like report shows that perhaps the expectations of agile were unrealistic, to say the least.
What Team Members Get Wrong with RetrospectivesVenkatesh Krishnamurthy explains some common misconceptions with retrospectives. Having a rigid mindset and believing that teams should only do retrospectives at the end of an iteration or raise issues only during standup meetings reduce agility and result in process-oriented thinking.
Think Test Offshoring Is Automatically Less Expensive? Think AgainWhy does senior management split developers and testers? Because they do not realize that software is about collaboration. Success happens when you hire feature teams in one location. When CIOs are under pressure to reduce budget and release faster, they think offshoring—but that has other costs.
What to Do When Your Team Isn't Meeting ExpectationsSteve Berczuk writes that it’s worth thinking about what your assumptions are when you feel like a person or a team isn’t meeting expectations. With the right context, you can focus on solving problems. Without it, the best you can do is try to establish blame.
How Agile Led to the Creation of the Technical Product OwnerAgile has become the primary mechanism by which normally incompatible roles crossbreed and create distinctive positions that bring great value to a company. Steve Vaughn writes on how agile has led to the creation of a new role—the technical product owner—that has benefited his team.
