Joe Farah

Member for

13 years 9 months

Joe Farah is the President and CEO of Neuma Technology and is a regular contributor to the Techwell Community. Prior to co-founding Neuma in 1990 and directing the development of CM+, Joe was Director of Software Architecture and Technology at Mitel, and in the 1970s a Development Manager at Nortel (Bell-Northern Research) where he developed the Program Library System (PLS). A software developer since the late 1960s, Joe holds a B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. You can contact Joe at [email protected]

Company

Neuma Technology

Job Function

Configuration Management

Job Title

President & CEO

Industry

Computer Software - SaaS

Interests

Agile

Architecture

Configuration Management

Design Development Lifecycles

Country

Canada

Joe Farah

President and CEO of Neuma Technology, Joe Farah is a regular contributor to the CM Journal. Prior to cofounding Neuma in 1990, he was a director of software at Mitel. In the 1970s, Joe developed the Program Library System (PLS), still heavily used by Nortel (Bell-Northern Research), where he worked at the time. He's been a software developer since the late 1960s.

All Articles by Joe Farah

All Stories by Joe Farah

	Why Open Source CM May Not Be As Cheap As You Might Have ThoughtJoe Farah writes that there’s a lot more to the cost of configuration management than licenses for version control and problem tracking, and all those open source CM tools out there may be a lot more costly than you might have thought.
	Helpful Tips for Good Branching and Merging in Product DevelopmentBranching and merging are necessary, but they can be minimized to reduce the overhead. In this story, Joe Farah shares several helpful branching and merging tips as well as his simple philosophy of creating a new branch when you need to support the old one.
	What ALM Tool Features Best Support Agile Software Development?Joe Farah details the key features necessary in application lifecycle management (ALM) tools to make them practical for agile development. At a minimum, agile-friendly ALM tools must support user stories, prioritization, traceability, continuous integration, and metrics for post-iteration analysis.
	The Latest Software Configuration Management Technology Joe Farah explains that if you are using 2nd-generation or even 1st-generation software configuration management technology, you are stuck in the past. To learn what is possible today, you need to look at the capabilities of the latest 3rd and 4th generation tools. Then, you need to get going!
	What Studying Release Notes Reveals about Your SCM and ALM Tools Studying release notes tells you a great deal about your software configuration management (SCM) and application lifecycle management (ALM) environment. They will also help you understand why SCM and ALM are so important. ALM tools provide the capability to get release notes automatically.
	Branching Is Not Just for Version ControlJoe Farah explains to us that a branching strategy is central to a configuration management (CM) plan and that it extends beyond version control. Remember, It's not just the files that need to be organized, it's the entire CM and application lifecycle management (ALM) data repository.
	The Importance of an Integrated ALM ToolsetJoe Farah writes that an integrated application lifecycle management (ALM) toolset is one that has ALM functions working together to provide a well-defined lifecycle process and capability. However, not all integrations are alike. Your tool suite needs to look and act like a single tool.
	Does Software Configuration Management Follow CM's Core Processes?Joe Farah investigates whether or not software configuration management (SCM) follows the core principles of CM. The big difference in software shops and hardware shops is the level of automation in which the tools are responsible for ensuring the core processes reach “done.”
	Why Software Configuration Management Metrics Are ImportantJoe Farah writes about the importance of software configuration (SCM) metrics. Software metrics help us build better software, and SCM metrics help us to better manage the built software. The metrics give you a better handle on what is really going on in your product development environment.
	Is Software Configuration Management Regressing Due to Tools?Joe Farah explores whether or not open source software configuration management (SCM) tools are causing SCM to regress. CM professionals need to do a better job of looking at what’s out there in the market before jumping ship to an open source solution.
	Creating a New Configuration Management InfrastructureCM is a lot like the space industry. But instead of Atlas, Delta, and whatever else is used to launch spacecraft, we have ClearCase, Perforce, and many other tools. Joe Farah explains that in order to advance CM, we need to know how to create a new CM infrastructure that goes beyond these tools.
	Software CM: Thirty-Five Years LaterThirty-five years later and where are we in regards to software configuration management? Joe Farah takes us back to the late 1970s and compares the past with the present. If you look at a typical shop today, progress has actually gone backwards.
	Should SCM Professionals Be Scripting Experts?Joe Farah explains to what degree should SCM professionals be scripting experts. While high-level scripting for SCM professionals is great, you might need to rethink your technology so your CM team can do real work.
	How to Properly Maintain a Single CM TeamYou have your hardware and your software configuration management departments managing the same product. Although their goals are the same, they often clash, but that doesn't mean you should separate them. Joe Farah explains how to properly maintain a single CM team.
	Helpful Tips for Choosing the Right CM ToolA recently resurrected LinkedIn discussion on migrating from ClearCase to an open source tool got some CM professionals to agree about the tool selection process. Joe Farah explains some tips to help you choose the right tool.
	Configuration Managers: Fighting the Resistance to Change“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” goes the saying. But when it comes to CM, it seems that even if it is “broke,” nobody wants it fixed—except of course, the CM manager. Joe Farah explains why this "resistance to change" is a big roadblock to CM professionals and how to fight it.
	It's Time to Be Clear about Agile SCMBy now, most of us are familiar with the agile software development methodology. Typically this methodology uses Scrum, Kanban, or some other discipline to help teams move rapidly and iteratively toward the completion of a software product. But what about agile software configuration management?
	Variant Management Starts with DesignJoe Farah describes how to not overload your branching with variants so as to permit your customers to dynamically modify the behavior of a software product. Variant management is a CM issue, but it has to be dealt with in the product design first.
	Are Change Packages Really Necessary in Software CM?A change package in software configuration management goes by many names. The CM industry realizes that the change package concept is fundamental to software CM and that life without updates can be complex.
	Tips for Effective Traceability in Software CMTraceability provides the means to ensure that a product is correctly packaged and deployed. Joe Farah shares some tips that will help your team recognize proper traceability in order to keep track of and use data more efficiently when building a software product.
	Single Checkouts or Multiple Checkouts: Which Is Better? A recent thread on LinkedIn asks "Which is better: single checkouts or multiple checkouts?" On projects, both large and small, using exclusive checkouts is actually preferred.
	Is Your Software CM a Burden on Developers?Is your software configuration management process placing a burden on developers? Joe Farah lists some handy tips to ensure that CM benefits not only the business bottom line but also the developers and every role on the project team.