Tag: functionality

The Growing Influence Of Open Source Projects
Two years ago, I began writing about the impact of open source development tools, components, processes and organizational models on corporate IT shops. I worked with a range of development managers that shared a very similar point of view: instead of dismissing the so-called renegade open source projects, the managers emulated these projects' activities and hoped to mimic their success. This trend is only growing and I am intrigued by the ways in which IT shops are looking to the open source community for leadership.

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Intellectual Property Management Issues for Development

To maximize intellectual property (IP) value and mitigate risk while operating in an open source application development environment, enterprises need to understand the distinction between real and perceived risks and values by utilizing processes, governance and tools. This is particularly important when involving an outsourcing partner. A lack of intellectual property capture and protection makes it harder for the outsourcing company to move from one outsource vendor to another.  As a software development "value chain" evolves over time, with changes in the business and technology environments, the value of leveraging open source software may grow or decrease in value. So it makes sense to understand and review open source arrangements.  In this scenario, if the intellectual properties associated with managing and producing the product are no longer available, significant flexibility will be lost. 

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Supercharge Your Application Development Open Source Strategy with an Architecture-centric Approach
Today's software developer, like never before, is blessed with a plethora of sophisticated open source tools and technologies to aid his craft in producing market-worthy applications.  Leveraging these resources together with the developer's business domain knowledge and agile best practices can quickly yield some truly amazing results  To sustain these successes, an application developer must apply an architectural-centric approach in order to realize longevity, flexibility and independence in his application.

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CASE STUDY: VA Software
Agile development methodologies aren't one-size-fits-all. Independent software vendors (ISVs) have unique needs-external customers, aggressive release dates and competitive pressures-that require tailoring software development methodologies that work well in corporate IT settings. Faced with a major new project and bogged down by a big design up-front process, VA Software adapted Extreme Programming (XP) to help build the latest versions of SourceForge® Enterprise Edition (SFEE).

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Open Source Tools for the Agile Developer
A defining characteristic of agile development is to keep moving forward, recognizing working code as the primary measure of valued software. Undoubtedly, there is no way to judge a software system until you have a system to judge. Yet, experienced developers recognize that requirements frequently change and traditional methods have achieved very little success in stabilizing requirements early in the lifecycle. Instinctively, we may feel change impedes progress, but agile developers embrace an attitude where change is viewed as an opportunity to improve the system. A variety of open source software tools  can enable important agile practices, allowing you to keep moving forward so long as you are willing to embrace change.

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The Economic Impact of Open Source
For many years, pundits have anticipated seismic change from open source. Beyond the high-profile changes, the effects of open source can be seen everywhere in software development today. While still an emergent phenomenon, there are cost, revenue and intangible benefits for any company that becomes an active consumer and contributor to the open source community now. 

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Outsourcing Experience Report – LogicLibrary and EPAM

LogicLibrary, provider of Logidex, has had an ongoing relationship with EPAM Systems, the largest Eastern European technology outsourcing vendor, for over three years to develop its Logidex technology. This experience report discusses the approaches and tools used by LogicLibrary and EPAM to ensure effective communication and coordination between LogicLibrary's Rochester, MN-based development team and EPAM's Minsk, Belarus-based development team.

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Agile at Scale: 7+7 Practices for Enterprise Agility
Part II of II - Seven Additional Practices For Enterprise Agility

In part I of this Article, we noted that the benefits of agile software methods, including faster time to market, better responsiveness to changing customer needs and higher quality are undeniable to those who have mastered these practices. However, these practices have been developed and refined in circumstances characterized by small, co-located teams with ready access to a customer. Can enterprises building applications that require hundreds of distributed team members benefit from these practices, or are they forever doomed to large, late, stage-gate and waterfall-like results?

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An Agile Approach To Managing Distributed Development
Traditional approaches to distributed development impair flexibility: they don't expose what's actually happening on the ground in different locations, they lack common and effective communication channels, and they substitute "hope" for "managed process" when reconciling work. Distributed development should be as responsive to change as co-located teams.  A program managing distributed development requires behaviors that engender agility.  Three contributing factors are release cadence, transparency of activity, and lightweight communications.

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“Agile” Versus “agile” Development

There's no question that "agile" is the buzzword of the times for software developers, ISVs, consultants, and businesses, in general. As with most buzzwords, the term is often over-used and mis-used, especially by those trying to portray their products or services in a new light. In the world of software development, the term "agile" is applied to a wide variety of processes, techniques, tools, projects, and phases of the development life cycle. It's important, therefore, to set out some basic definitions and context for the use of the term "agile," especially as it will be used in articles throughout this journal.

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