When software professionals need a tool to support their work, a common dilemma is whether to build the necessary tool or purchase it. Here's a look at the benefits, risks, and myths associated with each approach.

A major challenge for software professionals interpreting data is deciding what's real and what isn't, what matters and what doesn't. A useful way to think about it is that you are trying to find the signal in the noise produced by random variation and error. Here is advice on how to extract the useful information from the "noise."

Appreciating differences is critical for productive teams. Different approaches aid in finding solutions, and mutual respect dramatically improves group problem solving. Testers should not be judged according to developer criteria.

The communication storm front is a real phenomenon that crops up in all development teams and in all organizations. You need not be the victim of such storms. You, as development manager, have the tools to reduce the power of the storm front and create a team that is ever more effective and efficient.