Articles

Making a Choice Is Agile Methodology Right for Your Development Projects?

An Agile approach to software development looks good on paper. However, author Rajashekar Reddy Ramasahayam argues that it may not be a fit for all projects.

Planning Meeting PI Planning Event in Agile

Planning by creating a years-long strategic plan is a remnant of the past that does not reflect the fast pace of the digital world we live in today. See how PI (program increment) planning with an agile framework can help.

Andrew Romanukha's picture Andrew Romanukha
Business Engagement How the Right Business Engagement Can Lead to Transformation “Happy Ever After”

Winning the hearts and minds of users should be a priority of business transformation from day one. This way the people who really know the day-to-day running of the business have the opportunity to ensure that the new system will meet their and the organization’s requirements when it’s delivered.

Antonio Nigrelli's picture Antonio Nigrelli
portfolio Agile Portfolio Management—A Preferred Approach When Investment Dollars Shrink

As you adopt Agile principles it is important to understand the critical difference between Agile Project Management and Agile Portfolio Management—and that you can have one without the other.

Matthew Muldoon's picture Matthew Muldoon

Better Software Magazine Articles

DevOps 2017 Is a Pivotal Year for DevOps

Customers expect real-time software updates. As DevOps becomes the engine for delivering business value, continuous innovation is needed. And this has to begin at the start of every project.

Eric Robertson's picture Eric Robertson
The Impossibility of Estimating Software The Impossibility of Estimating Software

Estimating software schedules must be an art, not a science. With so many techniques published on the subject, why is it so difficult? It has to do with the human element and past project knowledge.

Balancing Waterfall Predictability with Agile Flexibility

In this FAQ column, Arlen Bankston highlights the difficulty many companies have making the full transition to agile, straddling between waterwall ways and the new horizons of agility.  Arlen provides techniques that can enable companies to ease into the transition, allowing their organization to make the adjustments without the burden of large plans and commitments.

Arlen Bankston's picture Arlen Bankston
Become a Great ScrumMaster

Performing all the functions required to facilitate project teams as ScrumMaster can be a task. Zuzi Sochova describes creative ways to become a master of Scrum by adopting a ScrumMaster state of mind.

Zuzi Sochova's picture Zuzi Sochova

Interviews

Larry Putnam Jr. discusses software estimation and project planning From Proposal to Project: An Interview with Larry Putnam Jr.
Video

Larry Putnam Jr., co-chief executive officer at QSM, sits down to talk about the importance of the proposal when executing a successful project, five key questions that should be answered before any project starts, and how software estimation ties into the proposal process.

Conference Presentations

Agile DevOps Is Your Project Doomed from the Start?
Slideshow

When we think of planning, we often think about requirements planning. We get the initial features and functions down, and then see where agile takes us. Lisa Calkins claims that less than a third of software development projects are successful. Regarding this lack of success, process...

Lisa Calkins
Agile DevOps Visual Management Gone Wild
Slideshow

A visual management system is a low-tech tool with a simple mission—to visually represent the work that the team is doing. When used regularly and correctly, it can be a project acceleration tool. However, teams often go wild with visuals, decorating every inch of free wall space with...

Nichole Vanderlaan
Collocated West Logo Product Management: The Innovation Glue for the Lean Enterprise
Slideshow

At a time when organizations of all sizes both want and need innovation, exciting approaches including lean startup and agile development have risen to the forefront. Although there is no shortage of resources and expertise on these approaches, less guidance is available on the daunting...

Mimi Hoang and George Schlitz
Inside the Mind of the 21st Century Customer
Slideshow

Testers frequently say that they are the voice of the customer or the customer advocate for their organization’s products. In some situations this can be a helpful mindset, but no matter how hard he tries, a software tester is not the customer. In fact, there is no one better suited to...

Alan Page, Microsoft

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