There is an age old debate about who's responsible for quality in software. Some people have quality teams, others dedicate quality to testing.

A vendor left me a phone message. He began by thanking me for visiting his booth at a conference at which I was a speaker. He told me that his product was just what I needed and would solve some of my biggest problems. He also assured me that I would benefit in many ways. Finally, he then asked if I would call him back so we could continue the conversation

When the United States landed a man on the moon, my wife and I use to engage our friends in fun debates on whether Neil Armstrong really stepped onto the surface of the moon or did he descend onto a huge sound stage just north of Phoenix, AZ. As farfetched as that argument is, in many cases, upper management in many software development organizations are being led to believe that their Eagle has landed at Tranquillity Base when it fact their project is “Lost in Space.” Much of that information is coming from the Configuration Management System (CMS).

When I look at the prospect of a distributed development effort, it scares me. So much depends on having the right people and good communicators, all in the right places. It also depends on the successful merging of cultures, but more and more distributed development is taking place.