Articles

White Paper: Software Performance Test Methodology

This white paper covers a proven performance-testing methodology that was developed from eight years of experience. This paper covers the six phases of this methodology: Assessment, Planning, Scripting, Execution, Analysis, Report, and Feedback; as well as the advantages of following this methodology.

Process Implementation for Agile Projects

In this article Sushma explores some of the problems that she's encountered when implementing processes for agile projects. Sushma addresses each with simple solutions.

Scope Keep, Not Scope Creep

An often-cited bugaboo of many projects is scope creep-the unrestrained expansion of requirements as the project proceeds. Yet requirements development is about gaining an ever-growing understanding of requirements. So, isn't scope creep normal? Find out in this week's column as Ellen Gottesdiener explores exactly how to keep scope under control.

Agile 2008 - Jochen Krebs - Agile PMO, Agile Portfolio Managment, Scrum and More

Podcast

Bob speaks with Jochen Krebs about his portfolio management book and scaling agile.

Agile in Motion: Beginner's Mind and Promiscuous Pairing

In this Iterations interview, an excerpt of which was originally published in the April 9, 2008 issue of the Iterations newsletter, Arlo Belshee discusses the concepts of "beginner's mind" and "promiscuous pairing."

A Word with the Wise: Configuration Management Tips from Steve Berczuk

In this short interview with editor Joey McAllister, Steve Berczuk offers some tips to organizations dealing with configuration management (CM) issues.

Reusability vs. Usability: Where to Draw the Line?

Arbitrary reuse of code components could deteriorate overall usability. In this week's column, Linda Hayes explains the good and bad qualities of reusability and five factors one should keep in mind when managing reusability to get the most of it.

Automating Your Regression Test Cases

Companies that develop and maintain software can dramatically improve the quality of their software releases by creating regression test cases that ensure existing features are not broken with new releases. This newsletter discusses: how to create regression test cases, when to automate regression test cases, and the best practices for automation analysis.

Defining Requirements When the Time Frame is Short

Recent industry studies show that modern software projects on average spend 40 percent of their effort on rework. As a result, over 60 percent of software projects overrun budgets, miss schedules, and substantially reduce delivered functionality. This article describes how to define requirements in an Agile environment, including a survey of the most popular methodologies used.

Transitioning from Analysis to Design

The step between specifying requirements to working on a system design can be tricky. Fortunately, the basis on which the step is made can be calculated. Paul Reed thoroughly explains how the transition should progress and offers some instructions on how to move properly through this phase.