COURSE # SOO-606
MANAGEMENT'S ROLE IN ACHIEVING PREDICTABLE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
An interactive workshop for Software Managers and Executives.
In today's highly competitive, global economy, the demand for software products frequently exceeds an organization's ability to deliver. As a result, many software companies fail to meet customers' expectations.
This usually leads to frustrated, unhappy customers and, as a result, frustrated employees.
Many software organizations behave in an unpredictable manner. In an unpredictable organization, it is difficult to determine when software products will be released, the features these products will have, and their overall quality. Without knowing when products will be released, organizations cannot plan important activities such as customer training and product promotions. Further, resource utilization across projects may become inefficient and difficult to manage when projects fail to meet schedules. Lastly, customers cannot plan for introduction of new software into their organizations when release dates are frequently missed.
A predictable software development process can significantly improve an organization's ability to deliver quality software on time, to meet or exceed customer expectations, and to improve employee satisfaction.
Managers and Executives have the ability to change the behavior of their organizations by providing technical and managerial leadership and the incentive to change.
This one-day workshop provides Managers and Executives with proven techniques they can use to help their organizations become more predictable. These techniques can help organizations develop realistic schedules that can be consistently met, improve resource utilization, streamline the development process, manage risk and commitments more effectively, and balance issues of time-to-market vs. Quality. The net result will be improved customer satisfaction, lower turnover, and an improved bottom-line.
Applications and benefits:
You will benefit by enhancing your understanding of:
- The Economics of Software Development
- Why accurate estimating and scheduling skills are crucial to success
- The importance of managing internal and external commitments
- Software Development Best Practices
- How Risk Management can help avoid failure
Who should attend:
This course is intended for Managers and Executives of companies that develop software.
Course Outline:
Introduction and Workshop Objectives
- Motivation
- What is a Predictable Software Development Process?
- Why is it important for organizations to behave in a Predictable manner?
- Economics of Software Development
- Software Defect Cost Models
- Bug Fix Releases are not Free
- Balancing Quality, Features, and Schedule
- Developing Accurate Estimating Skills
- Managing Commitments to Customers
- Building Accurate Schedules that can actually be met
- The Yellow Sticky Method - an interactive exercise
- Balancing People, Process, and Product
- Software Development Best Practices
- Managing Risks
- Documenting the Software Development Process
- Dealing with the People Issues
- Summary
- Management Checklist
About the Instructor
Steven R. Rakitin has over 25 years experience as a software engineer and software quality manager in a broad range of industries including nuclear power, defense, computers, automated test equipment,
telecommunications, medical instrumentation, and electronic design automation. Currently, he is the Principal at Software Quality Consulting, where he works with companies seeking to improve the predictability of their software development processes. Mr. Rakitin was one of the authors of the IEEE Standard for Software Quality Assurance Plans (IEEE-STD-730) and is a member of the IEEE Computer Society and the American Society for Quality (ASQ). He is a member of the Editorial Review Board for the journal titled, "Software Quality Professional", published by ASQ. He has published several papers on the subject of Software Quality, and recently published a book titled, Software Verification & Validation: A Practitioner's Guide. He has experience
with ISO-9000, TickIT, SEI CMM, and other software quality and process improvement initiatives. Mr. Rakitin received a BSEE from Northeastern University and an MSCS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has
earned certifications from the ASQ as a Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) and Quality Auditor (CQA).
Details:
Course: SOO-606 Duration: 1 Days FEE: $799 CEUs: 0.72
Please direct any additional inquiries regarding this course to Anita Hellstrom, Program Coordinator, by e-mail, FAX: (636) 273-4955 or TELEPHONE: (636) 273-9608.
Call toll free 1-800-683-7267 from anywhere in the Continental U.S. or CANADA.
Last modified June 23, 2004.
