Software Delivery InFocus podcast - the challenge of software quality
This is the fourth in our Software Delivery InFocus series of podcast episodes, starring Bola Rotibi - the Principal Analyst of MWD's Software Delivery competency area. In this episode, she discusses the thorny issue of software quality. This is something the IT industry has talked about for decades - so why is it still so patchy? Bola's guests are Madelyn Bryant McIntire, Principal Group Manager, PQO Product Quality Management, Microsoft; and Justin Spencer, Development Manager at Lend Lease (a large publicly listed international property group).
Producing quality software code is undoubtedly a desired goal of any software delivery team - irrespective of whether the delivered application is for commercial sale or internal business use. Software quality is regularly placed in the top five demand requirements of the software delivery team, yet the quality of software is regularly highlighted as a major failure point and the basis for much end user dissatisfaction. Here, Bola talks to her guests about the main points of failure in software delivery processes; the actions that Microsoft and Lend Lease take to improve the quality of delivered software in a business-driven environment; where the next challenges will come from; and what tools suppliers could do better.
You can download the audio
here or alternatively you can
subscribe to the podcast feed to make sure you catch this and all future podcasts!
Labels: Lend Lease, Microsoft, MWD, podcast, Software Quality
Software Delivery InFocus podcast - Developing in the cloud
This is the third in our Software Delivery InFocus series of podcast episodes, starring Bola Rotibi - the Principal Analyst of MWD's Software Delivery competency area. In this episode, she discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with using cloud-based software development services. Bola's guest is Debbie Ashton, Product Director for CODA - a provider of both on-premise and SaaS-hosted financial management applications.
Although there is a lot of hype surrounding the concept of "cloud computing", there also appears to be real value to be gained in some usage scenarios. The obvious financial benefit of renting software service (being able to remove up-front capital expenditure and instead account for software as an operating expense) is coupled with the scalability that's possible (you can pay as you go, and pay as you grow) and together it looks like cloud-based offerings will be especially attractive in the tougher economic climate that nearly all of us look likely to be experiencing for quite a while. Many organisations today are tempted to think only of the quick advantages of Cloud – partly as a result of the hype coming from the vendor community. However, whilst the potential and advantages are well documented and clear for people to see, the disadvantages or the challenges of use are not. In this podcast we look specifically at the challenges of developing applications for delivery from cloud-based software platforms. What practices if any should organisations take on board in developing applications and solutions using cloud-based development services? What processes and methods should organisations be putting into practice to get the most out of cloud development services?
CODA developed its SaaS-based offering, CODA2go, on Salesforce.com's Force.com platform - and in this podcast episode we hear what Debbie and her team learned about developing in the cloud along the way. Thanks to Debbie for some great insights. You can download the audio
here or alternatively you can
subscribe to the podcast feed to make sure you catch this and all future podcasts!
As with all the episodes in this podcast series, we've also published a companion report which summarises the discussion and "key takeaways". You can find it
here, and it's free to download for all MWD's Guest Pass research subscribers (
joining is free).
Labels: coda, development, podcast, SaaS, Salesforce
Interviewing Avaya on Communications-Enabled Business Processes (CEBP)
The other week I participated in a podcast interview with Avaya's
Gordon Loader, discussing Communication-Enabled Business Processes (CEBP). This is something that Avaya's been talking about for some time, but it's only recently that it's taken a little more form as an idea. The confluence of trends in collaboration, unified communications and BPM is something that's very interesting to us, given our active collaboration and BPM research programmes.
In the interview, Gordon and I discuss what CEBP is; why it's interesting; what the potential benefits are; and we also touch a little on how you can get started in exploring where CEBP might add value in your organisation. We talk not only about the kind of "firefighting" scenarios that come most immediately to mind (using telephony and/or messaging to make contact with people when there's some kind of process problem that needs urgent resolution) - but also process scenarios related to sales and marketing, product development, and more. It's worth a listen, I think!
You can find the podcast interview
here (though you'll need to register with ETM as a subscriber to access the audio itself). The title of the page is a little misleading, as we don't just talk about "how Avaya defines CEBP"...don't let that put you off.
Labels: avaya, BPM, collaboration, podcast
Software Delivery InFocus podcast - ALM challenges and direction in the real world
Following the first Software Delivery InFocus podcast which we published in September, October sees Bola Rotibi's second podcast episode, in which she discusses a series of questions focused on the topic of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). Her guests are John Leegte (ICT Architect at the Dutch Tax and Customs department, Belastingdienst) and Steve Jones (Head of SOA and SaaS for Capgemini’s global outsourcing business).
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a topical subject that has garnered significant column inches in recent months, as many of the leading players in the market have launched new versions of their ALM solutions, and make strategic announcements concerning future directions and customer services and support. Over the last few months we have either heard about or seen previews of products from the likes of Borland, Compuware, HP, IBM, Microsoft, MKS, Polarion and Serena, to name but a few. Software is seen by many organisations as a key enabler of business value - whether that be through improving operational efficiency, competitive differentiation or business/ product innovation. With this in mind, an ad hoc approach to software application lifecycle management cannot provide the predictability, visibility and traceability that organisations require of a process that has such a significant impact on the balance sheet. So - how relevant and applicable is ALM now and in the future, particularly in light of today's technology and business environments, when issues such as agility are so much to the fore?
The episode is slightly longer than normal (clocking in at 41'55"). There was so much good material in the conversation, we didn't want to cut anything! Thanks very much to both John and Steve for such a great conversation.
You can download the audio
here or alternatively you can
subscribe to the podcast feed to make sure you catch this and all future podcasts!
As with all the episodes in this podcast series, we've also published a companion report which summarises the discussion and "key takeaways". You can find it
here, and it's free to download for all MWD's Guest Pass research subscribers (
joining is free).
Labels: agile, development, podcast, SOA
A new MWD FM podcast series: Software Delivery InFocus
After an extended hiatus, we're relaunching our podcasting efforts with a planned series of discussions focusing on the challenges and issues associated with software delivery processes and competence in enterprises. We've called this podcast series "Software Delivery InFocus", and it's hosted by Bola Rotibi, MWD's Principal Analyst for Software Delivery. Each podcast in the series will feature Bola and one or two guest commentators.
In this 33'06" podcast episode Bola discusses a series of questions focused on the issue of making the right technology choices. Her guests are Alan Zeichick (Editorial Director at SD Times) and Clive Howard (Founding Partner of Howard/Baines, a web development consultancy).
In an environment where software is everywhere and increasingly business critical, but where new technologies and approaches appear on the horizon at an alarming rate - when organisations look to carry out projects, are the right technology choices being made, and if not, why not? And who's to blame? What can organisations do to help them make better technology choices?
You can download the audio
here or alternatively you can
subscribe to the podcast feed to make sure you catch this and all future podcasts!
As with all the episodes in this podcast series, we've also published a companion report which summarises the discussion and "key takeaways". You can find it
here, and it's free to download for all MWD's Guest Pass research subscribers (
joining is free).
Labels: alignment, development, podcast
MWD FM SOA interview: TIBCO
We're nearing the end (for now - we have more planned, but not for a little while) of a series of SOA vendor interview podcasts with
this one, which we conducted recently with Rob Myer of TIBCO. Rob works in Product Management at TIBCO with responsibility for SOA.
We ask the usual four questions, and along the way swing by some interesting conversation points:
- What you need from infrastructure in order to move towards enterprise-wide SOA, and what TIBCO learned from telecoms companies' service platform requirements
- The challenges associated with the WS-Policy, WS-Management and WSDM standards
- The application of CEP (complex event processing) technology to managed service delivery in the context of SLAs.
This podcast episode is 34'28" long. The podcast episode lasts 25'34". You can download the audio
here or you can
subscribe to the feed.Labels: MWD, podcast, SOA, TIBCO
MWD FM SOA interview: webMethods
Here's another in our series of interviews with vendors offering SOA "solutions". This time we spoke to Miko Matsumura, head of product marketing for SOA at webMethods.
In this conversation we ask the usual four questions - and also chat about the importance of webMethods' SOA Link program, the role of the Infravio Governance Rules Engine, and SOA as an enabler of federated/cross enterprise business processes.
The podcast episode lasts 25'34". You can download the audio
here or you can
subscribe to the feed.Labels: MWD, podcast, SOA, webMethods
MWD FM SOA interview: Microsoft
Here's the fourth in our series of interviews with vendors offering SOA related products and services. This time it's the turn of Kris Horrocks, who's a Technical Product Manager in the Connected Systems Division of Microsoft. (The Connected Systems Division was formed in 2005 as part of the Server and Tools business, and it brings together work on .NET, BizTalk, CardSpace and other related things).
As usual we talk through our
standard four questions. In the resulting conversation we explore:
- how Microsoft deals with customers' questions about scalability and interoperability
- the importance of "high fidelity handoffs" between IT practices in quality service delivery
- how the SOA offering fits with Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) and support for "design for operations", and what this means for managing service lifecycles.
The podcast episode lasts 34'41". You can download the audio
here or you can
subscribe to the feed.Labels: Microsoft, MWD, podcast, SOA
MWD FM SOA interview: HP
Here's the third in our series of interviews with SOA vendors. This week it's the turn of Roman Stanek - one of the founders of Systinet, which was bought by Mercury (which was then in turn bought by HP a few months back).
The 31'17" interview has some great stuff in it. As we ask our
usual four questions about HP and Systinet SOA offerings, we swing past:
- scenarios where the standardisation and interoperability that SOA introduces are particularly important
- how SOA is about outcomes, not protocols (with reference to the SOAP vs REST debate)
- how SOA wil disappear from the IT industry's lexicon in the coming years, because it will become a standard feature of the IT landscape
- the effect that SOA has on the software development lifecycle, and how the loose coupling that it introduces into development organisations and processes brings requirements for strong management of service lifecycles and service quality.
You can download the audio
here or you can
subscribe to the feed.
Labels: HP, MWD, podcast, SOA
MWD FM SOA interview: Martin Percival, BEA
Our second SOA vendor interview was with BEA's Martin Percival yesterday. Again we followed our standard format - and in the resulting 34'30" podcast we get into discussing:
- BEA's experience of delivering "information as a service" projects within SOA initiatives
- How SOA is about more than just WS-* technology
- BEA's transition from a pure Java implementation focus to a broader focus, re-embracing its "legacy" middleware platform Tuxedo, the Microsoft expertise of its Plumtree acquisition, and also pointing to the SCA/SDO effort that it's a member of
- Why it bought Flashline (a software development repository vendor) and didn't buy a SOA registry vendor (it partners with Systinet/Mercury/HP)
- How its SOA 360 initiative will impact on the admin & management of the BEA platform.
You can download the audio
here or you can
subscribe to the feed.
Labels: BEA, MWD, podcast, SOA
CIO podcast
Over here is the first of what we hope will be a series of podcasts with CIOs who've instigated work to improve IT-business alignment in their organisations. The interview is with New Zealand-resident Peter Burggraaff, until recently the CIO of NZ retail chain
Farmers Trading Company. It follows on from the work we did last year on our
forthcoming book, which is due out in a couple of weeks.
Peter talks to us in this 31'34" podcast episode about his initiative at Farmers and the outcomes he achieved.
In the podcast Peter explains that Farmers was in a situation where IT cost was way too high, and although the IT organisation was doing some things well (particularly managing operational services) it wasn't seen as a real contributor of business value as Farmers looked to put some big business changes in place. He goes on to explain how he started to turn this situation around and built a solid and trusted relationship with Farmers business management.
We're very excited to present this podcast, and we very much hope to be doing more of these over the coming weeks and months. Thanks Peter!
If you'd like to get involved in this programme of podcasts don't hesitate to
let us know.
Labels: book, CIO, podcast
First MWD FM SOA interview: David Clarke, Cape Clear
We interviewed David yesterday and asked him our
standard SOA vendor questions. Considering it was the first interview, we think it went OK...
There were a couple of interesting things to come out of the interview:
- Cape Clear markets itself as an ESB vendor, but its view of what is "in" an ESB is much broader than that of most other vendors - David in particular calls out BPEL-based service orchestration
- the sweet spot for the company is really a "mainstream", "mid-market" company which may not have much in the way of deep in-house web services or SOA technology skills
- the company is currently working quite a lot in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other commercial service delivery scenarios - helping companies in the digital service delivery business create more sophisticated and valuable services
- David also specifically calls out the need for potential SOA "customers" to make clear distinctions between management of SOA-related technology, and management of the automated processes supported by that technology. These are two separate problems with different solution needs, and they should be evaluated as such
- it's pretty obvious from the conversation, we think, that Cape Clear is very firmly a technology company selling its capability as a standards-based middleware solution to integration problems. This makes it quite different from many of the other SOA players, which position themselves almost as business change agents.
The interview lasts 32'55". The audio file containing the interview with David Clarke is
here - or alternatively you can
subscribe to the podcast feed.
Labels: Cape Clear, MWD, podcast, SOA
MWD FM kicks off interviews with SOA vendors
We let our podcasting get a little bit behind (well actually 3 months or so behind...) recently, and so we're trying to make up for it now. We have two initiatives underway, and this is the first (you'll find about the second one soon).
We've just recorded the first of a series of interviews with senior representatives from IT vendors working to provide SOA-related offerings - the first is with David Clarke, EVP of Products at
Cape Clear.
The aim is to have a go at using the podcast medium to create a set of interviews which people considering or embarking on SOA initiatives can use as an additional reference in their selection process - kind of like an (albeit high level) set of comparable assessments in audio format... if that makes sense!
In order to make these interviews as useful as possible we're doing three particular things.
First, these are
not sponsored podcasts. No-one is paying anyone for taking part in these interviews.
Second, we're keeping each interview to around 30 minutes, so everyone gets the same amount of time to talk about what they're doing.
Third, we're asking each interviewee to address the same four questions:
1) What are the commonly-occurring customer scenarios where your products and services get used?
2) How do you ensure that you "play well" with customers' existing investments - and where is this particularly important in your experience?
3) What are the main challenges that you help customers with - are you primarily helping them with service design, creation, assembly, management, etc?
4) How do you ensure that your technology is easy to deploy and manage?
Obviously there are many more questions we could ask, but given the level of confusion and FUD that currently surrounds SOA and related technologies we think these ones are pretty useful.
We've got a couple of other interviews lined up for the coming weeks, but if you've got particular vendors or groups that you'd like us to interview, please let us know!
Labels: MWD, podcast, SOA
