Introduction Maturity Alone Is Meaningless: SPI Reality from Industry Start SPI with Credible Estimation Software Process Improvement: Is That What We All Should Be Doing -- Again? Manager, Heal Thyself: Improving Software Processes Means Changing Management Processes Resistance As a Resource Next Issue Customer Intimacy It may sound a little racy, but customer intimacy is really just about knowing your customers so that you can anticipate and meet their needs. As organizations strive to become customer-centered, their need for cross-organizational customer information increases. Can they overcome 40+ years of bad IT habits and organization-centric systems? What new approaches are they implementing? Is it technology or organizational behavior that needs changing? Next month, you’ll find out whether your organization has what it takes to create long-lasting, “intimate” relationships with your customers. |
Brace yourselves -- software process improvement (SPI) is back. "Oh, come on now," you might say. "I worked through SPI 10 years ago. Are people still talking about it?" Yes, we are. Because even if you intend to avoid the Capability Maturity Model like the plague, there are still good ideas on what people can do to develop software better.
So how do we make SPI a critical technique for the pragmatist instead of a theoretical exercise? In the October issue of the Cutter IT Journal, we'll discuss the critical elements that were missing in failed SPI projects and what must be present for SPI to work. We'll ask how SPI relates to the business and the people. We'll talk about what happens after the SPI change agent leaves and how we keep people from reverting back to poor processes once all the hoopla is over.
SPI isn't just for bookshelves and bureaucrats. Check out this issue to see why you can't keep a good idea down.