You Want IT When?

While reading a June 12, 2008 Time Magazine article “How He Did It,” an account of how Barack Obama came to win the Democratic nomination, it reminded me of the dynamics of a software project.   Early in the Obama’s campaign near panic set in as Obama was drawing record crowds and record donations, but he still trailed Hillary Clinton by 20 points in the polls.   Many in his campaign feared his approach to politicking would not get the job done.  Obama’s “top moneymen were urging him to rethink his strategy, shake up his staff, go negative.” 

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I’m reminded of an interview I had with a young company for a Software Director role.  They were at point where they were ready to begin rapidly acquiring new customers.  When a new customer signed, there was customization required to have the system operate according to the customer’s demanding requirements.   The turnaround time from signing the new customer and having them productively using the system was approximately four weeks - at least that was the goal. 

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The Agile software development practices are in their infancy stage as evidenced by the number of variants that are being promoted in popular print and usage today:  Scrum and XP being two popular variants.  Clearly the Agile practices are still evolving, and I believe what will eventually emerge are a set of Agile practices that look awfully familiar to traditional approaches.  The question is, is once the Agile community arrives there, will the conflict cease?

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Have you ever wondered why software process has yet to flourish in the software industry?  Why, after many decades of industry growth, there is no consensus on a process methodology or even best practices?  Why specious Agile approaches have captured significant mindshare in the software community?  Why when you mention the words software process, software professionals cringe?

In other industries process innovation has been the contributing factor in the explosive growth.  Where would the industrial revolution be without the innovation of assembly line processes?  Where would the auto industry be?  A predictable, repeatable process has been the cornerstone of innovation and quality for many successful industries.  Did you ever wonder why a hamburger and french-fries at McDonalds taste the same no matter where in the world you purchase it?  It’s all about process.

It’s an enigma to me and others who have had great success with software process that we continue to debate the need for formal process in the software industry.  Yet the software industry continues unabated with a record of late deliveries, budget overruns, missed expectations, and low quality.  In this article, I’d like to explore the factors that contribute to software process adoption failure.

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