VicOUG Presentation: An Approach to Reducing Inefficiencies in Development Projects
Software-development companies need to be as profitable as possible; to do so they need to strive continually to identify and improve those points in their development processes where inefficiency is highest. This not only reduces their costs, it keeps their customers' happy.
In this presentation, Ken Anderson will describe an approach to reducing inefficiency in development projects that he has developed over the past 20+ years. The purpose of this presentation is to encourage others to adopt some of these inefficiency-reducing methods.
Ken's approach to software development accommodates both those projects that use a waterfall method of application development and those that use an agile method. Key features of the approach include the following:
- defining reporting requirements first
- describing existing and future functions (using the ITIL definition), processes, and work flow requirements
- creating distinct conceptual, logical, and physical data models for business data, reporting, and application support
- defining application modules, creating storyboards, and creating technical use cases
- using tools that make the build-deploy-test cycle simple and fast
- communicating constantly with appropriate stakeholders about questions, issues, decisions, resolutions, plans, and status
Sessions
2:30 - 3:30: During the first half of his presentation, Ken will focus on the overall development approach.
3:45 - 4:45: During the second half, Ken will demonstrate how he uses specific tools to reduce inefficiencies. Although Ken's approach doesn't require specific technologies, his demonstrations will focus on the use of tools like Oracle's Designer and SQL Developer, Allround Automation's PLSQL Developer, custom-built scripts for generating DDL, and Oracle's Application Express.
Audience
This presentation will be of interest:
- to project sponsors in organizations that need to build new systems
- to project managers, business analysts, solution architects, and developers tasked with planning the development of a new system
- to students wanting to understand better some of the issues associated with software development
Ken encourages those who attend this presentation to actively debate, during the presentation, the ability of his approach to reduce development inefficiencies.
Date & Location
Date: Thursday, April 15, 2010
Time: 2:30 - 5:00pm
Location: Ministry of Health auditorium, 1515 Blanchard St., Victoria, BC
Registration
Please register for this meeting by sending an email to caleb@caleb.com