First, A Story Years ago I managed an ETL Team at Unisys. When I became manager, we had about 24 team members. The team grew to 40 members. I was initially hired to build an SSIS framework to replace functionality built-in to a competing product. The maintenance cost for the competing product was $1,000,000USD per …
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Category:Software Development
100 Errors
I believe one milestone to achieving proficiency learning a programming language is you must encounter, and then resolve, 100 errors in your code. I base this largely on the old saying, “We learn from our mistakes.” Mistke-driven learning matches my experience. Thoughts? :{>
Addressing Software Development Estimation
I recently blogged about punching developers in the brain when a software deliverable deadline is slipping. The title of the post is The Question Unasked. In this post, I would like to address software development estimation. In the past, I have stated “Either all software developers are pathological liars or software development is inherently inestimable.” …
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How to Promote SSIS Code in the Enterprise Lifecycle
I’ve written about Data Integration Lifecycle Management (DILM) tiers. To summarize, every enterprise needs at least four lifecycle management tiers: 1. Development – an environment in which developers have sysadmin privileges. 2. Test – another environment in which developers have sysadmin privileges. 4. Production – managed by production operations such as domain administrators, system administrators, …
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Azure DevOps, Software Development, and Git Part 1 – Applied
I started this series with the title “Azure DevOps, SSIS, and Git” in a post titled Azure DevOps, SSIS, and Git Part 0 – Getting Started. I am renaming it because “I do what I want!” Seriously, I renamed the series – changing “SSIS” to “Software Development” – because I’m going to write about more …
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The 2:00 AM Test
I’m working with a collection of clients these days providing data integration, cloud, and DevOps advice. I love architecture work! My clients love the results. Everyone wins. Kent Bradshaw and I are tag-teaming with a couple clients who are converting data integration from other platforms to SSIS. In a recent meeting Kent mentioned “the 2:00 …
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Agile Bashing
I keep reading posts about how agile died. And I get it. All I ask is one small favor: Please don’t confuse agile with mis- implementations that go by the same name. Is agile for everyone? Every business? Every project? Goodness no! But… Agile recognizes some uncomfortable facts about delivering software. For some projects, the …
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I am a Product Manager (No, I’m Not… But I Can Explain)
I was about to click the Publish button for this post about my new role as a product manager when my friend and brother, Scott, called. I mentioned it and Scott said, “You’re not just a product manager. You’re a problem-solver.” Scott is correct. Hence the parentheses in the title of this post. “Is This The …
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Dude, Where’s My Controls? (Visual Studio 2017 Behavior)
I’m coding along on the next release of SSIS Catalog Compare, happy as a clam, when I realize it’s time to add a new menu item. I open the form and… nothing. To say my heart sank would be an understatement. I had questions. “Dude, where’s my controls?” “What happened?!” “Will I be able to …
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Quality vs. On Time – Software Done Well, Part 2
The Setup You’re hired to deliver an add-on to an existing CRM system that was developed in-house. About half-way through the project, you realize you have to make a decision: you can deliver something on-time or you can deliver something that will delight the customer. Which do you choose? Scenario 1: Six months after your …
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