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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Category:Software Development
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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