TEAM Zarate Tarrani Notes From the Field

Capability Maturity. Most books on the CMM assume that you're headed for Level 5 and then proceed to write a confusing and overwhelming guide for getting there from ground zero. Implementing the Capability Maturity Model is different.

The author of this excellent book give a realistic roadmap to achieving CMM levels 2 and 3, which are major hurdles in capability maturity, especially level 2 from a culture-shock point of view.

What makes this book realistic is the way you're lead through the important steps, with a complete focus on what it takes instead of theory. The book starts off with an obligatory overview of the CMM, but quickly segues into the steps needed to attain level 2 (repeatable), which are creating the structures, processes, training program and policies. While each of these are important, I especially like the inclusion of policies because they are necessary to codify goals and are frequently overlooked. This section also includes subcontractor management, which is important for aligning those with whom you are using on projects with your own organizational capabilities. This makes sense because if your organization is repeatable and your subcontractor(s) aren't, then you either need to go shopping for more compatible subcontractors, or get dragged back into ad hoc approaches.

The same approach to graduating to level 3 is used, with slight changes. In the section that covers level 3 the first topic is about focusing on organizational process improvement, followed by an in-depth chapter on defining organization processes. These reflect the key changes between level 2's repeatable goals and level 3's focus on defined processes. After these are clearly and completely explained the same formula - structures, processes, training program and policies - is addressed for level 3.

Following the steps to get to levels 2 and 3, the next section is centered on implementation and assessment. This section prepares you for the assessment process itself, and offers excellent advice on how to get through it. Additional information of value is provided in appendices B (Annotated Level 2 Preassessment Questionnaire) and C (Samples of Level 2 Policies), both of which are provided in PDF format from the book's associated web site.

One key question that needs to be answered: Which is better, this book or CMM Implementation Guide: Choreographing Software Process Improvement by Kim Caputo? My opinion is that both books are equally important and both should be read because they cover two different aspects of attaining CMM levels 2 and above. This book concerns itself with the nuts and bolts of processes, where Caputo's book is more focused on organizational change. I recommend both books, and think that they nicely complement each other.

Production Matters. The most critical phase in a systems life cycle is the transition to production. Done wrong and all of the work performed in the requirements, design and development phases count for very little, no matter how well the work was managed and how mature the processes. A book that specifically addresses this make-or-break event is The Unified Process Transition and Production Phases. In the Unified Process (or any systems life cycle) the milestones/phases up to transition are well documented, but these represent the tip of the iceberg with respect to determining project success and total cost of ownership. This unique book examines the transition and production support requirements, addressing some of the deficiencies in the Unified Process (production support is all but ignored), and can be applied to other development life cycle models, nearly all of which have the same blind spots.

Many of the ideas and the approach for this book were born in the author's earlier book, More Process Patterns, which examined the very transition and support requirements in a more generic manner. In fact this book, like the earlier one, is a collection of best practice patterns that cover the transition and production milestones. After an introduction that explains the rationale and approach, the book covers the workflows and patterns in the sequence in which they will occur: testing, deployment and environment, operations and support, project management and infrastructure management.

What makes this book important is that it extends the Unified Process to include the key milestones that account for cost and quality, and goes into great detail about what is required and how to avoid failure. If you work in operations and support you will find the material in this book invaluable - you should also buy copies for key members of the project team that is delivering your system so they have an understanding of and appreciation for the task of supporting their creation. While this book will obviously benefit shops that employ the Unified Process, the information and workflows are equally useful in any development approach.

Data Warehousing. Two books that will interest architects, developers and DBAs are:

1. Data Warehousing Fundamentals. This is one of the best introductory books on data warehousing I've read. The authors make few assumptions of reader knowledge beyond the fact that they are IT professionals who have a technical background that doesn't necessarily include database and data warehouse knowledge. They do assume a basic knowledge of IT operations, project management skills and systems analysis and design - skills that IT professionals are expected to have.
   The book is divided into five parts: Overview and Concepts, Planning and Requirements, Architecture and Infrastructure, Data Design and Data Preparation, and Implementation and Maintenance. These follow a development life cycle, making the structure of the book easy to follow.
   What I like about this book is it doesn't just cover the theory and concepts (which it does do well), but sets data warehousing in the context of a larger architecture designed to meet specific business requirements. I also like the way the authors address real world issues such as planning and managing a data warehouse project, and the issues and factors surrounding adding a data warehouse into an existing technical architecture. This information is what IT professionals are seeking when they are faced with a technology with which they may not have strong knowledge, and it makes this book useful to the intended audience.
   Among the chapters that I most liked are: Principles of Dimensional Modeling, Data Extraction, Transformation, and Loading, and Data Quality: A Key to Success. These capture the essence of data warehousing in my opinion and are topics that IT professionals without a data background need to understand. I also thought that each of the appendices were useful. They provided a finishing touch by covering project life cycle steps and checklists, critical success factors and guidelines for evaluating vendor solutions - each of which provide practical information.
2. Data Warehousing and Web Engineering. This is a collection of papers that cover salient issues in data warehousing with an emphasis on business intelligence, data mining and knowledge management applications. While many of the papers in this book are more useful to technical professionals, there is a lot of material that will also be useful to marketing and competitive intelligence specialists in the business domain.
   Some of the papers are more basic and introductory, such as "Justification of Data Warehousing Projects", "An Introduction to Information Technology and Business Intelligence" and "Some Issues in Design of Data Warehousing Systems". Some, however, address advanced topics such as "Data Mining Methods Databases and Statistics Point of Views" and "Incremental Data Allocation and Reallocation in Distributed Database Systems".
   My personal favorite papers were "Specification of Components Based on the WebComposition Component Model" (reflecting professional interests in component-based development), "Complementing the Data Warehouse with Information Filtered from the Web", and "Using Business Rules Within a Design Process of Active Databases" (another area of professional interest).
   In addition, the papers cover topics in data mining, data quality and knowledge management, which means that there is at least a few papers that will intersect with a reader's professional interests. The best audience for this book includes academics (the papers are citable), consultants who specialize in business intelligence and data mining, and organizations that have a solid base of experience with advanced uses of data warehousing.

Note: This book is also available as an eBook in PDF format.

Softer Side of Risk. I find much comfort in quantitative methods because numbers are unambiguous. However, numbers alone only tell part of the story. Experience is a good teacher and it is from experience that we grow as professionals. Coping With IS/IT Risk Management This is probably one of the most unique books on IT project risk management in that it doesn't go into the process and techniques of risk management, but in the common risks and how to deal with them.

Don't expect qualitative or quantitative risk assessment methods, or even a risk management process that is almost an obligatory part of most project management books. Do expect the collective wisdom of real people who were interviewed, and their recommendations for dealing with the real risks.

These risks range from misaligned or unwarranted expectations to slippery requirements. If you've managed an IT project many of the risks will be familiar. How the PMs who were interviewed handled them will be illuminating.

Aside from the fact that this is a highly readable book that is packed with wisdom and advice, the appendices also add a considerable value. Appendix 1 cross references the risks (constructs) by theme making it easy to quickly find the solution to a particular issue. Appendix 2 gives 5 hypothetical project profiles that reinforce the information in the body of the book, and Appendix 3 is a collection of strategies from the body of the book.

Regardless of whether you are preparing to manage your first project or are seasoned and battle-scared, this book provides knowledge and advice that you can use.