BT

Facilitating the Spread of Knowledge and Innovation in Professional Software Development

Write for InfoQ

Topics

Choose your language

InfoQ Homepage Business Content on InfoQ

  • Case study: A new approach to integrating architectures post-merger at Lawson

    The merger of Lawson and Intentia in 2006 left developers with an important problem to solve - the integration and presentation of legacy applications and business services that are constructed in Java, .NET, and other technologies. This case study looks under the hood at the new architecture at Lawson and how they got there.

  • Implementation of business rules and business processes in SOA

    Boris Lublinsky and Didier Le Tien discuss how business process engines and business rule engines differ, where their respective strengths are and when to use what in an SOA context. They discuss commonalities and differences between business rules and business processes and present some guidelines on positioning business rules in SOA implementation and appropriate usage of each technology.

  • A Hard Look at the Organizational Implications of BPM

    This article examines the conceptual BPM project from the following perspectives: what is involved to deliver the project, what are its enablers and what are its total costs of ownership (TCO). Before investments are made in reengineering processes and deploying BPM solutions, businesses need to commit to making the organizational changes necessary to allow realization of any lasting value.

  • Interview: Using Agile for SOA

    Recently, Digital Focus documented their experience using Agile to tackle SOA for Federal Home Loan Banks. The incremental approach included adopting an SOA platform that could grow as the SOA application portfolio grew, and getting frequent feedback from customers and developers. InfoQ interviewed both the client and the author of the experience report on the project, and business-IT alignment.

  • Railway Story: SimpleTicket

    A 5-year old, Dallas-based company named Spur is gaining attention and kudos within Ruby on Rails circles. Earlier this week it announced a new release of its popular GPL'd IT support tool named SimpleTicket. Managing Partner Alexander Muse was kind enough to share the story of SimpleTicket with InfoQ.

  • Experience Report: Agile Development Apprenticeship at NMHU

    During the 2004-2005 academic year, Pam Rostal and Dave West ran a unique work-study degree program at New Mexico Highlands University: 20 students using Agile practices to execute real world projects. This story shows what can happen when education goes beyond the ordinary: when people are encouraged to strive for mastery and taught the thinking tools to do so.

  • Standish: Why were Project Failures Up and Cost Overruns Down in 1998?

    Following InfoQ's August interview with Jim Johnson, creator of the CHAOS Chronicles on project failure, one important question remained: how does the Standish Group explain the amazing change in cost overrun from 189% in 1994 to 69% in 1998? In an excerpt from this month's CHAOS University newsletter, Johnson refers to events in 1996 that changed the complexion of project planning and execution.

  • Agile Alliance Survey: Are We There Yet?

    Diana Larsen, a member of the Agile Alliance Board of Directors, leads a lot of retrospectives... So, it's not surprising that, when she asked herself "Where is Agile going now?" her response was to run a retrospective of her own. She circulated a survey to the other Agile Alliance board members, and has compiled a picture of the trends they're seeing in the Agile world.

  • Agile Business Rules

    James Taylor looks at the challenge that arises when the new requirements are not really requirements at all, but new or changed business rules. Aren't business rules the same as requirements? Taylor says: no, not really; and looks at how to make an agile development processes work just as well for business rules as they do for other kinds of requirements.

  • From Java to Ruby: Risk

    "Ruby is risky" is a common perception. As Ruby on Rails moves closer to the mainstream, that risk will decrease. In this article, Bruce Tate examines the changing risk profiles for Java and Ruby from a managers perspective, examining Java's initial adoption and also common risk myths about Rails.

  • Interview: Jim Johnson of the Standish Group

    Jim Johnson, founder and chairman of the Standish Group, took time out from his vacation to talk with InfoQ editor Deborah Hartmann about his research, and the role of Agile in changing the IT industry. Johnson is best known for creating the CHAOS Chronicles: 12 years of independent research on project performance, including data on over 50,000 completed IT projects.

  • Executive summary - An Adaptive Performance Management System

    Traditional thinking has turned budgets into fixed performance contracts forcing managers at all levels to commit to specified financial outcomes, although many of the underlying variables are beyond their control. In this Cutter Executive Summary, Jim Highsmith offers an alternative for the adaptive organization: a project performance management system and a team performance management system.

BT