Software Change Management: Case Studies and Practical Advice

Software Change Management: Case Studies and Practical Advice

by Donald J. Reifer
Released December 2011
Publisher(s): Microsoft Press
ISBN: 9780735668652

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Book description

Why is it so difficult to change organizations? What does it really take to make “process improvement” yield measurable results? For more than 30 years, Donald Riefer has been guiding software teams through the technical, organizational, and people issues that must be managed in order to make meaningful process changes—and better products. This practical guide draws from his extensive experience, featuring 11 case studies spanning the public and private sectors and even academia. Each case study illuminates the original conditions; describes options and recommendations; details reactions, outcomes, and lessons learned; and provides essential references and resources.

  • Eleven case studies provide insightful, empirical data from real-world organizations

  • Provides a broad view across organizational settings and factors, such as personnel, and technical environments, including cloud, Agile, and open source options

  • Illuminates the hard-won lessons, tradeoffs, and impacts—with advice on how to engineer successful, sustainable changes yourself

    •

    Table of contents

    1. Dedication
    2. Foreword
    3. Introduction
      1. Who Should Read This Book
        1. Assumptions
      2. Who Should Not Read This Book
      3. Organization of This Book
      4. Online Companion Content
      5. Acknowledgments
      6. Errata & Book Support
      7. We Want to Hear from You
      8. Stay in Touch
    4. 1. Getting Started
      1. Goals and scope
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Change agents and their role
      3. Making a difference
      4. Why is it so difficult to change organizations?
      5. Questions to be answered
      6. Summary
      7. References
      8. Web resources
    5. 2. Industrial Case: Organizational Change in a Large Information Technology Shop
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    6. 3. Industrial Case: Justifying a Process Improvement Program for a Large Bank
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Accelerating productivity
      3. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      4. Outcomes and lessons learned
      5. Summary
      6. References
      7. Web resources
    7. 4. Industrial Case: Moving to Commercial Off-the-Shelf and Open-Source Software Usage in Telecommunications
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    8. 5. Industrial Case: Small Defense Project Needs Help
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    9. 6. Industrial Case: Utility Moving to the Clouds
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    10. 7. Industrial Case: Adoption of Agile Methods
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    11. 8. Government Case: Large Defense Project Behind Schedule and Over Budget
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    12. 9. Government Case: Introducing New Technology
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    13. 10. Government Case: Maintenance Shop in Turmoil
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    14. 11. Academic Case: Establishing a Meaningful Collaboration with Industry
      1. Setting the stage
        1. Organization
        2. Project
        3. Process
        4. Product
        5. People
      2. Options, recommendations, and reactions
      3. Outcomes and lessons learned
      4. Summary
      5. References
      6. Web resources
    15. 12. Making an Impact
      1. Secrets of success
      2. Lessons-learned summary
      3. Ten tools and techniques to rely on
      4. What senior management wants to see
      5. What workers want to hear
      6. Summary
      7. References
      8. Web resources
    16. A. Acronyms
    17. B. Glossary
      1. Glossary
    18. C. Recommended Readings, References, and Resources
      1. Recommended Readings
      2. References
      3. Other Resources
    19. Index
    20. About the Author
    21. Copyright

    Product information

    • Title: Software Change Management: Case Studies and Practical Advice
    • Author(s): Donald J. Reifer
    • Release date: December 2011
    • Publisher(s): Microsoft Press
    • ISBN: 9780735668652