Tuesday 20 September 2011

How to Efficiently Manage Distributed Software Development


Until management insists that product development work be planned and properly managed, effective software process improvement will not start. With an increasing number of system developments made from distributed sub-system software projects, this becomes even more challenging. Distributed software development has become omnipresent in modern enterprise environments. A software configuration management (SCM) system needs to include a common, dependable repository, be tolerant to network outages, support various environments with negligible administrative overheads, to maintain collaboration. It is difficult to visualize any considerable development project managed without a fundamental software configuration management (SCM) tool.

As early models of software development were centralized, every developer working on a project worked in the same place. Today there are global teams consisting of thousands of users, combined with newer methodologies such as agile development, resulting in processes that are both geographically dispersed and exceedingly interactive.  This requires a real-time exchange of source code, documents, and images between team members. To efficiently manage distributed software development, there are techniques and active participation required by team members.  Some of the other requirements for a distributed software development are;

Mutually Shared Repositories
Most of the software management tools that are available are internet enabled. These tools make it increasingly feasible for distributed software developers to get up-to-date information with shared repositories. The mutually shared repositories need to provide a consolidated, real-time view of all assets, their current states, and their development histories to all users. repository- centric tools like, product lifecycle management, change management, project management help to manage processes and offer integrated collaborative characteristics like messaging, threaded discussions, etc.  

Competent Network
The system needs acclimatize to provisional network outages in order to reduce the effect of the network as a restriction on performance and availability. For this the connection between users and the repository ought to utilize nominal bandwidth. To ensure that users do not feel the need to circumvent SCM procedures due to the amount of time required to check in or check out files, bandwidth efficiency is essential. For a user to work productively during an outage, network outages should be minimally disruptive and be simple for users to resolve changes made offline when connectivity is reinstated.

Adequate backing for multi-platform milieu
It is characteristic for large organizations to have numerous development groups working in cross-platform milieu. Additional challenges to deployment also arise from the need to integrate code, as organizations grow. There is also a surge in the data between groups that follow different development methodologies and use different tool sets. It is therefore necessary for a SCM tool to support all major hardware platforms and operating systems.

Latest forms of information exchange are offering inventive ways for distributed developers to collaborate. Distributed software development can be managed efficiently by utilizing the various tools that are available.


Thursday 8 September 2011

The Benefits of Open Source Software


Typically, the most reliable, secure and efficient software is usually under an open license and not owned by a company. Open source software was developed with the source code freely available to the public. It may be a unique way of developing software, but it is surprisingly common and effective. It can be downloaded by anyone, and the necessary changes can be made with the hope that any improvements made by individuals will be committed back to the main source tree, thereby benefitting everyone by the modifications.

The commercial replacement cost of free software is high and to deploy a commercial solution it would be necessary to trim back for a significant buy. Not all of the benefits of open source software deployment are in the form of cost savings. Most of the benefits are is in terms of capabilities gained. Some of the other benefits are

Security
Open source allows anyone to examine software for security flaws. The incessant and broad peer-review enabled by publicly available source code enhances security through the identification and elimination of flaws that can be missed. Gartner, recommends the open source Apache Web server as a more secure alternative to closed source Internet Information servers. The availability of source code also facilitates in-depth security reviews and audits by government customers.  

Fast deployment
With open source software consumers needn't wait years to deploy a solution. Open source software is predominantly apposite for inter-agency collaboration, rapid prototyping and experimentation and can be “test driven” prior to procurement. Both known and unanticipated users can be swiftly provisioned.

Reliability
As open source is peer reviewed software, it is more reliable. The infrastructure of the Internet is largely composed of open-source programs such as DNS, send mail, Apache and languages such as HTML and Perl. They have proven to be both reliable and robust under the most strenuous conditions, like the fast growth of the Internet.

Low-cost
Open source software is often developed through community forums and collaborative. Developers volunteer their time and expertise, and are coordinated by fewer paid programmers. The lower overhead costs translates into substantial savings, as does the fact that open source software typically does not have a per-seat licensing cost. According to Gartner, open source is even more attractive to businesses during tough economic times.

Lower virus vulnerability
Traditionally, an open source OS's have fared better than other operating systems. A virus infection on a network server can be devastating in terms of data loss, down time, and staff time required for reconstruction. Open source servers that are less vulnerable to virus infections provide cost savings in terms of diminished liability in these areas.

Open Source Software may not provide a solution for every computing requirement, but it is a well established part of the computing ecosystem that plays a critical role in Internet and business infrastructure that enables companies to access expert resources and components that accelerate software product development  and release processes.

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