The world is moving forward and Moore’s Law is accelerating in interesting ways on the technology side, which opens new opportunities, especially in software. In the past I have spoken of the flexibility of Fourth Generation software, that is, software that doesn’t rely on structured hardcoding, but instead, is focused on the data to deliver information to the user in more interesting and essential ways. I work in this area for my day job, and so using such technology has tipped over more than a few rice bowls.
(more…)Project Management
Do You Believe in Magic? — Big Data, Buzz Phrases, and Keeping Feet Planted Firmly on the Ground
My alternative title for this post was “Money for Nothing,” which is along the same lines. I have been engaged in discussions regarding Big Data, which has become a bit of a buzz phrase of late in both business and government. Under the current drive to maximize the value of existing data, every data source, stream, lake, and repository (and the list goes on) has been subsumed by this concept. So, at the risk of being a killjoy, let me point out that not all large collections of data is “Big Data.” Furthermore, once a category of data gets tagged as Big Data, the further one seems to depart from the world of reality in determining how to approach and use the data. So for of you who find yourself in this situation, let’s take a collective deep breath and engage our critical thinking skills.
(more…)Rise of the Machines — Drivers of Change in Business and Project Management
Last week I found myself in business development mode, as I often am, in explaining to a prospective client our future plans in terms of software development. The point that I was making was that it was not our goal to simply reproduce the functionality that every other software solution provider offered, but to improve how the industry does business by making the drive for change through the application of appropriate technology so compelling through efficiencies, elimination of redundancy, and improved productivity, that not making the change would be deemed foolish. In sum, we are out to take a process and improve on it through the application of disruptive technology. I highlighted my point by stating: “It is not our goal to simply reproduce functionality so we can party like it’s 1998, it’s been eight software generations since that time and technology has provided us smarter and better ways of doing things.”
(more…)The Water is Wide — Data Streams and Data Reservoirs
I’ve had a lot of opportunities lately, in a practical way, to focus on data quality and approaches to data. There is some criticism in our industry about using metaphors to describe concepts in computing.
Like any form of literature, however, there are good and bad metaphors. Opposing them in general, I think, is contrarian posing. Metaphors, after all, often allow us to discover insights into an otherwise opaque process, clarifying in our mind’s eye what is being observed through the process of deriving similarities to something more familiar. Strong metaphors allow us to identify analogues among the phenomena being observed, providing a ready path to establishing a hypothesis. Having served this purpose, we can test that hypothesis to see if the metaphor serves our purposes in contributing to understanding.
(more…)Super Doodle Dandy (Software) — Decorator Crabs and Wirth’s Law
![decorator-crab[1]](https://pisanond.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/decorator-crab1.jpg)
The song (absent the “software” part) in the title is borrowed from the soundtrack of the movie, The Incredible Mr. Limpet. Made in the day before Pixar and other recent animation technologies, it remains a largely unappreciated classic; combining photography and animation in a time of more limited tools, but with Don Knotts creating another unforgettable character beyond Barney Fife. Somewhat related to what I am about to write, Mr. Limpet taught the creatures of the sea new ways of doing things, helping them overcome their mistaken assumptions about the world.
(more…)A Little Bit Moore — Moore’s Law and Public Sector Economics
Back in the saddle and have to just find the time to put some thoughts down. In dealing with high tech and data issues one of the most frequent counterfactuals that I have been running into lately is in regard to the “cost” associated with data, especially data submissions. If one approaches this issue using standard economic theory pre-high tech then the positive correlation applies.
But we live in a different world now folks.
(more…)Gotta Serve Somebody — The Proper Balance of Duties in Business–and Project Management
While traveling over the last couple of weeks I was struck by this article in the Wall Street Journal entitled: “Pharmaceutical Companies Buy Rivals’ Drugs, Then Jack Up the Prices.” The reporter of the article stated in a somewhat matter-of-fact manner that the reason for this behavior was the need for maximization of stockholder value. Aside from the fact that, with the poorly vetted excuse mongering in the article about fewer opportunities for development and limitations on payments under healthcare, U.S. drugs tend to be significantly higher than generics found overseas, the assumption regarding maximizing stockholder value is misplaced.
(more…)Let’s Get Physical — Pondering the Physics of Big Data
As a primer a useful commentary on the ethical uses of Big Data was published today at Salon.com in an excerpt from Jacob Silverman’s book, Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection. Silverman takes a different approach from the one that I outline in my article, but he tackles the economics of new media that were identified years ago by Brad DeLong and A. Michael Froomkin back in the late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century. This article on First Monday from 2000 regarding speculative microeconomics emerging from new media nicely summarizes their thesis. Silverman rejects reforming the system in economic terms, entering the same ethical terrain on personal data collection that was explored by Rebecca Skloot on the medical profession’s genetic collection and use of tissue during biopsies in the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
(more…)The Song Remains the Same (But the Paradigm Is Shifting) — Data Driven Assessment and Better Software in Project Management
Probably the biggest DoD-centric project management news this past week was the unofficial announcement by Frank Kendall, who is the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics USD(AT&L), that thresholds would be raised for mandatory detailed surveillance of programs to $100M from the present requirement of $20M. While earned value management implementation and reporting will still be required on programs based on dollar value, risk, and other key factors, especially the $20M threshold for R&D-type projects, the raising of the threshold for mandatory surveillance reviews was seen as good news all around for reducing some regulatory burden. The big proviso in this announcement, however, was that it is to go into effect later this summer and that, if the data in reporting submissions show inconsistencies and other anomalies that call into question the validity of performance management data, then all bets are off and the surveillance regime is once again imposed, though by exception.
(more…)Forget Domani — The Inevitability of Software Transitioning and How to Facilitate the Transition
The old Perry Como* chestnut refers to the Italian word “tomorrow” and is the Italian way of repeating–in a more romantic manner–Keyne’s dictum that in the “long run we’ll all be dead.” Whenever I hear polemicists talk about the long run or invoke the interests of their grandchildren trumping immediate concerns and decisions I always brace myself for the Paleolithic nonsense that is to follow. While giving such opinions a gloss of plausibility, at worst, they are simply fabrications to hide self-interest, a form of tribalism, or ideology, at best, they are based on fallacious reasoning, fear, or the effects of cognitive dissonance.
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