Software Endgames: Eliminating Defects, Controlling Change, and the Countdown to On-Time Delivery

In software development, projects are won or lost during the endgame – that final stage between release for testing and release to customers.

Software Endgames presents realistic strategies for delivering working software to your customers. Focusing solely on the endgame, the book provides hard-won, hands-on practices you can implement right away.

In the endgame, effective management of defect repairs is crucial. Experienced project manager and consultant Robert Galen shows how to conduct effective defect triage – analyzing, categorizing, and determining the priority of defects for repair.

Readers learn how to transform the endgame from a time of rampant defects and utter chaos into a time of focused repairs, effective teamwork, and change management. You’ll set release criteria, establish endgame release plans, and utilize a variety of change reduction and endgame management techniques.

Topics include

* release criteria and how to leverage them to guide your teams’ efforts * strategies for reducing the rate of change * change control and triage techniques that lead to efficient and effective defect repair decisions * alternative methods for defect repair and decision-making flexibility * setting up a defect-tracking system, managing defects and gathering standard metrics for endgame defect trending * techniques for repair planning and efficiency * agile extensions – how to apply these techniques to agile projects * how to mine your endgames for improvements on future projects

features 4 appendices and 40+ figures and tables