Here are some of the articles we're written in relation to Software Process Improvement and CMMI. Article contributions will be more than welcome.

Clear vision and goals
July 7, 2005

Execution Quotient. If your organization has a hard time achieving business goals or is missing deadlines, perhaps it is time to review your organi-zation’s Execution Quotient. You can find this at http://www.franklincovey.com/xq.

Industry and academe collaboration
June 16, 2005

The Board of Investments and Department of Trade and Industry organized yesterday its first E-Services Industry and Academe Summit. During this forum, industry representatives from call center, animation, software development, engineering services, medical transcription and business process outsourcing shared their human resource concerns, needs and requirements.

Philippines Software 2010
June 9, 2005

Last weekend, I was in a brainstorming session for the Philippine Software Industry 2010 “flight plan.” The country’s three main software organizations led the discussion: the Philippine Software Industry Association, CebuSoft and Association of Solution Integrators in Davao. 

Cost effectiveness of local software
June 2, 2005

Last Sunday, an article was published in a national newspaper where a multinational software company executive said locally made software will be more expensive to support in the long run through upgrades and all.

Leading an SPI effort
January 13, 2005

IMPROVING PROCESSES. I am often asked where one should start in implementing a software process improvement (SPI) program in an organization. Well, different strokes for different folks. In my case, here’s what I find that works best.

Nightmare suppliers
August 12, 2004

OUTSOURCE OR NOT. I’m currently doing a four-day software process improvement competency development workshop in Zamboanga City with around 25 participants. One of the items discussed is supplier agreement management. As we have various software development needs, companies can decide whether to completely outsource the development or consider purchasing a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) package.

Managing requirements
June 10, 2004

FAILURE. A lot of software development projects by organizations, whether large or small, fail, because of poor requirements management.

Government and software dev’t
June 3, 2004

SLOW COUNT. Witnessing the slowness of the processing of our election returns makes me wonder if things would have been better if the computerized election had pushed through.

New kid in town
April 22, 2004

SETTING UP. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than meeting potential investors online and finally seeing them set up their operations. Two years ago, I got an interesting e-mail from Lawrence Hughes whose wife is from Cebu and will retire here. Lawrence has been working in the IT sector for more than 30 years. He is the co-founder of CipherTrust, a leading company in e-mail security, including corporate anti-spam. One of his objectives in retiring in Cebu is to start another potential successful company, InfoWeapons.

Why Process Models are Important?
by Encarnacion May

Have you been in a situation where you have developed an excellent product but afraid that you may not be able to replicate it with the same precision?

Scoring in the US market
February 26, 2004

BUZZ. When outsourcing became the buzz in 2000, a few foreign and Filipino companies based in the US approached Philippine service providers offering marketing services and help in getting clients for them. One such firm is Global Reach & Associates, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in helping overseas technology companies sell more effectively into the US market headed by CEO Gary Cooper.

Co-opetition
February 19, 2004

NEW GUY. For anyone new in the business today, becoming the company to be recommended is not easy if you don’t have a track record. This is especially true for those who are into information technology (IT) services like Web development and programming, among others. However, one way to survive is to foster the co-opetition culture and business model. This is according to Cris Gamboa, general manager of IT Group.

New environment for software developers
January 29, 2004

WOMEN IN IT. There’s so much talk as to how few software development professionals today are women. Perhaps that is true. But on the other hand, the women I encounter in this field are either project managers, quality analysts, and some are even software testing experts. Vanessa Umali is one of them.

From service to product
January 8, 2004

As the market becomes more competitive, a major challenge among entrepreneurs is the survival and continuity of the business. Last Monday, I got the chance to meet with Erick Kalugdan of GiveMe Unlimited.

Software process improvement a must
August 14, 2003

TARGET: WORLD The Philippines has been able to make a great impression on the international market, showing its decisiveness in becoming an outsourcing location of choice, especially in call centers and business process outsourcing.

Making the Philippines CMM Self-Sufficient
August 23, 2002

The Philippines was able to make a great impression in the DCI IT Outsourcing Conference last October 2001 showing our decisiveness in becoming an outsourcing location of choice especially in call centers and business process outsourcing.

Creating a Web Project Plan

I got asked recently to facilitate an e-commerce workshop and assist the participants to come up with an e-business plan for the organization. The task was a challenge as the company is a well-known pharmaceutical firm with global brands leading in various prescription drug categories.