Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results (Coad Series) (Paperback)

by David J. Anderson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This book is certainly about software development management, but it is also a book about business. Managers can no longer afford to discuss these two topics independently. This book is meant to eliminate the seat-of-the-pants intuition and rough approximations that have been far too prevalent in software development management. The growing popularity of agile methods has shown that a healthy balance between strict process and individual flexibility can be achieved. David Anderson takes it a step farther, and explains how the healthy balance of agility can help businesses become more profitable. The result is a book that will allow managers to foster teams that produce better software, less expensively, on time, and with fewer defects.

From the Back Cover

"This book does a good job of describing the methods employed at Sprintpcs.com ... over 250 people practicing Feature Driven Development and reporting their progress to me at the monthly operations review."
--Scott B. Relf, Chief Marketing Officer, Sprint PCS

"A tremendous contribution to the literature in the field. This should be required reading for all development teams going forward."
--John F. Yuzdepski, VP & GM, Openwave Systems

A breakthrough approach to managing agile software developmentAgile methods might just be the alternative to outsourcing. However, agile development must scale in scope and discipline to be acceptable in the boardrooms of the Fortune 1000. In Agile Management for Software Engineering, David J. Anderson shows managers how to apply management science to gain the full business benefits of agility through application of the focused approach taught by Eli Goldratt in his Theory of Constraints.

Whether you're using XP, Scrum, FDD, or another agile approach, you'll learn how to develop management discipline for all phases of the engineering process, implement realistic financial and production metrics, and focus on building software that delivers maximum customer value and outstanding business results.Coverage includes:

• Making the business case for agile methods: practical tools and disciplines
• How to choose an agile method for your next project
• Breakthrough application of Critical Chain Project Management and constraint-driven control of the flow of value
• Defines the four new roles for the agile manager in software projects-- and competitive IT organizations

Whether you're a development manager, project manager, team leader, or senior IT executive, this book will help you achieve all four of your most urgent challenges: lower cost, faster delivery, improved quality, and focused alignment with the business.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR (September 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131424602
• ISBN-13: 978-0131424609
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #405,214 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars IF..., September 26, 2004

By	Earl Beede (Maltby, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Abraham Lincoln once asked something like, "If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?" The answer is four. "Just because you call a tail a leg doesn't make it so." Just because you want to call some development practice "Agile" doesn't make it so. In this book, David Anderson makes a case for calling Theory of Constraints the underlying definition of Agile software development practices. The principle tie is that a key measure in the Theory of Constraints is called Throughput; the amount of value delivered to the customer. Agile methods pride themselves as delivering value to the customer quickly. Based on the Theory of Constraints definition, the Feature Driven Development (FDD) method, Anderson's personal expertise, turns out to be the most Agile of all.
In making the case for the Theory of Constraints based approach, Anderson has given us a lot of formulas and metrics for looking at software projects. This is the most thorough treatment of the subject I have seen yet. I wasn't fully satisfied with the metrics as I felt the book didn't deal with the biggest problem in metrics, the problem of characterizing the measure. To do good metrics, you have to be very clear on what you are measuring, the characterization problem. Without that, all the formulas, graphs, and trends are pretty much useless. Most of the book dealt with the problem by saying, "If you could measure `X', then..." I got really tired of all the Ifs in the book.
In fact, I am not sure I should like this book or not. I found myself half of the time saying to myself, "Hmm, that is a interesting idea," and the other half saying, "I don't think so." Perhaps it was all the Ifs, perhaps it was the repetition. I am glad to say at the end of the book Anderson does appear to have the intelligence to note that one size does not fit all and does a nice job of suggesting where the best choices in software development approaches might be.
So, who should read this book? Well, if you like Donald Reinertsen's and Eliyahu Goldratt's work and live in the software world, this book is for you. If you have to teach Agile seminars to software professionals (like me), then this should be on your reading list as well. If you are general software project manager or developer who is looking to improve the way you do software development, then I would probably pass on this book. Not that the ideas are all wrong but you probably will get lost along the way. If...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Science of Agile, October 2, 2003

By	Avid Reader "azbookreader" (Chandler, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

Agile methods are all the rage these days, and with good reason: they work. Unfortunately, current practice is largely a hodgepodge of rules of thumb rather than a consistent theory derivable from basic, verifiable assumptions.

That's where David Anderson's book comes into play. David explores the foundations from which most of the Agile concepts can be derived. While most of the concepts are borrowed from manufacturing, David does an excellent job of explaining how they relate to software. The book is very well written, the graphics are excellent, and the concepts are ones that anyone involved with software will need to master if they want to stay competitive.

Excellent work, david.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superlative and profound, October 21, 2003

By	slashcart (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Anderson takes agile development, which is a loose-leaf collection of unintegrated practices, and transforms it into a serious discipline with a firm foundation. He accomplishes this by borrowing concepts from manufacturing (like theory of constraints) and applying them to software development. Such a book could only be written by someone thoroughly familiar with both software development and manufacturing; fortunately the author seems quite knowledgeable about both.

In all, this book is serious, contentful, and even profound at times. It is by far the best book I've read on the topic in quite a long while.