Winning with Software: An Executive Strategy [Paperback]

Watts S. Humphrey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201776391 | ISBN-13: 978-0201776393 | Publication Date: December 30, 2001 | Edition: 1

"Every senior executive needs to read this book."

--Robert Musson Vice President, Business Strategy Cenus Technologies

"An informative book for any business person (not just technologists) who has ever been associated or involved with a software development effort and thought 'there must be a better way!' Watts has provided that better way-- the PSP/TSP, and a great book."

--Roy Kinkaid, Head of Continuous Improvement and Software Quality Assurance, EBS Dealing Resources

Watts Humphrey is the well-known author of methods and models widely used by organizations, teams, and individuals to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software development. In Winning with Software, he shows corporate executives and senior managers why software is both a business problem and a business opportunity.

"This book is extremely well written and targets the right audience. I plan to buy a copy for each of my executives."

--Kevin J. Berk, Director, Process Improvement, Total Quality Systems

Humphrey, drawing on his own extensive executive and management experience, first demonstrates the critical importance of software to nearly every business, large and small. He then outlines seven steps needed to gain control of a software operation and transform it into a professional, businesslike engineering function. Failure to recognize the importance of software, and to take charge of its development process, runs the risk of damaging the entire business. By contrast, Humphrey relates the substantial benefits real organizations have obtained from such awareness and control, and he concludes with an analysis of the impressive financial returns the recommended transformations typically yield.

"This is a great book that will play a valuable role. It has excellent anecdotes that illustrate the points being made, as well as good examples depicting the problems faced by teams and managers. I look forward to sharing it with my colleagues."

--Steven Sliwa, President & CEO, Insitu Group Inc. and former President of Embry-Riddle University

"The logical approach, the high level explanations, and the application of real-life experiences make the book not only credible but easily understood. If a large number of CEOs don't at least try out the book's concepts, I will be greatly surprised."

--David Webb Software Engineering Project Manager, Hill Air Force Base

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Every senior executive needs to read this book."

--Robert Musson Vice President, Business Strategy Cenus Technologies

"An informative book for any business person (not just technologists) who has ever been associated or involved with a software development effort and thought 'there must be a better way!' Watts has provided that better way-- the PSP/TSP, and a great book."

--Roy Kinkaid, Head of Continuous Improvement and Software Quality Assurance, EBS Dealing Resources

Watts Humphrey is the well-known author of methods and models widely used by organizations, teams, and individuals to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software development. In Winning with Software, he shows corporate executives and senior managers why software is both a business problem and a business opportunity.

"This book is extremely well written and targets the right audience. I plan to buy a copy for each of my executives."

--Kevin J. Berk, Director, Process Improvement, Total Quality Systems

Humphrey, drawing on his own extensive executive and management experience, first demonstrates the critical importance of software to nearly every business, large and small. He then outlines seven steps needed to gain control of a software operation and transform it into a professional, businesslike engineering function. Failure to recognize the importance of software, and to take charge of its development process, runs the risk of damaging the entire business. By contrast, Humphrey relates the substantial benefits real organizations have obtained from such awareness and control, and he concludes with an analysis of the impressive financial returns the recommended transformations typically yield.

"This is a great book that will play a valuable role. It has excellent anecdotes that illustrate the points being made, as well as good examples depicting the problems faced by teams and managers. I look forward to sharing it with my colleagues."

--Steven Sliwa, President & CEO, Insitu Group Inc. and former President of Embry-Riddle University

"The logical approach, the high level explanations, and the application of real-life experiences make the book not only credible but easily understood. If a large number of CEOs don't at least try out the book's concepts, I will be greatly surprised."

--David Webb Software Engineering Project Manager, Hill Air Force Base

0201776391B10232001

About the Author

Known as “the father of software quality,” Watts S. Humphrey is the author of numerous influential books on the software-development process and software process improvement. Humphrey is a fellow of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University, where he founded the Software Process Program and provided the vision and early leadership for the original Capability Maturity Model (CMM). He also is the creator of the Personal Software Process (PSP) and Team Software Process (TSP). Recently, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology—the highest honor given by the president of the United States to America's leading innovators.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (December 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201776391
• ISBN-13: 978-0201776393
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5th book on the topic by Humphrey - aimed at business execs, June 23, 2002

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning with Software: An Executive Strategy (Paperback)

This book is well written and makes a compelling case for the author's personal and team software processes (PSP and TSP respectively). Whereas the first four books by Humphrey, published between 1989 and 1999, were aimed at individual software engineers and technical managers, this one is for higher level decision makers who are probably wondering why software development seems to be a money pit while other enterprise business units manage to operate with some degree of efficiency.

The case that is made in the book remains focused on business. More importantly, it shows how to apply productivity accounting and quality techniques defined in both the PSP and TSP can introduce controls to software development.

What I like about the book is Humphrey's complete change of tone from his previous books, which were written for technical professionals, to appeal to business executives. He addresses all of the key points: why projects fail and how to prevent the failures, the need for leadership instead of mere management, and the importance of not only building a team approach, but in changing the culture in the development organization. These are points that business managers understand in practice, and it shows that development can be a controlled process much like manufacturing or service processes that are likely to be the company's core business. They also dispell the fallacy that software development is different.

Although the book stays focused on business aspects, Humphrey does drift off into technical territory at times, sometimes to the point of risking the attention of the business reader. He also misses an opportunity to show how PSP and TSP are natural fits into organizations that are using Extreme Programming, which would have given the business audience some leverage when dealing with their technical counterparts. However, that is probably beyond the scope of the book.

If you want to trace the evolution of PSP and TSP it's documented in the author's earlier books: Managing the Software Process (1989), A Discipline for Software Engineering [and one of the best in my opinion for its completeness and approach] (1995), Introduction to the Personal Software Process (1996), and Introduction to the Team Software Process (1999). If you are exploring either the PSP or TSP with a goal of building a business case this book is ideal. Also note that there are open source tools developed by the Process Dashboard Initiative and distributed at no cost that will greatly aid in implementing the recommendations that are made in this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good advice for those willing to use it, November 14, 2002

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Winning with Software: An Executive Strategy (Paperback)

The first point of the book is one that still must be made to many, but in reality should have been obvious some time ago. Namely, that software is a critical component of the structure of the modern business. Humphrey makes the case clearly, concisely, and convincingly for the need for all executives to learn the basics of how software can be used to improve their business. That alone makes the book worth reading.
His next step is to explain how to create a team of software developers that can build a quality product on time, on budget and where the team is still functional after the product is built. That part is hard and Humphrey outlines what he calls the Team Software Process (TSP), which is designed to build and manage quality software teams. With a small set of basic principles and a complete set of charts, the TSP is easily understandable and is presented at the non-technical level of most managers. The problem is of course that managers often follow paths based on their personal beliefs or insecurities and not those of impersonal realities. For this reason, Humphries book suffers from the unavoidable weakness of all such books in that readers have the option to ignore it.
This book is packed with sound advice for managers of software development teams. It shows you how to create the process and provide the appropriate combination of cuddling and clubbing. However, whether it works or not is up to the practitioners, all too few of which will be willing or able to apply the advice.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sales pitch for PSP and TSP, August 11, 2004

By 

D. Laffineuse "David" (Parkland, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Winning with Software: An Executive Strategy (Paperback)

This book by Watts S. Humphrey has an appealing title and actually an interesting set of chapters. However the book quickly falls in a sales pitch for Humphrey's Personal Software Process (PSP) and Team Software Process (TSP). If winning with software is indeed all about selling and applying PSP and TSP then the book is on track and will give champions a few tips and some data on how to sell these methodologies to their senior management.