Van 15 tot en met 19 april geeft Luc Bors de 5-daagse ADF 11g training op het kantoor van AMIS in Nieuwegein. In 5 dagen leer je de basis van Oracle ADF 11g. De training bestaat basis uit presentatie, demonstratie en hands on, doorspekt met best practices en voorbeelden uit […]
Project Management
Uitnodiging: Kom kennismaken met AMIS
Hierbij nodigen we je uit om met ons kennis te komen maken. Ben jij een (junior) Oracle consultant die een stap verder wil maken? Wil je verder groeien en ontwikkelen tot principal consultant? AMIS geeft je de kans om die stap te zetten. Bij ons krijg je de ruimte om […]
KSCOPE 2011: What do you mean “Agile”
Currently in Cary Millsap’s session about his agile approach on things called “My Case for Agile Methods“. Agile is (not yet) my thing, but knowing Cary, and he is in to it, when he is enthusiastic about something its probably one of those things which you should look into. If […]
Do not register bugs, Fix them!
For years I was a fan of bug/issue management systems and worked with open systems like Jira or Bugzilla. I’ve used these systems during the development and production/ support phase of the products. Every time I use these systems I spend too much time registering, evaluating and sorting issues. At the […]
Oracle Team Productivity Center
‘Oracle Team Productivity Center (TPC) is an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tool that enables software development teams to collaborate and work productively together when developing applications using JDeveloper.’ (OTN TPC page) TPC provides unified access to different ALM repositories from within JDeveloper and it allows to define relations between the […]
Compliments; Instant productivity improvement for software teams, with a small effort….
Hello, you project manager/team leader. I expected this title to grasp your attention. Would you like to know how to improve the performance of your team members? This can be done without massive statistics or an expensive performance improvement program. This magic pill is called positive feedback. Just give your […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 10: Simplicity -the art of maximizing the amount of work not done- is essential
This is the tenth of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
Use of critical chain projectmanagement in an AMIS project.
 Introduction: At AMIS we have a group of Project Managers who exchange experiences and knowledge with each other. This group read the book of Lawrence P. Leach about Critical Chain Project Management and the group agreed that we would try out the ideas described in this book in our projects. […]
(Dutch) AMIS kennissessie Scrum
Datum: dinsdag 3 maart 2009 Tijd: 16:30 tot 21:00, incl. diner Locatie: AMIS, Edisonbaan 15 in Nieuwegein Doelgroep: Deze sessie is interessant voor zowel developers, projectmanagers, consultants als sales medewerkers. Coördinator: Robbrecht van Amerongen Scrum, Just enough, just in time… Scrum is een methodiek die ons in staat stelt om snel kwalitatief […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 9 : Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility
This is the ninth of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. The purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real-life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 8: Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
This is the eight of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
On Project Success Factors: Take time for research
In your project, allocate time (and budget!) for research. I used to think that all activities should contribute directly and specifically to the end goal. I now tend more towards the view that you should plan for research. Of course the research should be targeted, but usually a project has […]
On Project Success Factors: Communicate!
A few weeks ago I received a Request for Information for a substantial project. There was one question that struck me: “Describe on which moments your organization communicates with the client organisation.†My first reaction was: when don’t we! To ensure that you deliver what your client expects, communication is […]
On Project Success Factors – Heading straight towards the goal II
“To follow, without halt, one aim: There’s the secret of success.†(Anna Pavlova, a famous ballerina). To repeat the quote from my last blog. The goal must be worth it, of course. What are the benefits, what are the costs. Right…the Business Case. For this you should not hesitate to […]
On Project Success Factors ‘Heading straight towards the goal”
 “To follow, without halt, one aim: There’s the secret of success.†(Anna Pavlova, a famous ballerina). Completely true of course. A project rarely fails due to one large incident or problem. More often they shift of course imperceptibly, in small steps. Each individual shift is of almost no consequence, the […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 7: Working software is the primary measure of progress.
This is the seventh of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
Project Estimation & Control based on Use Cases
This week Sander Hoogendoorn (Cap Gemini) presented a seminar about “Estimation with Use Casesâ€. Generally, this seminar confirmed that the development method of AMIS, internally called the “Way We Work @AMIS†is still valid and up-to-date. However, there are some interesting things to learn from this seminar. The three most […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 6: The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 6: The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. This is the sixth of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 5: Build projects around motivated individuals.
Principle 5: Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. This is the fifth of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) […]
Managing Java projects – A Contradiction?
We as project managers really loved managing projects using ‘conventional’ Oracle tools. Most of us actually started as software engineers in projects using these tools. We had experience, knew all the pitfalls and managed productive software development streets. Things our programmers developed were reusable and were repeated time after time. […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 4: Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
This is the fourth of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 3: Deliver working software frequently
This is the third of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 2: Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
This is the second of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility are to go deliver software of higher […]
Agile software development, the principles. Principle 1: Deliver valuable software
This is the first of 12 posts about the principles of agile software development. Purpose of this, and the upcoming 11 posts, is to go back to the start of the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) and discuss the implementation of the 12 principles in real life software engineering. Goals of agility […]
“We are a Project Companyâ€
Recently we were bidding on a major project for the rebuilding and enhancement of an extranet system for one of our prospects. Their current system was based on old technology and its architecture was an impediment for the planned growth of their business. Based on an extensive selection process, finally […]
Performance for Dummies
This week I attended our AMIS Query on “How the Middle Tier is slowing the Database down†by renowned performance “problem solver†Anjo Kolk. When I saw the announcement for this AMIS Query I had no doubts I wanted to be there. It may seem a highly technical subject, yet, […]
Back to the Future
Last week I revisited a client in the healthcare sector. A client where I delivered a project for a Central Laboratory Information System back in ‘97. I was the Information Analyst and later Project Manager. Back in the nineties I loved this project. The previous system was over 20 years […]
Supermanager!? Not!
As a manager I had an encounter with myself today. Actually I had one with my team. Personally I thought I had it all figured out just fine. My clients are happy at the moment, my boss is happy with the current progress of my projects. So, everything is looking […]
Pavlovian Projectmanagement
Last week we had a project scoping day: in a room, client and AMIS, setting the boundaries of the project. Nothing unusual you would say. It is healthy to determine the scope of your project and ensure a mutual understanding of that scope and the underlying business goals it supports. […]
On Project Success Factors – How Successful are ICT Projects?
Before I enter into more detail on the factors I perceive as contributing to project success, let’s take a look at how ICT Project are actually doing, now. A quick google leads to me to the Ernst & Young report “Trends in ICT 2007†(Dutch only, I apologize). http://www.centric.nl/index.asp?nmoduleid=3&spagetype=6&nCHType=1&sPath=/Trends_in_ICT_2007.pdf The […]
Start Wrong…and it never ends!
Last week I was again painfully reminded of how important it is to start your project the right way. Last year we started a major ADF/JHeadstart project. And we started wrong. My first mistake was to give in to customer pressure and do the planning quickly on a Tuesday morning. […]
Alternative for MSProject
In all my years as a project manager I always faced the same problems when setting up a project plan. The problem was not the plan itself but the tooling to create the plan. Project after project I started with the personal goal to master MSProject and plan and report […]
Project Success Factors – An introduction
A few weeks ago I was asked to deliver a presentation on methods (development, project management, application implementation, …) to the Oracle User Group Holland (OGH). My initial response was a bit reluctant, as I generally associate Methods with a certain degree of boredom. I was given ample opportunity to […]