I have just finished a short assignment with one of the best software development house in Kerala, if not the best. That they are is my personal
rating. Of course, I believe, that matches with the popular perception as well .... It is visible in their interactions, process adherence, team synergy, technical competence, product quality, quality of documentation etc .... That is to say, that commitment is total; rather than in pockets .... and it is real; rather than hype ... In fact, I find them staying away from hype.
Even with this maturity, I find them on the verge of a time bomb .... ie. Information Explosion ... defeating its very purpose!. The nagging question is, how much to engineer? How much to doument? To ensure quality, repeatability & productivity? Beyond a point, too much of process, engineering & documentation becomes counter productive ....
While it is tempting to venture into advices, to draw an ad hoc line between agility & engineering .... What is alarming is that, this phenomenon is pervasive ... It is repeating itself, from an organization to another, from a project to another, from team to another
I would call for a judicious, well thought over balancing act, rather than dogmatic alignment to one camp
This brings me to a question as to what do I do in my engagement? What is my consulting work is like?
When I started my career in software development, a very few people in this part of the world knew what it is and I spent a lot of my time explaining to what it is all about .... and helping many to get into it
Now I am into software engineering consulting .... yet something not very well known to many!
Academic & scientific knowledge has its place in day to day business as against an open ended, in depth research in pure science
Technology as an application of science & enabler has its place
Engineering as a scientific & systematic approach, with well-defined review points, probes, measures and control mechanisms has its place
All these should help in the individuals involved and in day to day running of the business, making it success and ... in turn, the society we live in and the mankind at large
Filling this gap wherever I preceive ... taking knowledge from business to academia & back ..... That is the role I play
Not very common ... rather unchartered water .... quite challenging, interesting
End of the day, I am exhausted but thrilled of having gone one step ahead!
