Posts Tagged 'PR'

Inflectra Releases Partner Program Improvements

May 26, 2023

In September, 2021, we announced a new Partnership structure centered on the premise of collaboration and mutual success. Between then and now, we have been able to forge new and exciting partnership relations and strengthen existing ones. Along the way, we’ve been taking note of what is working for our partner ecosystem, what is not, and what can be improved. 

We are excited to announce improvements for our Partner Program, including new incentives, benefits, training tracks, and a more flexible model of engagement. These new changes seek to support our wide variety of partners who have different needs, expertise, and skill sets by offering them more in-depth learning opportunities and a more customizable, sustainable way to stay engaged with Inflectra. The underlying goal is to provide unprecedented support and enablement for our partners that will lead to long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships.

Inflectra in the News - February - March 2023 News Roundup

April 10, 2023

The beginning of 2023 has been a productive and flourishing time for Inflectra. As a team, we are continuously finding new ways to improve our products, better serve our customers, and currently in the homestretch of finalizing our annual global conference - InflectraCON. While continuing our day-to-day, creating new strategic partnerships, and getting excited to experience DC's largest agile, DevOps and testing conference, Inflectra has had several public engagements we are looking forward to sharing with you. Read more to see what our CEO, Adam Sandman, has been up to these last couple of months.

Spotlight on Spira 7.5 - Multiple Requirement Approvers

February 27, 2023

We are excited about the upcoming release of Spira v7.5!

The new version includes, amongst many other features, a brand new SpiraApp called Requirement Multiple Approvals. This new plugin for SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan (not SpiraTest, sorry) will allow you to conduct multiple parallel approvals of a requirement in the system. This much-awaiting feature has been asked for by many of our life sciences customers who need to be able to conduct parallel approvals of requirements.

Inflectra in the News - January 2023 Roundup

January 31, 2023

New year, same Inflectra - with bigger and better plans! 2023 started off strong with several new product enhancements, CEO Adam Sandman being accepted into the Forbes Technology Council, releasing the Product Roadmaps for Spira and Rapise, planning and executing insightful webinars, and announcing our partnership with Excellarate. In this edition of our News Roundup blog, we are thrilled to share with you the engagements Adam took part in during this busy, yet successful month where he discusses his take on workplace and technology trends for 2023.

Read more to access Adam's interviews, podcasts, and publications from January.

TestProject Discontinued - Need Alternatives?

January 9, 2023

Recently it was announced that the free test automation tool - TestProject - has been discontinued and will be end of life on March 31, 2023. Beginning November 16, 2022, the creation of new TestProject accounts will be disabled and on March 31, 2023, all previously existing TestProject accounts will be deactivated and access to the platform will be revoked. If you are looking for alternatives to TestProject, we've created a handy list of automated testing tools to make this decision easier.

Inflectra in the News - November - December 2022 News Roundup

December 7, 2022

The end of 2022 has been busy yet victorious for Inflectra. The business has achieved several key goals, including the launch of our new accelerators, the launch of Teams, Tracks, and Agile Planning Boards in Spira v7.3, and maintaining engagement with our users and followers through webinars and presentations hosted by our in-house talent. To wrap up 2022 on a positive note, we want to share some of the extra publications and events Inflectra has contributed towards.

Get $50 for Reviewing SpiraPlan on G2.com

November 9, 2022

Let me be blunt - Inflectra needs your help in collecting the reviews of our flagship platform -  SpiraPlan! Like others, we use your reviews as social proof and to get awards and recognition like these SpiraTest badges👇🏽:

Review SpiraPlan now! (We promise the whole thing is quick and painless - it only takes 10 minutes!)

Inflectra In The News - October 2022 Roundup

November 1, 2022

October was a productive and thrilling time for Inflectra. The month started with some of our team members attending, sponsoring and speaking at STARWEST in Anaheim, California. Less than a couple weeks later, a couple of our US based leaders traveled to Australia to sponsor and attend the Testing Talks Conference as well as host an exclusive networking breakfast with our customers, partners, and their local tech and business leaders. Other accomplishments throughout the month include releasing Rapise v7.4, and hosting insightful webinars with fellow experts and business partners. In addition to a full month of participating in events and upgrading our products, Inflectra has had numerous articles released and appearances we want to share with our followers.

Adam Sandman, CEO of Inflectra, Interviewed by Big Business Show

October 3, 2022

Our very own Adam Sandman was interviewed by Bob "Sully" Sullivan and Russ T Nailz from the Big Biz Show. During the interview, Adam informs viewers about quality and risk in mission-critical and safety-critical industries. Between the comedic tone and unique setting (a bar), listeners felt as if they were hearing a conversation about Adam's professional history, Inflectra's products and capabilities, and other software topics between a few friends on their night out - it was a one of a kind opportunity!

If you want to be entertained, informed, and witness this fun interview - view more to access t.

Recap: Application Lifecycle Management Scenarios with SpiraPlan

October 3, 2022

We recently demonstrated SpiraPlan to a large, multinational life sciences manufacturing company. During the series of demonstrations and proof concepts, we configured SpiraPlan for a set of different use cases, including demand management, application portfolio management, vendor selection and management, change management, application decommissioning, configuration management, supplier qualification, and more. In a series of articles based on those demonstrations, we highlighted many different use cases and provided best practices and ideas for how to configure SpiraPlan. This concluding article recaps the different use cases in one easy to use post.

Inflectra In The News - September 2022 Roundup

October 3, 2022

September 2022 was another successful and busy month for Inflectra. The business sponsored a local conference, DevOpsDays DC, released several blogs spotlighting Spira features, and continued to expand our knowledge in the world of technology to further help our customers. Our CEO, Adam Sandman, had another month full of engagements to discuss his professional history, teach the public about our products, and provided insights on what is to come for our corporation.

Read more to see what Adam has been featured in.

Spotlight on SpiraPlan 7.2 - Project Charters

September 19, 2022

We are excited about the upcoming release of SpiraPlan 7.2 next month, it will have many enhancements and security fixes (following our most recent pen-test) as well as two major planned new features - product/project custom properties and an integrated spreadsheet editor. In this article we will be discussing the new project / product custom properties and how you can use them for creating and managing a project charter.

Spotlight on SpiraPlan 7.2 - Project Portfolio Management

September 15, 2022

We are excited about the upcoming release of SpiraPlan 7.2 next month. It will have many enhancements, security fixes (following our most recent pen-test), and two major planned new features - product/project custom properties and an integrated spreadsheet editor. This article discusses the new project/product custom properties and how to use them for project portfolio management (PPM).

Inflectra In The News - August 2022 Roundup

September 13, 2022

Summer 2022 was no doubt a busy and successful time for Inflectra. The business as a whole had many accomplishments, including new partnerships, software integrations, releasing Spira v7.3, and being able to always keep our users in the loop of technology trends and risks with webinars and presentations. In addition, Inflectra had several public engagements and appeared in a couple of publications. 

We are happy to present the latest updates about Inflectra in our brand new blog series - Inflectra News Roundup. 

Spotlight on Spira 7.2 - New Integrated Spreadsheet Editor

September 6, 2022

We are excited about the upcoming release of Spira 7.2 in the next couple of months, it will have many enhancements and security fixes (following our most recent pen-test) as well as two major planned new features - product/project custom properties and an integrated spreadsheet editor. In this article we will be discussing the new spreadsheet editing functionality. If you need a place in Spira to manage data, your wish has been granted!

Sneak Peek: New Agile Boards and Support for Teams

August 31, 2022

As we head into the end of Q3, we are excited to be releasing some major new features and enhancements for both our Spira and Rapise platforms. In a series of upcoming blog articles, we will be highlighting some exciting new marquee features that you can expect to see in upcoming releases. To get the ball rolling, in this article, we will be showing a preview of the new agile (Scrum and Kanban) boards that will be unveiled in an upcoming release of SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan. This major refresh of the agile planning boards was made possible from feedback from some of our most loyal and devoted customers, thanks so much for your help.

Using SpiraPlan for Demand Management

May 25, 2022

We recently demonstrated SpiraPlan to a large, multinational life sciences manufacturing company. During the series of demonstrations and proof concepts, we configured SpiraPlan for a set of different use cases, including demand management, application portfolio management, vendor selection and management, change management, application decommissioning, configuration management, and supplier qualification. In this series of articles, we will be highlighting these different use cases and providing best practices and ideas for how to configure SpiraPlan. In this article we will be covering the topic of demand management.

Spotlight on SpiraPlan 7.0: FMEA Risk Management Comes To Town

January 27, 2022

As part of the upcoming release of Spira 7.0 in a few months' time, we have added a new plugin architecture that lets us add new specialty features and integrations more easily. In the future, it will also allow customers and partners to build extensions to Spira. We previously mentioned some of the planned plugins we have coming - GitHub, GitLab. In addition, we have a new plugin that will provide support for Failure Mode & Effects Analysis (FMEA) in the Risk Management module in SpiraPlan.

Best Practices for Handling Acceptance Criteria

January 10, 2022

We had a customer ask us what was the recommended way to manage the Acceptance Criteria of requirements in a project. There are actually several different ways you can handle acceptance criteria depending on your exact process (and preference):

1. You can simply add a custom Rich Text Description textbox to the Requirement artifact. That will appear underneath the main description.
2. You can use a requirement of type Acceptance criteria and make it a 'Has Steps' type so that you could enter the acceptance checklist as steps.
3. You create a .Feature file in the documents section and link to the requirement. That way you get the automated Gherkin syntax highlighting.
4. You can use a test case of type Acceptance Criteria and use the test steps.

We discuss each of these options below:

Speak Peek on 2022: Teams Come to SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan

December 16, 2021

As we start preparing for 2022, we will be providing some information on our plans for 2022, including some previews of planned functionality in our Spira and Rapise platforms. One of the key plans for SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan in 2022 is the addition of a new artifact called "Teams". These teams will be available across the system to make assignment of work easier as well as improving the usability and configurability of the agile planning boards.

Spotlight on Spira 6.14 - Inline Editing on Gantt Charts

November 22, 2021

The next release of SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan includes some major enhancements for planning and managing waterfall and/or hybrid projects. We introduced the new Gantt chart views of Releases and Tasks in Spira v6.5 with the ability to simply view the Releases and Tasks as items in a read-only Gantt chart view. In the upcoming release, we have added inline editing capabilities, so you can edit Releases and Tasks in the Gantt chart views, and also edit the Releases in the Pert hierarchical view as well.

Spotlight on Spira 6.13 - Additional Custom Property Types

November 3, 2021

The upcoming release of our Spira platform includes a new set of custom property types in addition to the eight existing types already in the system. These new types are designed to increase the flexibility and security of the system. We have introduced a new password custom property type that lets you securely store test data in the system for use in manual and automated testing. In addition, we have added release and automation host custom property types to assist in common use cases.

Understanding the Planning Board for Backlog Refinement

September 13, 2021

This is Part 2 of the larger paper on Good Agile Product Backlog by Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan, Enterprise Agile Evangelist, Inflectra.

Introduction

Our earlier blog about demystifying a good agile product backlog emphasizes how a good product backlog promotes stakeholder alignment. Emerging from the lean principles of attenuating waste and amplifying learning, Agile promotes a holistic view of the solution rather than just the technical system. So, any tool that incorporates backlog management should promote transparency of the backlog as well as committed items.

Demystifying a Good Agile Product Backlog

August 30, 2021

by Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan, Enterprise Agile Evangelist

Recently, I had an opportunity to provide agile transformation consulting as part of product training for a major organization. A member of this team asked who is responsible for creating user stories. As I used pointed questions to understand the rationale behind the question, two different problems surfaced: a) the team felt they only work on tasks that the Scrum Master assigned them for the user stories the product owner thought valuable; b) the development team had to work additional hours for any technical infrastructure or automation. These findings offered an opening for a major coaching moment.

Implementing Waterfall for Execution and Management Teams in SpiraPlan

July 21, 2021

Although businesses adopt agile practices to embrace change and respond to market needs, there is still a need for organizations to stay faithful to a set of principles and ideas that come from traditional waterfall project management. After all, if the good lessons learned from waterfall approaches, such as thinking of the milestones for payment terms, procuring resource commitments earlier to avoid delays in ongoing commitments, evaluating risks that challenge existing or future commitments, and technical architecture with scalability in design, are ignored, are we truly adaptive in strategic execution?

Recap: KronoDesk - On-Premise Help Desk Solution for Regulated Industries

April 22, 2021

On April 22nd, Inflectra hosted a webinar on KronoDesk - On-Premise Help Desk Solution for Regulated Industries presented by Adam Sandman. 

The following topics were covered in the webinar:

• KronoDesk on-premise as an alternative solution to JIRA Service Desk 

• KronoDesk Help Desk Ticketing System

• Configuration and Customization

• Support for multi-user organizations

• FDA-compliant electronic signatures for life science customers

• KronoDesk and its seamless end-to-end flow of information with SpiraTeam.

If you missed the webinar, we have a full recap below 👇

The Perils of Agile Estimation (Part 1)

March 23, 2021

Estimation has always been an inflection point in the software engineering world. Many developers admit that one of the hardest parts of their job is not about naming things or invalidating caches (as the old saying goes) but giving estimates. Certainly, for many experienced software engineers, estimates have always been the most frequent area of friction between software developers and managers. Both sides seem to have valid arguments: managers want to know how long things will take, as they need to manage budgets and customer expectations. Developers, on the other hand, know that most software tasks cannot be estimated accurately enough to satisfy the manager's needs. This friction has been so intense that it's given rise to the #NoEstimates movement and many flame wars on social media. But is the choice truly between one of these two extreme positions, or can a happy medium be found that satisfies both sides?

This series of articles attempts to explore and answer this question.

How to Export Projects from Jira Server to Spira

November 18, 2020

Since we published our article letting our users know of Atlassian's plans to phase out and discontinue Jira Server, we have had many Spira users contact us to ask us if they could export their projects from Jira Server to Spira (either on-premise or cloud) and continue working in Spira instead of Jira. This article provides some strategies for migrating the data from Jira Server to Spira as easily as possible. Of course, for those looking to migrate to Jira Cloud, Spira works perfectly with Jira Cloud as well.

Transform Software Testing and Quality with NeoLoad and Inflectra | InflectraCon 2020 IRL

October 31, 2020

Today, we present an InflectraCon 2020 IRL talk by our Sponsor - Neotys called Transform Software Testing and Quality with NeoLoad and Inflectra. The session takes a deep dive into how to automate your performance test and start testing earlier, reminding the viewers of the value of the integration between NeoLoad, SpiraTeam, and Rapise.

Enjoy the presentation below!

Spira for Non-Software Applications: Covid-19 Mask Testing | InflectraCon 2020 IRL

October 30, 2020

Our annual user conference - InflectraCon 2020: Agile Software Testing & DevOps Conference is in the rearview mirror. Today, we are proud to present the Inflectra In Real Life (IRL) talk by our partner sponsor - NVP Software Solutions, called Spira for Non-Software Applications: Covid-19 Mask Testing.

The session focuses on how Spira supports the testing of Covid-19 masks under varying conditions and the transit application.

Enjoy the recording below!

Scaling Spira On-Premise: Enterprise Deployment of Spira | InflectraCon 2020 IRL

October 27, 2020

In early October 2020, we hosted Inflectra's annual user conference - InflectraCon. In 2020, we have dedicated InflectraCon to Agile Software Testing and DevOps theme and held it virtually. InflectraCon 2020 combined multiple tracks, of which, one - called Inflectra in Real Life or IRL in short - showcased the various uses of the Inflectra platforms (SpiraTest, SpiraTeam, SpiraPlan, Rapise, Kronodesk, etc.). 

Today, we'd like to share with you an interview with our loyal customer and friend - Jill Ball of the Cincinnati Insurance Company. This interview was recorded as part of the InfletraCon 2020 IRL track. The interview highlights the growing on-premise implementation from 20 users to 1350 with redundancy and load-balancing for Spira administrators and architects. Enjoy the presentation below!

Best Practices: Choosing Your ALM Tool-Set | InflectraCon 2020 IRL

October 26, 2020

We have recently hosted Inflectra's annual user conference - InflectraCon. In 2020, we have dedicated InflectraCon to Agile Software Testing and DevOps theme and held it virtually. InflectraCon 2020 combined multiple tracks, of which, one - called Inflectra in Real Life or IRL in short - showcased the various uses of the Inflectra platforms (SpiraTest, SpiraTeam, SpiraPlan, Rapise, Kronodesk, etc.). 

Today, we present an InflectraCon 2020 IRL talk by our German Partner - PTA. The session focuses on best practices for how to choose the most appropriate ALM toolset for your company. Enjoy the presentation below! 

Jira Server Discontinued by Atlassian - Inflectra Spira is Here for You

October 20, 2020

With Atlassian's recent announcement that they would be discontinuing Jira Server in favor of the cloud version, we, at Inflectra would like to reaffirm our long-standing commitment to releasing Spira as both a cloud-hosted subscription and an on-premise solution. Why and how we are staying true to our customers is outlined in these passages below. 

Spotlight on Spira 6.6 - Kanban Work In Progress (WIP) Support Added

August 11, 2020

One of the focus areas in the new release v6.6 of SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan is to improve the support for different agile project management methodologies and approaches. In this article we'll discuss some of the exciting new features that have been added to Spira to better support the popular Kanban agile methodology.

Webinar Recap: Top Productivity Boosting Features of SpiraPlan

July 8, 2020

WEBINAR AGENDA:

The webinar covered the following areas: 

• transitioning from QA to Portfolio Management with SpiraPlan
• Powerful Program and #Portfolio management (including for DevOps)
• Enhanced Planning Boards
• Risk Management 
• SpiraPlan and scaling agile/SAFe
• Easy upgrade from SpiraTest to SpiraPlan.

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording here 👇.

Webinar Recap: Why Use a “Benefits Register” in Programs and Portfolios

June 22, 2020

On June 16th, 2020, Inflectra's agile champion - Sriram Rajagopalan, Ph.D. hosted the last webinar in the Risk Management webinar series. The webinar explored why to use a “Benefits Register” in programs and portfolios. 

If you missed the webinar, please enjoy this recap, complete with a video recording.

Webinar Agenda:

The webinar covered the following areas:

• How to establish the value of benefits in the program and portfolios
• The important principles of benefits register
• The approaches to using the benefits register in value delivery
• How to use the Benefits Register effectively. 

Spotlight on Spira 6.5.1 - Program & Portfolio Enhancements for DevOps

June 10, 2020

As we get ready for the upcoming release of SpiraTest, SpiraTeam, and SpiraPlan, we'd like to introduce some of the new functionality that will be available in this release. This release builds on top of the new program and portfolio management views in v6.5 and adds some new features and reporting widgets.

Webinar Recap: NERC-CIP: Top Testing & Compliance Challenges & How To Address Them

June 4, 2020

On June 2, 2020, Inflectra's Adam Sandman and NVP Software Solutions' Neil Price-Jones hosted a joint webinar on NERC-CIP: Top Testing & Compliance Challenges & How To Address Them. 

The webinar covers the following:

• Key challenges in testing and developing software for the energy industry
• Key NERC-CIP requirements for operating North America's bulk electric system
• Best Practices in addressing NERC-CIP compliance
• Technology and tools: How SpiraPlan can transform your testing, verification, and compliance of NERC-CIP. 

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording here 👇.

Spotlight on Spira 6.5 - Portfolio & Program Management Enhancements

April 23, 2020

As we get ready for the upcoming release of SpiraTest, SpiraTeam, and SpiraPlan, we'd like to introduce some of the new functionality that will be available in this release. This release includes two main features, plus lots of smaller enhancements and bug fixes. The two main marquee features are Portfolio and Program Management Dashboards, and new additional views of the release and task pages, including a Gantt view that will enhance our support for traditional waterfall and hybrid projects.

Webinar Recap: How To Test MS Dynamics AX through the UI Like A Pro

April 3, 2020

On April 1, 2020 Denis Markovtsev took us on a journey exploring the testing of MS Dynamics AX through the UI focusing on the following learning objectives: 

• understanding how to start testing Dynamics AX with Rapise,
• practicing launching Dynamics AX from an automated test
• automating the navigation within Dynamics AX
• learning how to record a test case and make it a part of the framework for regular execution. 

If you missed the webinar, here are some of the highlights!

New Ways To Use Project Management Software for More Efficient Projects

April 1, 2020

Project management software has been around long enough that it’s fairly ubiquitous for businesses of all types. Teams from sales and marketing to manufacturing and software development use project management software to organize the myriad moving parts of business projects. But modern project management software doesn’t stop at tracking projects. Valuable features and reporting built right into today’s PM platforms make it easy for teams to use the software to help them build better processes, save time, and increase profitability across an organization.

Testing MS Dynamics Through The UI Like A Pro - A Webinar Series

March 4, 2020

On March 4th, 2020 Inflectra launched the 4th installment in its famous test automation webinar series series called: Testing MS Dynamics Through The UI Like A Pro. This step 4 webinar series builds on the earlier test automation series’: Test Automation, Demystified and Planet Test Automation: First Steps while also working in parallel with the current UI Automation 101 series.

Testing MS Dynamics Through The UI Like A Pro series aims to help you launch the testing of your MS Dynamics product. We will look at the following how-to's: bootstrap a testing framework and perform essential test automation tasks and organize your teamwork and create tests that are easy to enhance and maintain.

Details are inside!

Webinar Recap: Metrics in the Brand New World of Programs and Portfolios

March 3, 2020

On February 18, 2020 Inflectra and Sriram Rajagopalan hosted a live webinar: Scream For Scrum or Scream At Scrum: What’s Going On? 

If you missed the webinar, here is a recap of the webinar.

WEBINAR TAKEAWAYS:

• Learn how to establish the value of metrics in the program and portfolio
• Identify the most important principles around metrics
• Choose the metrics that need to be in place for programs and portfolios
• Apply and integrate metrics into agile and lean initiatives within programs.

The webinar recording is inside. 

Webinar Recap: Top Five Techniques for Managing Programs and Portfolios

February 14, 2020

On February 7, 2020 Inflectra and Sriram Rajagopalan hosted a live webinar: Top Five Techniques for Managing Programs and Portfolios.

If you missed the webinar, here is a recap of the most important take-aways:

Theory Behind Top 5 Techniques for Managing Programs and Portfolios

February 12, 2020

In the following article, Sriram Rajagopalan - Inflectra's Enterprise Agile Champion shares his thoughts and experience managing program and portfolios. 

This blog complements Inflectra's February 7th webinar on the same topic, with the webinar recording available inside.

Theory Behind Incorporating Lean & Kanban in Product Lifecycle Management

February 4, 2020

In the following post Sriram Rajagopalan - Inflectra's Enterprise Agile Champion discusses the theory of leadership in product management and the use of lean approaches for acceleration of organizational growth

This blog complements Inflectra's January 23 webinar on the same topic, with the webinar recording available inside.

Webinar Recap: How To Incorporate Lean & Kanban in Product Lifecycle Management

February 4, 2020

On January 23, 2020 Inflectra hosted a live webinar: How To Incorporate Lean & Kanban in Product Lifecycle Management. If you missed the webinar, here is a recap of the most important take-aways 👇:

Webinar Recap: Agile Engineering Practices for Software Product Development

December 12, 2019

On December 5, 2019 Inflectra hosted a live webinar: Agile Engineering Practices for Software Product Development. If you missed the webinar, here is a recap of the most important take-aways:

Product Development Tools - The Top 10 Features

December 12, 2019

SpiraPlan is an easy to use, complete solution for managing your product development lifecycle. In this article we discuss the top 10 features you should look for in a product development tool, and why you should choose SpiraPlan over other tools on the market that offer features for product development.

Blog: Agile Engineering Practices for Software Product Development

December 6, 2019

In the following blog post, Sriram Rajagopalan - Inflectra's Enterprise Agile Champion, covers a number of key aspects of Agile Engineering practices. Among them are: technical excellence, general trends in agile engineering as well as practical recommendations for those how plan on undertaking a project like this.

This blog complements Inflectra's December 5th webinar on the same topic, with the webinar recording available inside. 

Seamless Migration from Micro Focus UFT to Rapise (Part 2)

November 4, 2019

Many organizations are looking to update their software testing processes and tools, with an industry-wide move away from some of the older, monolithic legacy suites from vendors such as Micro Focus (formerly HP, and Mercury Interactive before that) to more modern tools. This second article in the blog series, provides a deeper insight into the new UFT migration and conversion framework that has been developed by Inflectra to help our customers more easily migrate from UFT to Rapise.

Seamless Migration from Micro Focus UFT to Rapise (Part 1)

October 31, 2019

Many organizations are looking to update their software testing processes and tools, with an industry-wide move away from some of the older, monolithic legacy suites from vendors such as Micro Focus (formerly HP, and Mercury Interactive before that) to more modern tools. At Inflectra, we have partnered with Neotys to provide an integrated suite comprising: SpiraTeam, Rapise and NeoLoad that lets companies have test management, functional testing, and load testing all in one. Migrating from ALM/QualityCenter to SpiraTeam is easy using our free migration tool, and migration from LoadRunner to NeoLoad was possible using a conversion utility, however automatically converting from UFT / QTP to Rapise was not so easy.... until today!

Webinar #Recap: Scenarios, or Why Some Automation Projects Fail

July 25, 2019

Summer months are not a deterrent to our loyal webinar attendees who showed up in large numbers for today's live webinar called: Scenarios, or Why Some Automation Projects Fail, from the series Test Automation, Demystified.

If you had other fun summer activities interfere with this webinar, here is a recap. 

Webinar #Recap: 4 Key Elements of Inflectra's New Spira 6.0

May 24, 2019

On May 16, Inflectra hosted a webinar: 4 Key Elements of Inflectra's New Spira 6.0 to introduce the latest enhancements to the SpiraTest, SpiraPlan and SpiraTeam to its loyal customers as well as other interested parties. 

Some of you may have missed the webinar. that is why we are sharing the recording with you. 

Webinar #Recap: Preparing for Career Roles in the Agile Arena

May 6, 2019

On April 25, 2019, Inflectra and #SriramRajagopalan offered to a group of aspiring agilists a webinar on Preparing for Career Roles in the Agile Arena. The webinar is part of Inflectra's Tier 2 agile webinar series called: Deeper Dive Into Agile: Practical Tips On Managing Agile Projects.

If you missed the webinar, we understand - and are happy to share with you the most important take-aways.

Blog: Career Planning Framework - Preparing for Careers in the Agile Workspace

May 6, 2019

Too often people at various stages in their career ask how agile will change their lives. Others ask if their responsibilities will differ from one organization to another. Surely no one can tell the future of any role, but it seems that agile is like the pure oxygen. One can’t breathe pure oxygen until it is mixed with an appropriate amount of nitrogen. Likewise, agile is a light-weight framework that is not prescriptive and it too, has to be adapted to the organization’s culture.

SpiraPlan 6 is Coming: Upgrading to Templates

April 23, 2019

In a recent post, we highlighted new templating functionality in SpiraTest/SpiraTeam/SpiraPlan 6.0. Templates let you have multiple products (formerly known as projects) that all share the same workflow configuration, types, priorities, and more with each other. If you change the template, all the products based off of that template immediately change too. This post will explore how templates will work. A more detailed post about how to plan your migration to templates will be out soon.

Recap: #TeamInflectra at STPCon Spring 2019

April 9, 2019

With yet another great STPcon in the rearview mirror, we wanted to recap all the fun things we did in San Francisco, CA this April. 

Webinar Series: Deeper Dive Into Agile - Practical Tips On Managing Agile Projects

April 8, 2019

Inflectra and Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan proudly present the next step in Inflectra's agile webinar series: Deeper Dive Into Agile, which focuses on the practical aspect of managing agile projects.

These Tier 2 webinars cover many areas of agile practice, such as the various roles in agile initiatives, the evolution of agile in project, program, and portfolio management, the types of stories to develop in agile, estimation in user stories and many more.

Webinar Recap: Excellence through Reporting in Agile Projects

March 27, 2019

On March 21st, 2019, Inflectra and #SriramRajagopalan hosted a webinar on Excellence through Reporting in Agile Projects. This webinar concluded the 5 part certificate series called: Journey Into Agile With Inflectra - A Free Webinar Course.

If you missed the webinar, please enjoy the recap in this blog.

Webinar Recap: Cutting the Costs And Improving The Software Quality with SpiraTeam®

March 15, 2019

On March 7th, 2019, Inflectra and #SriramRajagopalan hosted a webinar on Cutting the Costs And Improving The Software Quality with SpiraTeam®. This is the 4th webinar in the certificate series called: Journey Into Agile With Inflectra - A Free Webinar Course.

If you missed the webinar, please enjoy the recap in this blog.

Webinar Recap: Mastering Four Ceremonies Of Better Agile Project Delivery

February 18, 2019

On February 13, 2019, Inflectra and #SriramRajagopalan hosted a webinar on Mastering Four Ceremonies Of Better Agile Project Delivery. This is the 2nd webinar in the certificate series called: Journey Into Agile With Inflectra - A Free Webinar Course.

If you missed the webinar, please enjoy the recap in this blog.

Challenges In Agile Project Delivery

February 15, 2019

The blog is produced in conjunction with Journey Into Agile With Inflectra - A Free Webinar Course.

The earlier discussion of the five STAGE principles of application lifecycle management covered the reasons why agile may not be a cure-all. Just like physical exercise, it works only if individuals work at it as expected. In other words, failure to adopt good agile practices which promote the test-and-learn approach with its foundational principles of transparency, inspection, and adaptation, will prevent agile from becoming the solution.

Inflectra's Pricing Pages Are Getting A Facelift

February 7, 2019

Recently, we introduced new pricing and trial pages to Inflectra's website as part of Phase II of the website redesign. 

Webinar Recap: 5 Principles to Managing Your Application Lifecycle with SpiraTeam®

January 31, 2019

On January 24, 2019, Inflectra and #SriramRajagopalan offered to a group of aspiring agilists a webinar on Five Principles to Managing Your Application Lifecycle with SpiraTeam®. The webinar is part of Inflectra's certificate course called: Journey Into Agile With Inflectra - A Free Webinar Course.

If you missed the webinar, we understand - and are happy to share with you the most important take aways from the webinar.

STAGE: The 5 Principles Of Application Life-Cycle Management

January 25, 2019

The blog is produced in conjunction with Journey Into Agile With Inflectra - A Free Webinar Course.

Often, when people hear about application lifecycle management, they interpret the terminology with things they know. Project Managers or Scrum Masters will think of the current scope of the project or the specific iteration/release that has a known scope and relatively short duration. Business Analysts, Product Managers, and Product Owners think of the product lifecycle management that has an uncertain scope and unclearly long duration. Architects, Designers, Developers, and Testers focus on software development lifecycle. Operations, Service Delivery, Program Managers and Portfolio Managers think of the deployment considerations, release documentation, and benefits realization.

Free Crowd-Testing of Apps - #TestBowl by Inflectra

January 24, 2019

Do you have a new app, software or website that is ready for real-life testing by professional testers?

We have a FREE and FUN way to help you out!

As part of the Inflectra-run software testing competition - #TestBowl, we are offering to crowd-test your software for free!

All you need to do is apply before March 15th!

Prioritizing Backlog Items using the MoSCoW Method

January 9, 2019

No it's not a reference to current geopolitical affairs (luckily), the MoSCoW method refers to a common way of describing different priorities. This article explains different ways customers can manage priorities in agile projects, and how you can use custom reports in SpiraTeam to display calculated prioritization metrics.

Product Management versus Project Management

December 24, 2018

As I was concluding a capstone class on project management, there was a question from a few students on whether there is any scope of career growth for project management as a profession with the increased focus on agile principles. Questioning further on the root cause of this concern was the fact that agile approaches, such as Scrum, does not call for a project manager role and the focus is only on product management. In a brief attempt to address this ongoing confusions thinking product and project management are mutually exclusive disciplines with product management slaying the project management field, I explain here the ongoing need for the symbiotic relationship between these two disciplines.

Why Executives Need to Understand Program & Project Management?

December 17, 2018

As a firm believer in continuous improvement, I have always been monitoring the external environment to find new trends and equip myself with this knowledge. One of these interests was understanding more about Program and Portfolio Management.

Recording of MS Dynamics AX & Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with Rapise

November 1, 2018

Rapise is the most powerful and complete software testing tool on the market for testing the Microsoft Dynamics family of applications. In addition, many of our customers are using Rapise to perform Robotic Process Automation (RPA) of Dynamics applications to automate common business processes and tasks. We recently had a webinar that demonstrated the best practices and tips and tricks for testing and/or automating Microsoft Dynamics AX. Don't worry if you missed the webinar, we have a recording available.

Recording of MS Dynamics NAV & Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with Rapise

October 11, 2018

Rapise is the most powerful and complete software testing tool on the market for testing the Microsoft Dynamics family of applications. In addition, many of our customers are using Rapise to perform Robotic Process Automation (RPA) of Dynamics applications to automate common business processes and tasks. We recently had a webinar that demonstrated the best practices and tips and tricks for testing and/or automating Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Don't worry if you missed the webinar, we have a recording available.

Using a Pseudouser to Act as a Traffic Cop in Agile Projects

September 11, 2018

During his work assisting our clients with their agile transformations, Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan has found a best practice to be the use of a "Traffic Cop" pseudo user to better manage the flow of work items in a project and/or sprint.

Join Us at STARCANADA | Oct 14

August 14, 2018

The STARCANADA (https://well.tc/wbb2) full conference program is now available online!

Explore what the premier conference for software testing professionals has in store. Start making plans to join the fun from October 14–19 in Toronto at the Hyatt Regency Toronto.

**Exclusive Offer** inside!

Does Robust Test Data add Value to SpiraTest and Rapise?

July 18, 2018

Would you like to have a realistic, full production-like data set available in your test management suite? Having all the exceptions, pollution and human or system made data entry errors available before an application or release goes life is a major quality assurance advantage. Just read the news and learn about some of the recent IT failures due to data migration or testing without a realistic set of sample data.

Imagine the reduction of the amount of rework when you have a professional test data solution directly available in SpiraTest and in your test and acceptance environments. Moreover, adding realistic automated test data to Rapise would rapidly increase the value & quality of your data-driven automated regression testing.

Extend Your Project Management Strategy Beyond The Dev Team

July 5, 2018

When it comes to project management strategies, most people think of development teams.
Whether they’re focused software, websites, inventory, or any number of items, the intricacies of successfully developing a viable product require stringent tracking. There are many phases between brainstorming and product launch, most of which generally consist of numerous smaller tasks, which can be broken down into several more specific tasks. With so many hands in the honey pot, disorganization quickly leads to sticky situations.

This post, however, is not about development teams. It’s about introducing project management to the rest of your company to help clear up and prevent sticky situations.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with Rapise

July 3, 2018

Robotic process automation (RPA) software is designed to quickly automate business tasks in applications such as Microsoft Office, Web application, Microsoft Windows client/server applications, or even Legacy AS400 applications without coding or programming. Unlike API automation tools, RPA tools connect to the user interface of the applications, simulating the user actions to complete the business tasks.

Code Smarter: SpiraPlan Now Integrates With Visual Studio Code

June 21, 2018

At Inflectra, we love making tools that make developers’ lives easier. That’s why we have so many extensions for the tools developers use most. We’re really excited to announce our next extension and for our first text editor: Visual Studio Code. This lightweight text editor has surged in popularity over the last few years (including at Inflectra). With the help of our returning intern, Peter, we now have a great extension in the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Rapise Price Change Coming Soon

June 18, 2018

We are announcing a new price for Rapise -  Inflectra’s test automation powerhouse, to come into effect on August 1, 2018.

The new pricing policy affects only the new purchases of Rapise. Inflectra’s existing customers and existing quotes of Rapise (if issued before August 1, 2018) will not be affected by the price change.

General Data Protection Regulation In Force Today

May 25, 2018

By now, you've probably been bombarded by multiple emails asking you to review privacy policies. GDPR is now in force, and as a data controller you need to make sure you are compliant. As a data processor for companies in the EU, we are committed to providing tools to help you better manage your compliance. In this article, we discuss a handy new report you can use to help manage your old data.

Eating Our Own Dogfood - Using Rapise to Automate Spira

May 17, 2018

So, we had the task of loading a bunch of users into an instance of SpiraTest for our upcoming Social Testing competition this week. The good news was that we had a nice Excel sheet of all the users that had registered using Eventbrite and Meetup, but we now had to get them into SpiraTest. What we needed was a tool that can read a spreadsheet and make REST web service calls into SpiraTest to create the projects and load in the users. Wow, we have a tool that can do that, Rapise! Find out how we used Rapise to automate this laborious task.

European Union - General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

February 20, 2018

On 25 May 2018, the most significant piece of European data protection legislation to be introduced in 20 years will come into force. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. The GDPR strengthens the rights that individuals have regarding personal data relating to them and seeks to unify data protection laws across Europe, regardless of where that data is processed.

Spotlight on SpiraPlan 5.4 - Program View of Releases & Incidents

January 23, 2018

As we're in the final countdown for the release of the latest version of SpiraTest, SpiraTeam and SpiraPlan v5.4, we are going to be highlighting some of the most important new features in this version to help you get ready for the release. Last week we discussed the new graphs and charts, so this time we shall be illustrating the new program management features in SpiraPlan v5.4. In addition, this is the first release of the new SpiraPlan that we discussed in December, it has all of the functionality of SpiraTeam, but in addition has the new program planning features.

Changes to the Spira Product Family in 2018 - The New SpiraPlan

December 15, 2017

We have some big news to share for 2018!

Based on extensive feedback and discussions with our customers during the user summits and consultations with our partners, we are making some changes to our product lineup next year. The big news is that we will be retiring our existing "SpiraPlan" feature set, and launching a new SpiraPlan edition of our Spira ALM platform that will cater to the needs of programs, portfolios, and enterprises.

Concurrent User Licensing, Why It's A Big Deal

September 19, 2017

We often get questions from prospective customers about the pricing on our website. We pride ourselves on having a transparent price list available at all times so that there are no surprises later. However the most common question is about the number of users they need, and whether they to purchase a special read-only license for users that may only login occasionally.

The Curse of the Middle Choice - Why SpiraTeam Has 4 Priorities

August 25, 2017

Customers sometimes ask us why we chose four priorities, severities and importance values in SpiraTeam. Now you can of course customize the system to change the priorities and severities but this article explains why we chose four and why you might want to keep them.

Putting the Balance Back into Business - The Inflectra Way not the Wall Street Way

August 14, 2017

When we started Inflectra 11 years ago we decided that we wanted to create a different kind of company. Instead of chasing Venture Capital firms with the latest hot idea, we focused on listening to prospective customers' needs and building great software. Over the past eleven years we have consistently focused on these three things: Craft, Customers and Culture. So we decided it made sense to take a step back, look at our core values and make sure they truly spoke to these tenets.

Recording of Agile Project Management Webinar using SpiraPlan

July 21, 2017

Many of our customers choose SpiraPlan or SpiraTeam because they are using agile methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban and need a powerful tool to manage their project backlogs, releases, sprints, iterations and programs. They are often using different tools for planning, bug tracking and requirements which hampers the ability to see the status of their project in one place.

Roundup: 10 Reasons You Should Switch From HP to Inflectra

July 12, 2017

We just released the final evaluation guide in our three part series comparing legacy HP products with new and easy to use alternatives from Inflectra. Coinciding with the announcement that HP is selling its software assets to Micro Focus, we thought it would be good to highlight the three guides in case you need help convincing your boss or a co-worker on the benefits of switching to Inflectra.

The Top 10 Reasons You Should Switch from HP QualityCenter

May 9, 2017

With the recent news about HPE selling its software portfolio to Micro Focus, and the herd of former HP customers trying out SpiraTest to see what alternatives they have, we thought it would be a good idea to see how SpiraTest compares against HP QualityCenter (and its predecessor TestDirector).

The Top 10 Reasons You Should Switch from HP ALM

May 2, 2017

With the recent news about HPE selling its software portfolio to Micro Focus, and the herd of former HP customers trying out SpiraTeam to see what alternatives they have, we thought it would be a good idea to see how SpiraTeam compares against HP ALM.

The Top 5 Reasons You Should Switch from Zendesk

March 14, 2017

Many people start out using a tool because they have heard of it, or because a colleague recommended it. However they don't always look at the features they need or the time and money it will cost to get it up and running, delivering value.

So we thought it would be useful to take a look at Zendesk, a popular help desk tool and see why you might want to switch to KronoDesk 2.0.

Join the Inflectra Partner Network

March 10, 2017

We are looking for companies around the world that provide QA testing services, agile project management, training, IT consulting and system integration to join our partner network and help grow their businesses. Inflectra certified solution providers offer a range of services that support Inflectra solutions. They include quality assurance and project management consulting firms, information technology integrators, training providers and other proven professional service organizations.

Unlock The Secrets of SpiraTeam v5.1!

December 12, 2016

Spira v5.1 is now out! This blog gives you some insight into the release and discusses our accelerated release strategy going forward.

Spira 5.1 - Cross Project Associations

November 3, 2016

One of the key new features is that you can share artifacts between different projects. This is useful for customers that have projects in Spira that contain requirements for core components that can be reused by other projects that are composed of those core components.

Best Practices in API Testing

October 20, 2016

The move to cloud computing has highlighted the importance of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). With the rise in cloud applications and interconnect platforms, API testing is a necessity. However what makes a good API? What happens when you change the application but need to support existing users of the API?

We Need More Process and Less Pain

October 6, 2016

I had an interesting discussion with a prospective client last week - they were using another planning tool (Microsoft TFS) and were looking for a tool that would give them a more structured process, but had an easier to use, less painful UI.

Enterprise Lifecycle Management - From ALM to ELM

August 30, 2016

The disciplines of PLM and ALM are increasingly entwined together with the rise of smart consumer devices as well as Internet-enabled industrial systems. Managers need to be able to plan their entire lifecycle, both products and applications. We see a convergence into “Enterprise Lifecycle Management” or ELM in the same way that Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Accounting converged into ERP.

To Diagram or Not to Diagram?

February 5, 2016

Some people think in fully-formed and eloquent prose (like Supreme Court Justices). The rest of us either think in shorter-form lists and phrases, or visually with pictures. We want to know if our users would benefit from richer integration and use of visual tools and diagrams in SpiraTeam.

Safe Harbor is Dead... Long Live Privacy Shield

February 2, 2016

Well it happened, one day later than expected (or hoped!). The US and EU have managed to work out a deal to allow the continued cross-border transfer of data that relates to EU citizens. What does this mean for the cloud industry? Business as normal? Same toothless process as before, or something meaningful...

SpiraTest 5 Design Ideas for Test Execution

January 14, 2016

Our designers have come up with a set of prototypes for the test execution page in the next version of SpiraTest 5 to address feedback and usability issues we have identified over the past 5 years. We need your feedback to make sure we're on the right track...

Spira 5.0 - Releases that Roll Up

November 25, 2015

We often think of a release as a simple idea, you have a new version (say 1.0) of a product and you plan on releasing it on a specific date. You might then divide up that release into either iterations or sprints if you're using an agile approach or perhaps phases if using a waterfall one. You then want to be able to report at the project, release and iteration level. Well after much feedback from customers, we found that customers need more than that...

Beyond Safe Harbor - Privacy in the Cloud

October 20, 2015

For those not consumed by national politics (how long can the US election last!), a significant ruling was made this month by the European Court of Justice, with regards to data privacy in the cloud and in particular the EU-Swiss-US Safe Harbor Agreement.

An Introduction to Task Boards

July 2, 2015

The Task Board is perhaps the single most useful device that can be used on Agile projects and is the focal point for the stand-up meeting or Scrum. Typically, a Task Board displays only information pertinent to the current sprint and will be cleared off before the next sprint begins. Read More

Rapise - Data Driven Testing using the Spreadsheet object

June 9, 2015

Many times, when testing, a tester will want the ability to run through many variations of the process recorded. This can be accomplished manually by running the test, then editing the test to use different data. The process of editing, rerunning, lather, rinse, repeat, gets very old after the first time. Plus this process is not very efficient with time and it can introduce issues through the slip of a finger. Enter Data-Driven Testing with the Spreadsheet Object Read More

Agile Project Management with SpiraPlan & SpiraTeam

May 25, 2015

Are you planning on moving to an agile methodology such as Scrum or Kanban? Are you already using agile methods but need a better way to scale your process? This article explains how SpiraPlan and SpiraTeam can help you better plan, estimate and manage your agile projects. Read More

Beyond the Document Paradigm – part 2

May 7, 2015

When making the transition from document-oriented information storage to record-oriented information management tools, there are a number of problems which can make the process difficult, or even unsuccessful. This second part of our series explains how such pitfalls can occur. Read More

How to Succeed with Software Tools – Part 6

January 14, 2015

In this series of blog articles we examine some of the essential factors required for the successful implementation and use of software tools. In today's article we look at the danger of actually using too many tools or using such tools inappropriately. Read More

How to Succeed with Software Tools – Part 5

January 7, 2015

In this series of blog articles we examine some of the essential factors required for the successful implementation and use of software tools. In today's article we look at the importance of process and how the success or failure of a new tool can depend greatly on the process that has been put in place. Read More

How to Succeed with Software Tools – Part 4

December 29, 2014

In this series of blog articles we examine some of the essential factors required for the successful implementation and use of software tools. Read More

How to Succeed with Software Tools – Part 2

December 10, 2014

In this series of blog articles we examine some of the essential factors required for the successful implementation and use of software tools. This week we look at the need for continual post-implementation adaptation and refinement. Read More

How to Succeed with Software Tools – Part 1

December 3, 2014

The introduction of a new tool to a project or organization can be a stressful time for all involved. Not only does a new tool bring with it a learning curve for users to get up to speed on the product, it almost certainly demands some kind of change to existing processes. One serious mistake often made during this time is focusing too much on that previous process. Read More

Agile - Is Constant Process Improvement Imperative?

November 12, 2014

In this post we continue our examination of various Agile methodology ideas and ask whether they are valid or whether they are in fact, industry myths. Next on the chopping block - do you need to have constant process improvement to be agile? Read More

Process is not Important in Agile Projects (Myth 5)

October 28, 2014

In this item we continue our examination of various Agile methodology ideas and ask whether they are valid or whether they are in fact, industry myths. Do agile methodologies promote the idea that process is unimportant? Read More

An Introduction to Task Boards

October 7, 2014

The Task Board is perhaps the single most useful device that can be used on Agile projects and is the focal point for the stand-up meeting or Scrum. Typically, a Task Board displays only information pertinent to the current sprint and will be cleared off before the next sprint begins. Read More

Incident Priority vs. Severity - Best Practices

August 22, 2014

Our project management system - Spira, contains several standard features for bug-tracking, two of which often get confused, and are often asked about in training classes.  These two are Priority and Severity. They are touched on in the manual, but here it is from the point of a tester. Read More

Infrastructure Isn't Free - So Who Pays?

August 5, 2014

When I collected my last car from the dealership, the salesman proudly showed me under the hood. The engine was tightly packed into the available space with no separately recognizable components and it was noticeably clean. Despite his apparent pride in its power, as he quoted a list of figures representing liters, horsepower and torque, all I was thinking about was getting behind the wheel and driving away.

When he finally got around to the interior I had all but forgotten that the car even had an engine. I know I am not alone in my attitude when it comes to cars for while there are those who love to get down-and-dirty with the internal workings of the internal combustion engine, most of us just want to drive it.

Is There Such a Thing as Extreme Agile Programming?

July 21, 2014

Extreme Programming (XP) is one of the more popular Agile Development methodologies, and for very good reason. It advocates short, rapid iterations, constant customer contribution and frequent testing. But let us consider the foundation of Extreme Programming, which is to identify all the positive aspects of software programming techniques and take them to their extreme; the idea being that you can’t have too much of a good thing. For example, if tests help find defects, why not test all the time?

If we consider Agile methods generally, (not XP specifically) to also be a combination of good ideas, XP would tell us to take those ideas to their extreme; could we do that and create “Extreme Agile Programming (EAP)”? Or would we be trying to swallow our own tail? Let’s consider some Agile principles and find out.

Is Agile Product Management Dead?

July 8, 2014

The Product Manager role (unlike that of the project manager) is arguably the least well understood of all the software project development disciplines and varies greatly in definition and implementation from one organization to another. This blog discusses how the role of the product manager has been changed by the move to agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban. Read More

Software Tools Are Like Football (Soccer)

June 12, 2014

Growing up, I played football / soccer at school. We were all much, much younger when we first learned the game; so young that I think we could barely even count up to eleven, so it should have been no surprise to the coach that he had some difficulty in conveying the idea of team sports. He wanted us to stop thinking of ourselves as individuals, which was not easy as we were only just beginning to develop our own individuality. As a result of our youthful enthusiasm, we each spent most of the time running after the ball as if that were the only way to win. Read More

Agile is Nothing New

April 23, 2014

When we talk proudly of adopting Agile processes for our projects, why do we do so with a somewhat superior air over the old tried and trusted methods of software development? Read More

The Software Chicken and the Egg

April 16, 2014

For a considerable period of time, we did well organized testing, but not against requirements that were formally defined.
Why was it deemed necessary to automate the test management process before there were any decent tools for recording exactly what we were testing for? Read More

Documenting Requirements in Agile Projects

April 1, 2014

(aka The Changing Role of the Modern Father)

One of the difficulties of moving from waterfall to an Agile development process is the breaking down of silos of responsibility, including that of the product owner. No longer the deliverer of the requirements 'master-specification', the product owner now participates throughout the entire process, sharing the requirements management task and taking on new, varied and, sometimes unexpected, responsibilities.

Scrum and Kanban - Siblings or Cousins?

March 26, 2014

While there are multiple Agile software development methods, they have more in common with one another than they do the waterfall method, which they seek to replace. Read More

We Can't all be Steve Jobs

February 10, 2014

A true visionary sees farther than the rest of us and knows how to make those visions a reality. Can we all do that? Will we succeed using only our intuition and personal preferences? Can we ignore users and have true belief that we know better?