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QW2002 Paper 8P1 Karen S. King Common Problems in Tool Adoption |
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Many organizations acquire new tools, and six months later, find they have shelfware rather than a tool that improves probability. This paper describes eight common problems, along with examples from real-life organizations. Examples will be from a variety of different tool acquisitions, such as defect tracking systems, configuration management, code coverage tools, testing tools, as well as project management tools. It continues to provide different solutions for each problem in a format readers can integrate into their own organizations. Finally, it provides a process for introducing tools that integrates all solutions.One of the most common challenges is the motivation for introducing a new tool. Many organizations decide to adopt a new tool because someone read an article in a journal. An individual reads about the importance of measuring code coverage as part of testing. He looks at reviews, and selects the tool with the highest rating. He brings the tool in, and asks the testing group to start using the tool. The testing group agrees, and everyone expects testing will improve because code coverage information is now being collected. The paper will explain the problems leading to this situation, as well as information on how to prevent the problems.
Karen King, founder and principal consultant of Quality Improvement Solutions, has a special interest in implementing improvement projects. With 20 years experience in software quality improvement, she is widely known for her work in using defect metrics to direct process improvement initiatives. She has participated in the software development process in a variety of roles, including: systems programmer, QA lead, applications engineer, supplier engineer, quality manager, IV&V lead, and SEPG chair. Ms. King can be reached at karenk@alumni.rice.edu