Herding Cats - That's My Job....
- by user709270
Written by Mike Schmitz - Sr. Director, Program Management Oracle JD Edwards
I remember seeing a
super bowl commercial several years ago showing some well dressed people on the
African savanna herding cats. I remember
turning to the people I was watching the game with and telling them, “You just
watched my job description”. Releasing
software is a multi-facetted undertaking. In addition to making sure the code changes are complete, you also need
to make sure the other key parts of a release are ready. For example when you have a question about the
software, will the person on the other end of the phone be ready to answer your
question? If you need training on that
cool new piece of functionality, will there be an online training course ready for
you to review? If you want to read about
how the software is supposed to function, is there a user manual available?
Putting all the
release pieces together so they are available at the same time is what the JD
Edwards Program Management team does. It is my team’s job to work with all the
different functional teams so when a release is made generally available you
have all the things you need to be successful. The JD Edwards Program
Management team uses an internal planning tool called the Release Process Model
(RPM) to ensure all deliverables are accounted for in a release. The RPM makes
sure all the release deliverables are ready at the correct time and in the
correct format. The RPM really helps all the functional teams in JD Edwards know
what release deliverables they are accountable for and when they are to be
delivered.
It is my team’s job to
make sure everyone understands what they need to do and when they need to deliver.
We then make sure they are all on track to deliver on-time and in the right
format. It is just that some days this feels like herding cats.
