Alan S. Koch

Alan S. Koch, PMP is a speaker and writer on effective Project Management methods. He is a certified Project Management Professional and President of ASK Process, Inc., a training and consulting company that helps companies to improve the return on their software investment by focusing on the quality of both their software products and the processes they use to development them. His 28 years in software development include 14 years designing, developing and maintaining software and over 13 years in quality assurance and software process improvement. He was with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for 13 years, where he became familiar with the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), earned the authorization to teach the Personal Software Process (PSP), and worked with Watts Humphrey in pilot testing the Team Software Process (TSP).

Among Mr. Koch's credits are Agile Software Development: Evaluating the Methods for your Organization (Artech House: 2005) and "TSP can be the Building Blocks for CMMI," (Crosstalk Magazine, March 2005). He has consulted with a variety of software organizations in their process improvement programs. Hundreds of professionals in numerous organizations and government agencies have taken his classes on project management, process improvement, and software quality and responded with high praise for his training. Mr. Koch also contributed to the accomplishment of several successful CMM-Based SPI efforts, and was a team member on several CMM assessments and CMMI appraisals. He has presented at numerous recent software quality and process conferences, taught as an adjunct professor of Computer Science, and has mentored students in CMU's Master of Software Engineering (MSE) Program.

Mr. Koch is a Senior Member of IEEE, an SEI-authorized PSP Instructor and TSP Coach candidate, an SEI Transition Partner for the PSP and TSP, and a member of the board of the National Speakers Association, Pittsburgh Chapter.

Customer Focus: What makes a project "Agile"? – Part 2 of 4 
Is the team “Agile,” as they claim, or are they using that term as a cloak for a lack of discipline? One way to know is to observe what drives their activity: do they do what is cool, or do they do what the customer values?
It is all about our customer. All! An Agile team will do everything in their power to maintain continuous (or at least regular) contact with their customer, because that contact is essential to their ability to produce what the customer needs. Read more ...

The Essence of Agility: What makes a project "Agile"? – Part 1 of 4
There's agile, and then there's Agile. How can we tell the difference? As usual, actions—or in this case, behaviors—speak louder than words.
I've been told that Agility means, "We'll just wing it, and when we run out of money, we'll ask for more." This and other such statements show that many people don't understand what Agility is all about. Read more ...

Why Agile? Learning to Develop Software Successes
Agile development methods are not new, and they won't solve all our problems -- which is exactly what makes them worth adopting.
And now along comes "Agile." Why should we pay any attention? Why should we expect this is anything more than the latest brand of snake oil?
Read more ...

Did That Process Change Work? Four Steps to Better Processes
So you made some changes to the way you do your projects. Did those changes make a difference? How can you know?
"Coming up with good ideas for process changes is no different from coming up with good ideas for product requirements; it is only the first step."
Read more ...

What is the Business Analyst's Role? Four Steps to a Clear Answer
The Business Analyst role can overlap several others in your organization, but this simple approach will minimize conflicts over responsibilities.
So, where does the Business Analyst (BA) role end and the Project Manager (PM) role begin? I see lots of opportunity for toes to be stepped on if we implement these things in my organization!
Read more ...

Investing in Quality: When is "Enough" Enough?
Alan walks you through the basics of harvesting your quality data and putting it to use.
There is no doubt that we need to invest in producing a quality product. But it is not clear how much we should invest. So, how do we find that sweet spot?
Read more ...

Yes, You Can Negotiate Project Constraints!
Good estimates are the key to negotiating reasonable project constraints -- even when your sponsor isn't asking for them.
Although it may not seem to be true, we can negotiate unrealistic project expectations. And the key is to do a good job of estimating what it really will take to do the project. Read more ...

ITIL: A Foundation for Project Success
Can a model that is not about projects help us with our development projects? Absolutely!
ITIL can help us to assure the quality of the systems we develop by providing the basis for understanding the business need and taking action on that understanding. ITIL can be our foundation for project success by defining the context for our project and for the product we will build! Read more ...

Testing Is NOT Quality Assurance
The bright line between Quality Assurance and Quality Control, and a wide array of QA activities we may be overlooking on our projects.
We in the software industry have gotten into a bad habit of using the term "Quality Assurance" to refer to things like testing and technical reviews, which are actually Quality Control activities. We've been doing this for so long, and so consistently that most of us don't even know what true Quality Assurance is! Read more ...

Quality That is Worth the Cost
Quality may be an intangible, but that doesn't meant it has to be invisible. Here's how to manage quality by the numbers.
We never have enough money. We never have enough time. We are always under pressure to get more and more done with fewer and fewer resources. With so much pressure, we can't afford to waste time (or money) on Quality Assurance work that isn't necessary. But how can I know which activities are worth the cost? Read more ...

Placing the Quality Bet
The time you need for reviews is already built into your schedule. Just look under "Testing."
We would love to do the "right" thing quality-wise, but there never seems to be a good opportunity to try. Where are we to find the time to add reviews to the already ridiculously tight schedule? Read more ...

Help! The Testers Want to Break the Bank
Four possible strategies for improving quality on your project, plus guidance on deciding whether quality improvement is even called for.
I analyzed the project, I figured out what needs to be done, and I laid out an aggressive but achievable schedule. And then the testers cried "foul!" They tell me that they need three times as much time to ensure a quality product, and that the project is doomed to failure if their demands are denied. Read more ...

High-Quality Unit Tests
Believe it or not, your developers want to get better at unit testing -- a lot better. Here's how you can help them.
Most software developers are not good at unit testing. This is not surprising for many reasons. First, they have generally never been trained in how to do it. Read more ...

Planning for Quality
Without proper attention to defining what we mean by "good" and then planning for it, achieving the level of quality we need is far from assured.
A good friend of mine (I'll call him "Ralph" to protect the guilty) had just spent several days planning his new software project. "What a job!" he exclaimed. "But it was worth it. I'm not leaving anything up to chance this time!" Read more ...

Quality is Conformance OF Requirements
Why parroting your customer's requirements isn't enough, and how to communicate better.
Anything that people produce may be defective, and that includes the specifications that they write. And if the specification is wrong, then how can we say that a system that conforms to it is "high-quality"? Read more ...

Building High-Quality Software: Establishing a culture of quality
Are you holding QA responsible for product quality? They can measure it, but the source of quality is much higher up the company ladder.
When there is a quality problem with our products, where do we look to solve it? If we look to Quality Assurance, we will be disappointed. Read more ...

Reducing Your Cost of Quality
Ways to assess and communicate the true Cost of Quality, and how you can reduce it.
How high is your Cost of Quality? The answer might surprise you. Yes, it includes reviews, the QA infrastructure, and preparing tests—those are your "Appraisal Costs." But how high are your "Failure Costs"—the cost of defects? Read more ...

©Copyright 2000-2008 Emprend, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
About us   Site Map   View current sponsorship opportunities (PDF)
Contact us for more information or e-mail info@projectconnections.com
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy