The highly competitive and globalized software market is creating pressure on software companies. Given the current boundary conditions, it is critical to continuously increase time-to-market and reduce development costs. In parallel, driven by private life experiences with mobile computing devices, the World Wide Web and software-based services, peoples’ general expectations with regards to software are growing. They expect software that is simple and joyful to use. In the light of the changes that have taken place in recent years, software companies need to fundamentally reconsider the way they develop and deliver software to their customers. This book introduces fundamentals, trends and best practices in the software industry from a threefold perspective which equally takes into account design, management, and development of software. It demonstrates how cross-functional integration can be leveraged by software companies to successfully build software for people. Professionals from business and academia give an overview on state-of-the-art knowledge and report on key insights from their real-life experience. They provide guidance and hands-on recommendation on how to create winning products. This combined perspective fosters the transfer of knowledge between research and practice and offers a high practical value for both sides. The book targets both, practitioners and academics looking for successfully building software in the future. It is directed at Managing Directors of software companies, Software Project Managers, Product Managers and Designers, Software Developers as well as academics and students in the area of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and Innovation Management.​

“Mantle and Lichty have assembled a guide that will help you hire, motivate, and mentor a software development team that functions at the highest level. Their rules of thumb and coaching advice are great blueprints for new and experienced software engineering managers alike.” —Tom Conrad, CTO, Pandora “I wish I’d had this material available years ago. I see lots and lots of ‘meat’ in here that I’ll use over and over again as I try to become a better manager. The writing style is right on, and I love the personal anecdotes.” —Steve Johnson, VP, Custom Solutions, DigitalFish All too often, software development is deemed unmanageable. The news is filled with stories of projects that have run catastrophically over schedule and budget. Although adding some formal discipline to the development process has improved the situation, it has by no means solved the problem. How can it be, with so much time and money spent to get software development under control, that it remains so unmanageable? In Managing the Unmanageable: Rules, Tools, and Insights for Managing Software People and Teams , Mickey W. Mantle and Ron Lichty answer that persistent question with a simple observation: You first must make programmers and software teams manageable. That is, you need to begin by understanding your people—how to hire them, motivate them, and lead them to develop and deliver great products. Drawing on their combined seventy years of software development and management experience, and highlighting the insights and wisdom of other successful managers, Mantle and Lichty provide the guidance you need to manage people and teams in order to deliver software successfully. Whether you are new to software management, or have already been working in that role, you will appreciate the real-world knowledge and practical tools packed into this guide.

This is the digital version of hte printed book (Copyright © 1997). Software testers require technical and political skills to survive what can often be a lose-lose relationship with developers and managers. Whether testing is your specialty or your stepping stone to a career as a developer, there's no better way to survive the pressures put on testers than to meet the ten challenges described in this practical handbook. This book goes beyond the technical skills required for effective testing to address the political realities that can't be solved by technical knowledge alone. Communication and negotiation skills must be in every tester's tool kit. Authors Perry and Rice compile a "top ten" list of the challenges faced by testers and offer tactics for success. They combine their years of experience in developing testing processes, writing books and newsletters on testing, and teaching seminars on how to test. The challenges are addressed in light of the way testing fits into the context of software development and how testers can maximize their relationships with managers, developers, and customers. In fact, anyone who works with software testers should read this book for insight into the unique pressures put on this part of the software development process. "Somewhere between the agony of rushed deadlines and the luxury of all the time in the world has got to be a reasonable approach to testing."—from Chapter 8 The Top Ten People Challenges Facing Testers Challenge #10: Getting Trained in Testing Challenge #9: Building Relationships with Developers Challenge #8: Testing Without Tools Challenge #7: Explaining Testing to Managers Challenge #6: Communicating with Customers—And Users Challenge #5: Making Time for Testing Challenge #4: Testing What's Thrown Over the Wall Challenge #3: Hitting a Moving Target Challenge #2: Fighting a Lose-Lose Situation Challenge #1: Having to Say No

Well-known author and long-time manager Watts Humphrey offers keen insight into the special challenge of identifying, motivating, and organizing creative technical people, and the opportunities involved in managing these people.

This book provides key insights into current trends of software product management, software development and user-centered design of software. Includes cross-industry best practice cases from well-known companies.