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It's easy to split user-experience experts and software architects into different categories and still grant them equal importance; the former deals with the façade of the software while the latter deals with the workings beneath the surface. This separate, but equal attitude changed for Jeff Patton after attending a workshop in which his eyes opened to an epiphany of holism in software development. From this enlightened moment, Jeff realized a way software development could change for the better.

Over the last two years BT Exact, British Telecom#39;s IT organization, has been going through a radical organizational transformation. A central plank of this transformation has been BT Exact adoption of an Agile approach for systems delivery. When BT began to look at how you transform an organization of approximately 14,000 people to become an Agile organization, the size and complexity of BT seemed to be an issue. One challenge faced was how to support this size of a transformation from a coaching perspective. That is, how do you leverage a relatively small finite coaching resource so that it can be effective? This article will chart ongoing journey to address the need for Agile coaches and how "jam" proved to be inspiration along the way!

The definition of "simple design" varies from person to person. But achieving simplicity isn't just about maintaining simple point solutions.

It's a fact of life that plans change, but the proper implementation of agile and release planning can get you back on track. Just be sure to keep the communication lines open and clear throughout the process. Stacia Broderick tells the tale of a department as it works out its kinks in the best interest of its customers.

An old adage says that you cannot manage what you cannot measure, but Mike Cohn thinks differently. Here, he offers suggestions on when to use metrics and when you can manage without, as well as some guidelines to help you choose your metrics carefully.

There comes a time in every software professional's career when telling the truth to someone in power becomes an issue. It can be a difficult situation, but it's far worse to keep silent. Norm Kerth offers some helpful advice on speaking up in ways that are tactful and sincere.

OpenSTA is a solid open-source testing tool that, when used effectively, fulfills the basic needs of performance testing of Web applications. Dan Downing will introduce you to the basics of OpenSTA including downloading and installing