— Bi-MonthlyNewsletter

forPositiveSupport

Review'sClients

andSubscribers

ForInformation

2500 BroadwaySuite 320

Santa MonicaCalifornia

90404-3061

(310)453-6100

FAX(310)

453-6253

www.psrinc.com

^

Contents

Version ControlHow do youknow whenyou shouldgo to thenext version?

TerminologyWhatdo all thosebuzz wordsmean?

Forecast for theNationalInformationTechnologyMarket

100° o Recycled Paper

PSR Reviews - Vol.ISSN 1080-2975

1996 Copyright Positive Support Review. Inc. ALL RIGHTS RF.SF.RVED

Version Control - How do Terminology - What do allyou know when youshould go to the nextversion?Many users are lost as to when theyshould go to the next release level ofsoftware.

As a firm, we have developed some guidelineson when users should progress to the nextrelease version of software. It is based on theuniversal version numbering system as admin-istered by the United States Library of Con-gress - Version Control Numbering SystemAgency - a division of the United StatesDepartment of Congress. They can be reachedat clinton@whitehouse.com.

Once you start using software of any type youquickly become aware that each softwarepackage has arevision codeattached to it. Itquickly becomesclear that thisrevision code givesthe maturity of theproduct and thesequence ofchanges to it. Inreality there'ssubstantially moreinformation avail-able through therevision code thanthat. This articleprovides a guide

those buzz words mean?Many do not know the meaning of allthe words and acronyms that are in thepress.

Over time we have all been left in the dust by therapid expansion of terminology and words withhidden meanings. It is with this in mind that Ihave compiled a general glossary of terms fromseveral sources:

Alpha: Software that is so buggy that even thebeta testers won't install it.

Announced date: The date the product managerhopes to go on vacation.

API: A function library with more than 200minimally distinguishable entry points.

Apple open architecture: Product that will betalked about for yearsand delivered when it isIBB

for interpretingthe meaning ofrevision codes

Which of these two great Americans said,"You know, dear, lam telling the truth"?

obsolete.

Beta: Software thatisn't quite finished, asin "beta late thannever."

Chief TechnologyOfficer: The guy incharge of thePowerPoint slide showwho thinks he knowswhat he is talkingabout.

DECNet: A net thatcan not catch a fly.

and what they actually signify.

Version 1.0

Also known as a "One Point Uh-oh", or a"Barely Out of Beta." The vendor had torelease it because the lab guys had reached apoint of exhaustion, the marketing guys werein a cold sweat of terror, and the venturecapitalists were ready to pull all their cash outof the company if the product did not ship.

(continued on page 2)

VI No. 5

Fact sheet: Theremains of the

specification after the product ships.

Focus group: Buying drinks for marketanalysts.

Fully compatible: Same old features.

Fully documented: Code does not work butwe can tell you how it was supposed towork if we had enough time to finish it.

(continued on page 3)

September/October - 1996Page 1

Version Control - How do you know whenyou should go to the next version?

(continued from page I)

The company is praying that customers find it morefunctional than, say, a computer virus, and that itsoperation has some resemblance to what was specifiedin the press release issued.

Version 1.1

All of the killer bugs are fixed but several key featuresand functions still do not work. The functions that donot work have all been shifted to future releases and alldocumentation that says they were to be in the firstversion is destroyed.

Version 1.2

The vendor introduced a few new bugs while fixing thekiller bugs in version 1.1 and so they fixed them in thisrelease. The only way that you can get this "upgrade" isto pay a special fee that is equal to 150% of the originalprice you paid.

Version 2.0

The vendor delivers the product they really wanted towith Version 1.0. Mind you, it's really not what thecustomer needs yet, but they are working on it.

Version 2.1

Well, not surprisingly, the vendor broke some things inmaking major changes so they had to fix them. Theythink that they did a really good job of testing this time,so they don't think they introduced any new bugs whilethey were fixing these bugs. A special press release isissued to tell this to the industry.

Version 2.2

A reporter found a disgruntled user and some bad presswas written. The vendor says they are sorry and onlyone error slipped through. The head of product develop-ment says, "One lousy typo error and you won't believehow much trouble it caused!"

Version 2.3

Some anal-retentive pain in the a— found a deep-seatedbug that's been there since 1.0 and is raising hell untilthe vendor fixed it. The impact of this bug is that theoverall quality of the product would be put in question ifthe bug were not corrected quickly.

Version 3.0

The vendor finally thinks they have gotten it right! Mostof the customers are really happy with this. It is almostas if the vendor had a cash cow. The vendor now startsto think about how they can get more money out ofexisting customers. There now is talk of a changing

price structure for the product.

Version 3.1

Minor changes to meet the needs of a few new customers.The new pricing structure is now in place and there is no more"free" technical support. The Technical Support staff is cut inhalf.

Version 4.0

More features. The system memory and disk requirements nowhave doubled in size. You'll need to get a faster processor.Once this version is installed there is no going back to theprevious version. Data file structures, as well as historicalfiles, are incompatible with prior versions.

Version 4.1

Major fix of two "published" bugs this time. In addition thereare "several" other enhancement "fixes." No one knows forsure but it looks like what was "unstable" in 4.0 is now stable.

Version 5.0

Vendor needs to go on to a new product but they have aninstalled base to protect. Microsoft or IBM have made achange that makes this version obsolete before it gets into thecustomers' hands. Vendor will cut the staff after this.

Version 6.0

Vendor had to fix a few things that were broken in version 5.0.Not very many, but it's been so long since the vendor looked at^this software product they might as well call it a major up-grade. They added a few flashy cosmetic features so theycould justify the major upgrade number.

Version 6.1

Since the primary developers are leaving the company and theyare the last people left in the lab who have worked on theproduct, they wanted to make sure that all the changes theyhad made were incorporated. The developers were gettingpretty bored in their dark little corner. (They kept complainingabout the lighting but the vendor's management would not doanything - they wanted to keep costs down.) They're talkingabout obsolescence planning, but they'll try to keep selling itfor as long as there's a buck to be made. The developers areleaving the bits in as good a shape as they can in case some-body has to tweak them, but i t ' l l be sheer luck if no one deletesthe source code.

No future versions are created. The company sells the productto either IBM or Novell. It then becomes a strategic productthat costs four to five times more than a better competingproduct.

With all of this, it is clear that the best version is 3.1 andanything else is suspect. It is for this reason that the Federal >-

government wil l now mandate that all software upon ini t ialrelease wi l l be called 3.1 so that all software packages have anequal chance of success.<@>.

PSR Reviews - Vol.ISSN 1080-2975

VI No. 5 September/October - 1996Page 2

^

-

Terminology - What do all those buzz wordsmean?

(continued from page 1)

IBM strategic product: A product that wi l l be taken out ofnew production within 36 months of this statement by IBM'sCEO.

was in the spec.

Plug and Plav: Bil l Clinton's favorite position. Hefinds out what people want, plugs it into hisspeeches and then plays the game.

Press leak: The company president speaking tomarket analysts.

In manufacturing: The programmers are still manufacturing Press re|ease: What the marketing departmentfeatures.

In shipping: Someone in the 00001 ZIP code has a copy -most likely the product manager's brother-in-law. No oneelse will get a copy for weeks.

Industry insiders: Disgruntled employees after one toomany drinks.

Long-term planning: What wi l l happen when the newmarketing VP is hired.

Market research: Buying drinks for customers.

Memory leak: What the company president rememberstelling the market analysts.

Minimum system requirements: The oldest PC anyonecould find in the company storeroom.

Multitasking: The ability to crash several programs at thesame time.

Multithreading: The ability to crash a single program inseveral ways at the same time.

New and improved: Totally incompatible and will not workwith anything you currently have. Typically one addedfeature is once you install it, your old version wi l l never workagain.

On schedule: Wil l include a coupon in the box for themissing pieces.

thought was being built. Often confused with thespecification for the next version.

Release candidate: Software built just before amajor holiday.

SDK: A development system without documenta-tion.

Short-term planning: Meeting payroll.

Strategic partnership: A couple of second-ratecompanies that cannot afford to merge.

Technical Support: First place to cut costs once itis discovered that the product has too many bugs.

Technology Leader: Individual featured in articlesin several trade publications who is looking for anew job and hopes a recruiter will see it.

Trade secret: Another way to say "we don't havethe source code."

Upwardly compatible: Lots of new bugs.

User friendly: Lots and lots of gratuitous bitmapsthat are not documented.

Visionary: CEO who has not yet bankrupted acompany.

Windows 95 or NT compatible: The 1993 featureset, two years later.

Online help: Call the psychic hotline for technical support.These are just some definitions. Others can be

Open architecture: The developers didn't finish half of what founc) on the Internet <••*•»•

On a Serious note — JUST RELEASEDMetrics Hand/Guide® for the Internet and Information Technology

• Over 200 metrics defined

• Over 350 fact and sample filled pages

j • 79 metric report templates defined

• Metric process and system defined32 bit system available 10/1/96

• Electronic versions(Multimedia & Word Processing)

• Information e-mail — info@psrinc.com

• Homepage—www.psrinc.com

HandiGuide is a registered trademark of Positive Support Review, Inc. - Santa Monica, ("A

PSRISSN

Reviews - Vol. VI No. 51080-2975

September/October - 1996Page 3

Forecast for the NationalInformation Technology MarketShort supply of experienced managers andtechnologist haunts many organizations just asnew demands are placed on the IT market

by M. Victor JanulaitisInternet address: victor(qipsrinc.com

Readers of this column will notice that Ihave just changed the title to 'Forecast forthe National Information TechnologyMarket' from 'Forecast for the NationalInformation Systems Market. ' The reasonis obvious: most of the new activities inour field currently are in areas other thanthe traditional Information Systems or DataProcessing organizations. We can see newand exciting things happening throughoutthe entire enterprise.

The Internet, Java and application genera-tors are now the rage and nonprofession-als can quickly generate functioningapplications with little if any support fromthe traditional IT (Information Technology)functions in their enterprises. What doesall of this mean?

The skills that will be in the greatestdemand over the longer term will be thoseof individuals who know how to usetechnology and can apply it to their every-day function.

One case in point is an assistant producerfor a television station in a major TVmarket. This individual is responsible forestablishing the framework for his station'scoverage of the Democratic NationalConvention. In years past, that wouldhave meant index card files, personalorganizers, form letters and manuallygenerated interview and scheduling sheets.Well, that is not the case today.

Published by:

M. Victor JanulaitisPositive Support Review, Inc.2500 Broadway StreetSuite 320Santa Monica, CA 90404-3061

(310) 453-6100 Extension 101

FAX (310) 453-6253

http://www.psrinc.com

PSR Reviews - Vol. VI No. 5ISSN 1080-2975

The first thing that happens now is loggingonto the Internet and Lexis/Nexis forresearch. Categorization and classificationof the information in Excel spreadsheetsand Word documents that are routedaround the world via e-mail. All of this isloaded onto a laptop PC that will be thecommand center for the convention.

What this producer is doing is not thetraditional data processing application.Rather he has re-engineered his job to usetechnology so that he can do it moreeffectively. This individual, who haslearned how to leverage technology is nowjumping ahead of his peers, and in somecases his superiors, to shine in his career.

More and more cases of things like this areseen today. While all of this is going onthe dinosaurs of the Information Systemsindustry sti l l do not get the point. We wereall embarrassed by the performance of IBMduring the Olympics. It is so hard tobelieve that for the first week they tookhand written results to the various newsorganization. IBM then re-keyed the datainto the News organizations' computers.IBM could not get their network of all-IBMcomputers to talk to the news networks,many of them IBM based. IBM now has anew acronym that they will use as part oftheir multimillion dollar Super Bowl

advertising campaign ~ It's Better Manual.

That aside, the supply of experienced ITtalent is currently very short. With thejust announced release of NT 4.0 many incorporate America are now starting toscramble to implement NT in lieu ofNovell for the network and Win 95 forthe desk top. Some of the best experi-ence to have is in the following areas:

• NT - No longer a step child. NTWorkstation is now starting to bethe product of choice for thedesktop. NT Server is the productof choice for the Network. Novellmissed the boat on this because ofgreed - the price differential hasnow made NT the product mostoften chosen.

• Internet - The move of everyoneto the Internet and the ability toquickly have a presence there putpeople who know this environmentat a premium

• Visual Programming-Being ableto quickly get an application on linethat is intuitive-that is where the x—

jobs are.-»@»-

September/October - 1996Page 4