OPEN SOURCE
Why Reinvent? InfoPrint Integrates Free Code

With five operating systems to support and people spread across the United States, Europe, and Japan, it's a challenge to economically manage software development while meeting tight schedules. Developing all our code in-house certainly isn't practical. That's why InfoPrint has turned to a multisource development model, under which we use open source components where appropriate and integrate them with in-house code across our software projects.

Using open source is just one aspect that makes this component-based development approach work at InfoPrint, an IBM-Ricoh joint venture focused on commercial printing. We also use agile techniques, for both integration with legacy platforms and creating new applications. By using appropriate open source components integrated with in-house code across our projects, we cut costs and work faster.

One warning for companies implementing this development strategy: It's critical that we know the origins of our code in the component approach, so that we don't leave the company open to unrecognized licensing, and so that we can ensure consistency. We use Black Duck Software's automatic code-scanning tools to look at every component for licenses, versioning, and other potential problems. We view the scanning process as a way to achieve standardization in code reuse.

Mike Munger,
InfoPrint's manager of component development

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CONFIGURATION DEVELOPMENT
Nikon Teaches SCM New Tricks

At Nikon, we do what we call forensic source code analysis--review historical code changes to track how software evolves--using software configuration management tools. That approach lets developers learn from one another's coding techniques, comments, and changes.

But we're finding that SCM tools (we use Perforce) help in areas beyond conventional version tracking. As an international company, Nikon uses distributed development to increase productivity and parallel development to let us to work on multiple projects without collisions. By letting developers work in these modes, and share and communicate about project resources, SCM tools improve transparency among teams. They help in code review sessions, build and release automation, and code reuse. And we've used SCM to develop a number of custom tools for automating processes, including automating daily build-and-smoke testing, delivery of documentation and schedules to our development wiki, and elements of project management.

By thinking of SCM as a medium for developers to share resources in a well-structured fashion, it's become a core part of our infrastructure, and we continually find new ways to use it.

Wilken Rivera,
Nikon's software infrastructure administrator

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AGILE DEVELOPMENT
Idaho Makes Progress Despite Legacy Apps

The IT team at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare knew its mainframe-based green-screen apps for processing applications for food stamps and other aid weren't ideal. The 22-year-old legacy system processed batches of eligibility applications overnight, and if an input error led to a rejection, the corrected application had to wait for the next batch process. It could take days or weeks to learn why someone wasn't getting benefits.

But a multiyear, multimillion-dollar overhaul was considered too risky. Previous attempts to replace the legacy system never got past user disagreements on requirements.

"We needed an agile approach, and that went against the grain" of how things were done in the past, says Randy Ashton, senior project manager at the department. In 2006, it settled on the Scrum method of agile development, using project tools from Danube, which lets developers start building before they have every requirement.

There were areas everyone agreed should improve, such as cutting delays in food stamp eligibility. Using Scrum principles, the division's IT team developed in two months a proof-of-concept Web app that gave an unofficial eligibility determination in real time. If the application included a clerical error, it could be caught before being sent for overnight batch processing.

Idaho's still chipping away at the legacy replacement project. But with its Scrum approach, it's delivering quick-hit apps that bring program improvements along the way.

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

Application Development That Delivers Software development isn't what it used to be. We take a look at organizations -- including UPS and Nikon -- that are shaking up the process.   Mobile Development Plug-In Cuts AP's Time To Market Productivity Société Générale Cuts Costs Amid Complexity Application Life Cycle UPS Works To Get Better, One Step At A Time Open Source Why Reinvent? InfoPrint Integrates Free Code Configuration Development Nikon Teaches SCM New Tricks     Agile Development Idaho Makes Progress Despite Legacy Apps Custom Development Cancer Center Builds E-Records From Scratch Requirements Delphi Engineers Use Single Repository Code Reuse Defense Department Tries Opening Up--A Bit Agile Development XDx Crafts A Platform To Track Clinical Tests

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