What is the ‘right’ SDLC Doc Template? – some observations - November 23rd, 2009, by Fergal

We recently received the following question:

“I work for a small subsiduary. Can you recommend sources of documentation templates so I can build best practice to model for our parent company? Then I could recommend visible thread to propagate the standards.”

The question opens up the very interesting, highly subjective & contentious :-) topic of software process & the ‘best’ document template. I thought I’d blog on this and share an extract of my answer as it may be of some help to folks considering this whole area. Not a simple question, (more…)

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The strange case of the missing ’serf-serve’ option - November 8th, 2009, by Fergal

I had a reminder last week of one of those quirky little rules in life that have no logical justification.

I was travelling with a colleague in New Jersey and we were running slightly late for an appointment with a customer, feeling a little anxious as the clock ticked. We stopped to fill up on gas as the yellow ‘low’ gas indicator light appeared on the dash. I instinctively made to get out of the car and start filling up. (more…)

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VisibleThread for IT

2:48 minutes
This summary overview shows the business case for using VisibleThread for IT programs. It shows why up to 42% of IT project cost can be attributed to defective documentation and demonstrates how VisibleThread addresses this large business issue.

Red-flagging Bad Language

3:47 minutes
There are some words/phrases that you should avoid in a proposal. This short video shows how VisibleThread scans and red-flags 'bad language' in your RFP Responses.

Using Discovery to spot Gaps

2:28 minutes
Identification of key concepts in issued documents (RFP etc.) helps align the language of the response volumes. Discovery in VisibleThread can uncover mismatches and lack of alignment between issuer and response docs to support reviews and underpin a winning bid.

Validating Win Theme Language

4:43 minutes
Win themes articulate business differentiation. Too often, with multiple contributors and authors, it is hard to keep theme language consistent.

Here we see how VisibleThread validates response docs against win themes by:

Scanning for Compliance Requirements

4:30 minutes
Proposal Managers have to manually scan issued documents or pdfs to spot requirements prefaced with 'shall', 'must' etc. and track them in spreadsheets. This demo shows an 'obligation scan' run against a SOW. All instances of 'will', 'must', 'shall' are identified. It concludes by generating a first pass of an Excel Compliance Matrix.

Collaborations and Team Reviews with
Discussions

5:31 minutes
Managing inputs from multiple contributors and conducting efficient team reviews is critical to successful outcomes. This demo shows how VisibleThread supports collaboration using web based discussions.

Integrating with MS SharePoint

2:36 minutes
VisibleThread integrates seamlessly with MS SharePoint using an intuitive export/import capability. This short demo shows how the integration works in practical terms. We cover:

Plain Language Analysis

4:11 minutes
Plain Language Analysis drives clear documentation. This demo outlines how VisibleThread can identify long sentences, passive langauge and facilitate plain langauge audits.