Category Archives: Implementation

SCM is DISC made Easy

 

Understanding DISC profiling is easy when you are thinking about it, but did you know there was an easy way to figure out someone’s primary DISC profile letter with reasonable accuracy? I figured this out and created a handy chart to show how it works.  All that’s needed to figure out where someone fits on the two main dimensions of DISC – global vs linear and data vs people.  Quickly understanding where people fit is important because SCM is DISC .

I like to figure out the global vs linear dimension by asking one simple question, “Is it more important to do things fast or to do things right?”  The jet fighter pilots and rock stars need to do things fast; get home without being shot down or keep from getting booed off the stage.  The chess players and long-term care nurses must do things right; win the game or keep the patient happy.

 

The people vs data dimension is found by looking at the subject and object of someone’s writing or actions.  The jet fighter pilots and chess players are data focused; gauges full of data or consequences of possible moves.  The rock stars and long-term care nurses are people focused; audience is cheering or patient is feeling good.

Sources of answers to these questions include conversations like email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Learning how to profile quickly makes me a better Software Configuration Management engineer.  Let me know if it works for you.

SCM is DISC made Easy

 

SCM is SaaS

SCM operations differ from traditional software application development in that changes are often deployed directly into the live ‘production’ environment.  We may not always think of our work processes as a production environment since many changes are nothing more than ‘on the fly’ scripting changes, but if we truly believe that SCM is SDLC (and this author does), then these types of on the fly changes are being made in the maintenance phase of a hosted software process deployment.  In other words, SCM is Software as a Service.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of ignoring the rigor of pre-release software testing in the case where numerous small changes are being made daily, but if you wouldn’t skip regression testing with a release of application software or in-house, hosted software, then why would you do it with SCM operations – whether it’s a script, application, or process?  Are your external customers more important you’re your internal customers, or is it just that external customer complaints are more visible?

Just as application software is tested prior to shipping, any software process hosted for internal use should be tested.  After all,

SCM is SaaS