Net-software

Configuration Control Is Fundamental to Robust Software

2010-03-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

Intelligent configuration control is profound to having a capable good: How can you assess what you've got if you do not know what you have? We shady that poor attention to configuration control is the cause for the quantity of alterations that plagues some goods during developing.

An optimally working configuration control program diminishes fault accounts and turn testing more easygoing, whereas ill-sorted system elements necessarily mean failure and much work desolated. The affect of good (or poor) configuration control gets even more marked if the good under test is really an organization or a collection of elements. And, naturally, configuration control is significant for the inventing cycle as well; later on, it doesn't matter how well you configured the good if you're unable to produce and deliver that project.

Making up firms with salutary configuration control systems are better able to direct part numbers and good releases. Fundamentally, even assembly line software advantages from configuration control.

Successful good developing, in common, is thus fully contingent on robust configuration control, whether that good is software package, microcode, computer hardware, or (particularly) some combination of all 3. Directing a customer the inappropriate version of a good is a fast way to get a "de-sourced" provider.

Configuration control systems alleviate delivery of interconnected software and computer hardware to generate a completely functional constituent or structure. This is done by distinguishing features and operational capacity, in advance of the delivery, for every particular software package and computer hardware delivery, and it includes contemporizing the software and computer hardware revisions where demanded.

In addition, configuration control provides aboveboard traceability of function and characteristic development over specs. At any point during the action, we can clearly distinguish switches, accomplish pre-release containment, and distinguish compatible constituents within a structure.

Configuration control begins with the projecting stage, and project control staff should be aware of this demand and handle it. Some organizations already have a configuration control system in situ that is well-documented. If not, you must act with your developing group to handle this during the course of the design.

The group can develop the good or system guideline, which allows the part numbers and advised creation dates for the assorted software and computer hardware releases. To assist with this aim, we suggest producing a formal configuration control program. The demands themselves should fall under this project, and all switches should receive cost and time quotes and be stipulatory by all parties.

Configuration Designation

To build configuration designation, we must have the substances to determine a configuration point.

Commonly, we select an item and determine the first version or condition of it as a service line. This service line lets us experience where we commenced and to discover and record switch as the project and product developing carry on. The same advance applies to doc control and computer hardware configuration control.

Commonly, we link up a part number with the most eminent degree of the configuration. The following level of conformation items identifies the feature content and enforces a particular revision degree to the human features. We could even determine further degrees of refinement with the individual parameters that could apply to the configuration. At Each stage in the good lifecycle, configuration identification allows an operation and good that is documentable and governable.

Configuration regulation

Configuration regulation is the part of configuration control in which we control alterations to the good. This choice from projected revisions and updates to the computer hardware or software package, to alterations that has been quested and accepted in the course of good evolution. These supplemental alterations may demand a re-baseline of the good, though it is more distinctive that these "later adjustments" don't get part of the service line.

It is desirable to have just one adaptation in release at once. Configuration regulation gets complex when more than one edition exists. Controlling multiple releases and subsequent procedures, such as testing and rating, is hard.

Configuration regulation can as well get complex with multiple constituent shapes or multiple loops of system constituents. This is particularly true when there's a mass of customer-customizable parameters. With automotive vehicles, we frequently see attribute-based demands, where order alternatives drive alterations to the parameters for a deal of constituents. This could also appear via line sequencing, in which the areas are custom-made to the vehicle number.

This production complication can have important affect on verification actions. Production editions have to be calculated for during testing, which lets in asserting those customer ordering schemes that drive the constituent configurations.

Disregarding the situation, a configuration service line demands an agreed-upon description of the dimensions of a good and the linked up date. This gets the commencing point for specifying what appoints downstream switch. We would expect to see an approved and released papers or docs (revision) for each particular version, the aim of which is to provide a substantial foundation for controlling change.

Configuration Condition Reporting

Configuration condition reporting (CSA) is applied principally for the reporting boast, though its import is much more large-minded. Under CSA, we put down switches, update configurations when goods alter, and issue accounts.

When addressing software, we may inspect the oftenness of check-in/check-out to assert that the developers are protecting intellectual belongings by saving new editions. We could audit the release documentation to affirm that the advised or projected configuration has been presented. In addition, we might take a look at the number of switches to get an estimation of the constancy of a given release.

Configuration Inspecting

Configuration inspecting has 2 chief actions: dynamic configuration and operational configuration, both of which equate the configuration anticipated to what is delivered. A dynamic configuration inspect equates existing docs to contracted or compulsory docs, and an operational configuration inspect controls functionality against demands. The consequences are part of the release marks.

Computer hardware configuration control is most generally achieved by the part counting system and the linked up with a bill of materials. The bills themselves can take on dissimilar constructions - e.g., modular, phantom, or one-level bills. It is not excessive to ask that the bills of stuffs themselves fall under configuration control regulation. This may not needfully be the same configuration system as applied in the developing work of the good. We could also expect this estimation to use to the item master list: that's, the listing of all constituents of all bills of material.

First lady pushes healthy kids campaign forward

2010-03-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Microsoft on Tuesday released two security bulletins to fix eight bugs in its Windows and Microsoft Office software. Both bulletins are rated important, but analysts said many of the vulnerabilities could potentially be more severe if exploited.

Joshua Talbot, security intelligence manager at Symantec Security Response, is concerned that in many enterprise environments, Windows XP is still common, and these vulnerabilities are more serious on XP and older systems.

"Since Windows 7, Microsoft has seemed to downgrade file-based vulnerabilities," Talbot said. "In the past, I think many of the vulnerabilities patched this month could have been rated critical, but with protections like DEP and ASLR, these types of vulnerabilities are less of an issue for Windows 7."

A Patch Roller Coaster

Andrew Storms, director of Security operations for nCircle, said IT security teams have been on a Microsoft roller coaster so far in 2010 in regards to bulletins. He pointed to January, which produced two bulletins, including the out-of-band emergency release for Internet Explorer. That was followed by a monster patch of 13 bulletins in February. March will go down in history as a light Patch Tuesday with only two important bulletins.

"Unfortunately, this was the first patch for the newer, safer Office 2007 file format. File-format attacks continue to be a favorite attack vector for earlier versions of Office, especially 2003," Storms said. "Since releasing Office 2007 three years ago, Microsoft hasn't had to patch a single bug in this file format, something I'm sure they are pretty proud of. IT security teams everywhere will be keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that this isn't the beginning of a new streak of vulnerabilities in Office."

For the second time in three months, Microsoft has also issued a warning about a new IE zero-day bug. Like the IE zero-day bug from January that got a lot of press because of its involvement in the Aurora exploit that hit Google, Storms said, this bug will get some mitigation assistance from ASLR and DEP. "The good news is that, at this time, IE8 is not affected," he noted. "There's no doubt that this new bug will be fodder for the ongoing security discussion that is a key part of the browser wars."

Pity for Microsoft

Tyler Reguly, lead security engineer at nCircle, said there's nothing overly interesting about March's Patch Tuesday, which offers patches affecting Excel 2007, SharePoint 2007, and MovieMaker, since everything requires user interaction. But he added that it's interesting to note that only Excel 2007 is affected by several of the vulnerabilities in MS10-017. Reguly said he's become so accustomed to seeing a full list of Office versions for most vulnerabilities that he was shocked to see "not applicable" next to Excel 2002 and 2003.

"Microsoft has also released a security advisory regarding a new zero-day in Internet Explorer. In a way, I feel bad for Microsoft having to maintain older versions of their browser," Reguly said. "While I believe browser security is the user's responsibility -- practice safe browsing and such -- and I'm not in the 'IE6 must die' fan club, I can't imagine maintaining browser software as old as IE6. Can you imagine the overhead if Mozilla still had to maintain the initial release of Firefox?"

Microsoft-seeded foundation picks Headspring Systems project

2010-03-10T11:25:00.002-08:00

A Microsoft-seeded, open-source organizer picked a Headspring Systems project for its first non-Microsoft sponsored effort.

Seattle, Wash.-based Codeplex Foundation announced last week it was choosing the Austin-based software developer's computer application, MVC Contrib. It is the first Codeplex has accepted outside of Microsoft.

The application is meant improve dot-net software testing by allowing web developers to test their applications on top of Microsoft’s active-server pages and model-view-controller framework.

The project’s founders Eric Hexter and Jeffrey Palermo began working on the software independently in 2007, and then merged their work with Headspring when they were hired by the company. Headspring was founded in 2001.

Hexter, now Headspring’s director of open-source software initiatives, said in an interview Wednesday the most exciting part about the project’s acceptance at Codeplex is the potential for more developers, including Microsoft employees, to both use and work on the project.

“Having the foundation behind the project hopefully eliminates some of the barriers for other companies who want to use this software,” Hexter said. “Plugging it on a Web site versus having a foundation with legal authority totally changes the possibilities.”

He said the connection to Microsoft will also bode well for Austin’s tech economy, breaking new ground in open-source development, where ties have been virtually nonexistent.

“Anything we can do to draw more attention to that is really what we’re trying to do,” he said.

The CodePlex Foundation is a non-profit created as a forum for open source communities dedicated to increasing participation in open-source community projects.

Copyright 2010 bizjournals.com

How Utilizing Business Management Software Can Increase Profits

2010-03-10T11:25:00.001-08:00

As collision repair software becomes more integrated--taking advantage of expanded hardware capabilities, greater storage capacities, and, of course, the Internet-- questions arise as to how repair technicians are utilizing these business management systems once they leave the developers' hands.

There's no arguing that today's collision repair software (which for business purposes can include everything from financial management to estimating, production management, task management, customer retention, communications, etc.) can greatly improve the efficiency and productivity of a bodyshop, leading to increased profits. However, while most realize the benefits of a new software system, few utilize them to their fullest potential. The "power users" of these software systems represent only a small percentage in the collision repair industry.

The process starts with implementation. For many developers, this is the single biggest challenge in releasing (or updating) a new software product to market.

"When you add additional features or functions to a product or make a change that requires them to do something different, the biggest challenge for the user is to understand the benefit," says Frank Terlep, president of Summit Software Solutions. "It's part of a communications strategy. The user is going to have to change how he is using the software. When they understand the benefits and it matches what their expectations are, it's relatively easy to get them to use it."

One of the ways developers have been accommodating collision repairers is by offering packages tailored to the size of their bodyshop's operations. Summit Solutions' CollisionRepair-Net software suite allows shops of all sizes to get the features and functions they need to achieve the objectives they want from a shop management system.

Not to be outdone, Mitchell's RepairCenter, launched at last year's NACE Expo in Las Vegas, allows collision repairers to choose from six customizable RepairCenter packages and 30 modules. And while only a select number of modules have been released to the Canadian market thus far (including the ClaimTools Photo Management module and the TechAdvisor Collision & Mechanical Parts & Labour Estimating Data module), more are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2010.

"The challenge with any change of systems is within the migration from differing systems," says Mike Jerry, Mitchell Canada vice-president and general manager. "If [a collision repair facility] has been using software or a particular program for a considerable period of time, there's a level of comfort. It's overcoming a new workflow, a new process. These programs can take you to being as lean as you want to be, and the real struggle is not the software but the internal process changes within the shop."

Just as there's a considerable difference between reading about the benefits of a business management system and seeing actual tangible results to your bodyshop, the same can be said about the potential costs, as Frank Terlep explains.

"If [a bodyshop] has the capability of going paperless and they have chosen not to over the last three or four years, we have identified that the average cost of paper and paper-based processes to a shop is approximately $50 per repair order--and that cost is not just based on the paper. It's based on the loss and misfiling of paperwork, the time needed to search and find information, the cost of printing, copying, etc. Another part of the fifty-dollar cost per RO is that the typical repair order jacket travels 2.6 miles during the course of its lifetime.

"Another 'hidden cost' in many collision repair shops is their flat-rate or commission-based pay structure and processes. We have a feature in our software called 'Auto Flagging,' that automates the flagging and commission payroll process, which can eliminate anywhere from three to five hours a week in payroll processing time."

Bernard Peloquim, a consultant for Carrus Technologies' CollisionWay software, says that in terms of finances, many collision repair facilities fall victim to what he calls the "shoebox syndrome." This is where all of the invoices and paperwork needed to conduct accounting procedures are placed in a shoebox and sent to the bodyshop's respective accountant on a regular basis, leaving the owners and managers with little understanding of the true day-to-day profitability of the business.

Peloquim believes that part of the solution for bodyshops lies in real-time, accurate communication between collision repairers and their respective business partners.

"What the industry needs is a day-to-day contact with what's happening in their shop. [Imagine] if, for example, you can pull the report on whether you made money or you lost money on the car that just left your door, instead of having to wait for the report for two to three weeks, or even a month. What is the negative effect and how much is it costing them? I would say somewhere between 0-5% of net profit."

Audatex took a different approach with its Lean Six Sigma for Collision Repair. Instead of offering a robust suite of integrated modules, Audatex strives to improve efficiency and productivity in collision repair facilities through its time-tested Lean methodology, which has led to success with its other platforms and systems.

Through its Web-based audio and video tutorials that collision repairers can access anytime online, Audatex gives industry professionals a cost-effective, broad foundation to learning how their business operates and how to improve upon it.

"The whole idea behind Lean is to gain efficiencies through productivity. It's really looking at removing redundancies or unnecessary steps in the process," says John Kotsopoulos, managing director for Audatex Canada. "It's like getting 30% more output with 30% less input. So how do I get 30% more with an existing process, [then] how do I get 30% more with 30% less on the input side?"

For those wishing to get the most out of their business management software, there's no shortage of available resources from the developers themselves. While most software systems will have comprehensive tutorial modules included in the program, many developers go the extra mile when it comes to technical service and training.

Carrus Technologies, for example, offers one-on-one online training, while Mitchell offers alternative "Mitchell University" courses that allow clients to learn the finer points of their software at home on their own time. Summit Software Solutions, as part of its consultant work, will actually revisit a bodyshop as many as four or five times after initial implementation to help its customers better utilize their software.

It's impossible (and somewhat unreasonable) for collision repair industry professionals to learn all the functionalities offered within these software platforms, but don't dismiss them entirely. Be aware of the resources out there and the potential to improve the operations of your bodyshop.