The last time SPK and Associates co-founder Chris McHale spoke with PLM expert Oleg Shilovitsky, they discussed the difficulty of BOMs across engineering disciplines and across the product lifecycle. Here is their next discussion on the latest PLM news and trends...
PDM/PLM-Product Data and Lifecycle Management
The Difference Between Continuous Delivery and Continuous Deployment
In my previous article, I define and compare the two software development practices of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. The two practices are complementary and potentially overlapping, but at least their names give us the hint that they are distinct. If...
Electric Flow Feature Highlight: Environment Reservations for Confident Deployments
Deploying modern software applications is a complex process involving many moving parts. Adding microservices into the mix amplifies this problem by further decentralizing applications, resulting in more deployment endpoints to track. With all those IP addresses...
Our Top Technology Stories in 2017 and 2018 Industry Predictions
SPK wants to wish our growing subscriber community a Happy New Year! We’re honored to be welcomed onto your desktops and smartphones to share stories on how to make your engineering team and company work more efficiently. Perhaps more importantly, we hope any...
The 12 principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Three – Deliver Frequently
Today's Agile principle revolves around deriving maximum value from your development effort. This is principle three in our twelve-part series discussing the core ideas behind the Agile Manifesto: Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple...
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Four – Organizational Cohesion
In this discussion of the 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto, we will address organizational cohesion. Since Agile is closely associated with software development, it can be easy to forget development takes place in the context of the whole business entity....
The 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: Principle Number Five – Cultivate Supportive Environments
Welcome back to our discussions of the 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto! This is our fifth installment of this series which will cover the concept of what I am calling "creating supportive environments." Just as our last discussion pointed out that Agile is...
The Importance of Tools Integration in the Software Development LifeCycle (SDLC)
This week I’d like to talk in larger conceptual terms about the Software Development LifeCycle (SDLC) process and the benefits of integrating tools associated with this process. To start off, let’s identify the four kinds of tools that are important to a fully...
MKSSI Environment Variable – an Integrity PLM Software Primer
I'm not a programmer by trade, so I've had to force feed myself a lot of knowledge – some of it makes sense, some of it is beyond me. I've written this post to serve as an Integrity PLM Software Primer for the MKSSI Environment Variable. I hope you find it useful!...
Agile Development in Regulated Environments – Part 1: Yes, it can work
The value system and practices that embody Agile Software Development have been around for well over a decade, and have been touted as having "crossed the chasm" by organizations such as the Agile Alliance, Gartner, and Forrester Research. Numerous studies indicate...
How to Solve Costly Monotony and Redundancy with Automation
Redundant and repetitive tasks present a number of challenges for your business. Your engineering team feels bored, like they’re wasting their time. Pretty soon, they’re done being bored and looking for more challenging and rewarding work. With skilled engineers in...
How to Account for Complex Risk with Jama in Medical Device Manufacturing
Requirements management isn’t optional in many fields. Medical technology and finance are just two fields where regulatory compliance necessitates requirements management. You and other stakeholders simply must be in total agreement about the requirements of a given...