Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Podcast Series

Latest Episodes:

Quantifying Uncertainty in Early Lifecycle Cost Estimation Nov 01, 2012

Show notes

By law, major defense acquisition programs are now required to prepare cost estimates earlier in the acquisition lifecycle, including pre-Milestone A, well before concrete technical information is available on the program being developed. Estimates are therefore often based on a desired capability-or even on an abstract concept-rather than a concrete technical solution plan to achieve the desired capability. Hence the role and modeling of assumptions becomes more challenging. In today's podcast episode, Jim McCurley and Robert Stoddard discuss a new method developed by the SEI's Software Engineering Measurement and Analysis (SEMA) team, Quantifying Uncertainty in Early Lifecycle Cost Estimation (QUELCE). QUELCE is a method for improving pre-Milestone A software cost estimates through research designed to improve judgment regarding uncertainty in key assumptions (called "program change drivers"), the relationships among the program change drivers, and their impact on cost. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Using Network Flow Data to Profile Your Network and Reduce Vulnerabilities Oct 23, 2012

Show notes

A network profile can help identify unintended points of entry, misconfigurations, and other weaknesses that may be visible to attackers. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Architecting a Financial System with TSP Oct 18, 2012

Show notes

The SEI recently worked with Bursatec to create a reliable and fast new trading system for Groupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, the Mexican Stock Exchange. This project combined elements of the SEI's Architecture Centric Engineering (ACE) method, which requires effective use of software architecture to guide system development, with its Team Software Process (TSP), which is a team-centric approach to developing software that enables organizations to better plan and measure their work. In this episode, Felix Bachmann and James McHale discuss their work on the project. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

The Importance of Data Quality Oct 04, 2012

Show notes

Organizations rely on valid data to make informed decisions. When data integrity is compromised, the veracity of the decision-making process is likewise threatened. In this episode, Dave Zubrow discusses the importance of data quality and research that his team is undertaking in this area. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

How to More Effectively Manage Vulnerabilities and the Attacks that Exploit Them Sep 25, 2012

Show notes

Deploy vulnerability exploit prevention and mitigation techniques to thwart attacks and manage the arms race. Related Course Malware Analysis Apprenticeship Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Misaligned Incentives Sep 20, 2012

Show notes

In this episode, Novak discusses misaligned incentives, misaligned people incentives in software acquisition programs, and how the wrong incentives can undermine acquisition programs and produce poor outcomes. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

How a Disciplined Process Enhances & Enables Agility Sep 04, 2012

Show notes

Typically, people who believe themselves to be Agile, believe that developers realize the best results when they focus on empowered teams, collaboration with stakeholders, avoiding unnecessary work, and receiving frequent feedback. Agilests hate the term "process" because they use the word somewhat differently than we do. The word "process," however, can be defined as something done repeatedly, with some discipline, and to achieve an end. In this podcast, Bill Nichols discusses how a disciplined process enables and enhances agility. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Agile Acquisition Sep 04, 2012

Show notes

The SEI is focused on reducing the DoD information technology (IT) development cycle currently as long as 81 months to short, incremental approaches that yield results more quickly. One complicating factor is that DoD acquisition programs (like other highly-regulated commercial environments) have a prescribed vision of how IT systems are developed. This podcast explores the SEI's research and work to assist the DoD in Agile acquisition. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

An Architecture-Focused Measurement Framework for Managing Technical Debt Sep 04, 2012

Show notes

Managing technical debt, which refers to the rework and degraded quality resulting from overly hasty delivery of software capabilities to users, is an increasingly critical aspect of producing cost-effective, timely, and high-quality software products. A delicate balance is needed between the desire to release new software capabilities rapidly to satisfy users and the desire to practice sound software engineering that reduces rework. In this podcast, Ipek Ozkaya discusses the SEI's research on the strategic management of technical debt, which involves decisions made to defer necessary work during the planning or execution of a software project. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Cloud Computing for the Battlefield Sep 04, 2012

Show notes

Soldiers can use handheld mobile computing devices (aka smart-phones) to help with various tasks, such as speech and image recognition, natural language processing, decision making and mission planning. There are challenges to achieving these capabilities such as unreliable networks and bandwidth, lack of computational power, and the toll that computation-intensive tasks take on battery power. In this episode, Grace discusses research that she is leading to overcome these challenges by using cloudlets, which are localized, lightweight servers running one or more virtual machines on which soldiers can offload expensive computations from their handheld mobile devices, thereby providing greater processing capacity and helping conserve battery power. Listen on Apple Podcasts.