Category Archives: Tools and methods

What Drives The Scale Of A Business Or Simulation System?

The scale of a business or simulation (continuous or discrete-event) system can be driven by a number of factors. Scale can be measured in terms of CPU cycles, communication bandwidth, disk storage, dynamic memory usage, power consumption, and perhaps other … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Discrete-Event Simulation vs. Business Logic

I wanted to continue yesterday’s discussion by describing some differences between discrete-event simulations and systems that might be implemented to carry out business logic. The first diagram below shows a model of privately owned vehicles and commercial vehicles passing through … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Handling Complex Wait..Until Conditions

Last Wednesday I discussed some of the internal workings of discrete-event simulations. I should also mention that all of these discussions are based on a program running in a single thread that is trying to coordinate many activities. There are … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN 2.0)

Today I was able to complete a thorough power-read of the book Real Life BPMN by Jakob Freund and Bernd Rücker. I have performed discovery on, analyzed, characterized, automated, modeled, simulated, documented, controlled, and improved various kinds of customer processes … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Context of a Scrum Product Owner

The USS Constitution, launched in 1797, is possibly the oldest wooden ship still afloat. Over two hundred years of repairs, retrofits, and refurbishing has left only an estimated ten to fifteen percent of the original timber in place. I’ve read … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Engineering as a Starting Point for Other Careers

Over the years I’ve met and worked with a number of people who started off as engineers and went on to do other things. One friend started as an electrical engineer and went on to become a corporate lawyer, though … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Agile and Scrum Balance Needs of Different People

I first encountered the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator in 19(cough, cough…) and have done quite a bit of reading about it since. I’m aware of its weaknesses but the primary interest for me is its role in making me aware … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How and Why I Got My Certifications

For years I never worried about getting certified in anything. I was steadily developing skills and picking up new things. I already had the jobs I wanted. I was able to learn what I needed from books or the occasional … Continue reading

Posted in Tools and methods | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Right People, Right Analyses, Right Decisions

Some time ago I found myself in a gathering somewhere in the bowels of a large, very bureaucratic organization for which my company was doing some work. The room was full of forty or so senior managers and analysts, many … Continue reading

Posted in Soft Skills, Software, Tools and methods | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

An Effective Framework for Verification, Validation, and Accreditation

I recently encountered a formal methodology for conducting VV&A efforts that I think is worthy of your consideration. Briefly, Verification shows whether a system works as specified, Validation shows whether the specification addresses the correct problem, and Accreditation shows whether … Continue reading

Posted in Software, Tools and methods | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment