Quite some years ago, after attending a presentation about lean production at Toyota, I decided to buy the book “The Toyota Way”. I had the feeling many of their 14 management principles would be applicable to professional services as well. I started reading the book, but never finished. Last weeks I read several posts about lean software development compared to another Agile working method: SCRUM. Honestly, despite the recent car issues that Toyota is facing, I feel both methods, or even a combination of these two, can help us deliver software in a better way.

Are you one of those early birds who installed the then free available Windows 7 Release Candidate? Fun is over. Beginning March 1, the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will start to shut down every two hours in preparation for its expiration on June 1, 2010. That means you will need to migrate your RC systems to an official version of Windows 7. Another option is to go back to yuor your previous operating system. But who’s willing to do that?

Most of us will remember a rather dramatic introduction of Windows Vista several years ago. With a lot of marketing power users were forced to switch to a not very well performing new operating system. There were many complaints about the big amount of bugs and the poor performance. Microsoft seemed to ignore the complaints, but after a while they had to conclude Windows Vista was not the right way to go. Quite soon after the Vista introduction it became clear Microsoft was aiming to launch a new OS. Windows 7 should make us forget about the Vista debacle and should be able to compete with the very user friendly Apple OSX. New data shows Microsoft has learned from the past mistakes.

YouTube was among the first big brands which decided to stop supporting Internet Explorer 6 and today Google joined the IE6 ban. Like many others Google is using more and more Javascript technology to realize Rich Internet Applications (RIA). The main issue is that JavaScript is not supported in the same way by different browsers and especially preparing a working Internet application for IE6 is a time consuming trial and error challenge.

Yesterday I was talking to a researcher of the Amsterdam University. As Goyello we take part in the Symbiosis program and from time to time they measure the progress of all the participants. During the interview we concluded that in many outsourcing projects in general the demand management is the weakest part and the main cause of failure. Nothing new, I stressed the importance before. The main question is probably why this keeps going wrong. I think the answer is simple: Software development is Art! And artists are hard to handle.

Whether or not you are using Twitter, please continue reading. This is not a typical “new on Twitter” post, although it is about Twitter. Last night Seesmic launched a new revolutionary application Seesmic Look. Seesmic Look is a unique way to learn, observe or be immersed in the real-time web. It’s a Windows desktop app bringing together Twitter data with a beautiful design, approachability and ease of use. Even without a Twitter account it enables you to find valuable information and to jump on the hot trends on Twitter. Having a Twitter account your personal timelines will be incorporated as well. The great look and feel of the application makes it a nice to use one. Seesmic Look works on Windows XP, Vista and 7

According to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc. the technology sector will see a recovery in 2010 as businesses and governments in the US and around the world begin spending again on information technology. After declining 8.2 percent in 2009, US IT spending will grow 6.6 percent in 2010 to $568 billion. Global IT spending, which dropped 8.9 percent last year, will rise 8.1 percent in 2010 to more than $1.6 trillion.

photo credit: Ultor83

Try to recall the last talk you had with some friends in the bar or colleagues over lunch? What was it about?

In the case of a group of women I don’t know it. If related to cars I guess you mentioned the nice but, the great look & feel, the rounded shapes, beautiful striping, nice and special color, the safety and the great seat covers.

If not about women or money you and your male friends talked about cars. Especially about horse power, engine size, fuel type, fuel consumption, acceleration, maximum speed, tire size and more technical and impressive specs.

Do you ever have such talks about the software you have just bought?

When you are working with social media you tend to forget that the adoption of social media is still rather low. I recently noticed this when I was requested to provide a presentation about online corporate branding. Still many people are hardly using the possibilities of social media. Meanwhile, it’s becoming obvious that you can improve your competitive advantage. By means of social media the smallest company is able to gain the branding image of a big corporate. Online the differences in between big and small are way smaller than in the offline world. Below I will share with you what social media you could give a try in 2010.

I believe we all agree that 2009 has been a horrible year for many of us. But not necessarily for all of us. Despite or maybe even thanks to the economic downturn the IT outsourcing market didn’t lose that much, or even gained. To save cost companies started to outsource their software development to low-cost nearshore and offshore locations.

Today the future looks brighter, it looks like the economy will recover, although many things are still uncertain. Whatever happens, for sure it will have a big impact on nearshoring and offshoring. Below I will show you my personal forecast. Please don’t blame me in a year time if my forecast tuns out to be either right or wrong.