Object Technology Centers of Excellence

Timothy D. Korson and Vijay K. Vaishnavi

1996 | 200 pages
ISBN: 132612313
 

RESOURCES

DESCRIPTION

Object Technology Centers (OTC) are technology transfer catalysts for the rapid development and deployment of object-oriented infrastructure. Object Technology Centers of Excellence provides guidance to those charged with managing the shift to object technology. It is the only book on the market aimed not at the project level but at the corporate level, with a focus on the infractructures necessary for a successful transition.

This book presents case histories of early adopters of OT, which can help you understand the steps your company must take-and paths it should avoid. Object Technology Centers of Excellence is recommended reading in any organization planning or transitioning to OT, not just involved with formal OTCs. The book includes practical advice for managers, members of technical staffs, and consultants.

The case histories involve some heavy hitters:

Also, summaries are presented for Andersen Consulting, Northern Telecom, Prudential Insurance Company, Ascom Nexion, and several others.

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK...

"Object technology centers are an active means of promoting reuse. This book offers the necessary practical guidance to corporations if they are to successfully create software for their business." --Marie Lenzi, Managing Director, Syrinz Corp.; editor, Object magazine

ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

Timothy Korson is Executive Director of Comsoft, a nonprofit consortium for OTCs, and a columnist for Object magazine. He has presented tutorials at numerous international conferences on how to establish an OTC.

Vijay Vaishnavi is Professor of Computer Information Systems at Georgia State University and Research Director or Comsoft. He has authored over 65 articles, and is the Information Technology Editor for DATA BASE.

Sample Chapters

One sample chapter is available for download.

Chapter 2

Introduction

An Object Technology Center (OTC) is a technology transfer center that specializes in the rapid development and deployment of the infrastructure necessary to successfully use object-oriented software development techniques on a corporate scale.

OTCs are a relatively new corporate phenomenon. The first organized meeting for members of OTCs was a workshop at OOPSLA-93. Since then the OTC workshop series has become an annual event at OOPSLA. In addition, a series of conferences dedicated to members of OTCs has been established. Through these meetings we have identified numerous corporations that have an OTC. Four of these corporations (IBM, BNR, The Travelers, and Wiltel) are contributing whole chapters to this book. Eight other OTCs are contributing summary information.

These workshops and conferences serve as a valuable forum for information exchange and collaboration. New attendees often remark that before attending they were not aware of how many other companies have a formal OTC.

Organizationally, OTCs span the spectrum, from grass-roots organizations, to formal committees, to funded entities. Among the funded entities, some get up front funding, while others get paid for services they deliver to specific projects. Their sizes range from a single person to a staff of 30. The projects they support range from pilot projects of 2--3 people, to mature 1000-person projects.

The OTCs represented in chapters 2--6 are representative of this diversity=2E Some of them represent the larger and more mature OTCs. Other chapters describe smaller OTCs. The Wiltel OTC is an interesting story in that it no longer exists as a formal OTC.

For the rest of this chapter we will describe, in generic terms, the Goals, Activities, and Organization of an Object Technology Center. The middle chapters are case studies written by the heads of the OTCs represented. Chapter 6 presents summary information from 8 other OTCs. The last chapter will synthesize the case studies and relate them back to the generic material presented in this chapter.