Encompass Best Practices for Development and Deployment

1. Formulate Acceptance Criteria
   • Analyze the problem we are trying to solve
   • Write up a one or two-page Requirements Document
     • Include a diagram if possible
     • Use the document when validating requirements with the Business
     • Use the document when communicating with QA and Training
   • Come up with a solution
     • Reach out to fellow Admins and/or Developers to brainstorm
     • Document components that will make up the solution
       • plugin, codebase, custom fields, screens, etc.
         
2. Come up with a Business Communication Plan
   • Do we need Compliance approval?
   • What users will be affected by the change?
   • Do we need Training involved?
   • Do we create a wiki that will help explain the feature?
   • Inform Support Teams
     
3. Once Development is completed, the feature must pass:
   • Unit testing by the developer/admin
   • Dev Demo to Stakeholders
   • Code Review including
     • forms, code-behind
     • custom fields, biz rules
     • custom C# code
   • QA Testing by QA 
   • User Acceptance Testing by Stakeholder
   • Explicit Approval by Stakeholders Ideally via Email with Product Owner and Scrum Master Copied in the email
     
4. Come up with a Deployment Plan – Build a list of steps that will be needed in order to deploy the feature depending on the work that was done. For Example:
   • Deploy Master Plugin
   • Import UW Summary Form
   • Import 2 Modified Custom Fields
     • CX.ModifiedFieldOne
     • CX.ModifiedFieldTwo
   • Import 3 New Custom Fields
     • CX.CustomFieldOne
     • CX.CustomFieldTwo
     • CX.CustomFieldThree
   • Import 1 modified Business Rule
     • Auto-Populate Closing Date Rule
       
5. Come up with a Roll Back Plan – Build a list of steps that will be needed to put things back the way they were before your deployment. For Example:
   • Rollback Master Plugin
     • Get the latest from Master
     • Increment Version Number
     • Deploy Master Plugin
   • Rollback UW Summary Form
     • Import from Backup made just before deployment
     • Rollback 2 Modified Custom Fields
     • Import from Backup made just before deployment
     • CX.ModifiedFieldOne
     • CX.ModifiedFieldTwo
   • Remove New Custom Fields (if needed)
     • Delete CX.CustomFieldOne
     • Delete CX.CustomFieldTwo
     • Delete CX.CustomFieldThree
       
6. Execute Rollback Preparation – For Example:
   • Backup UW Summary form by exporting the form only from Input Form Builder
   • Back up existing Custom Fields and Biz Rules modified by exporting them from Input Form Builder
   • Add all backups in the Jira Story that governs the feature you are working on (source control, separate conversation)
     
7. Execute Deployment – Pair Up with someone whenever possible
   • Announce deployment in Release Chat/Team Chat
     • Announce all components and services 
   • Stage your Deployment objects (separate best practice) 
   • Execute Deployment Plan
   • Smoke Test (separate conversation)
   • Be aware of reports of things not working as expected in and around the area that your feature touched
   • Make sure to over Communicate in Release Chat or Telephone and not Email if you have questions or input on any existing issues or outages post your deployment

2011 Daytona 500 – NASCAR 14 Car Crash –

In Daytona Beach, Florida today, the 2011 edition of the Daytona 500 Sprint Cup series race was ran. The winner was Trevor Bayne, who making his first start at Daytona became the youngest driver ever to win the famed race.  Trevor celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday. The former youngest driver to win a Daytona 500 was Jeff Gordon who was 25 years old at the 1997 event.

Trevor Bayne gave Wood Brothers Racing team their first Daytona 500 victory since 1976 and only the fourth overall victory in the last 20 years.

“Am I dreaming? Is this real? I don’t even know where to go.” said the stunned driver to his team at the end of the race as he drove his #21 Motor Craft Ford to victory lane.

2011 Daytona 500 Results

Here is a link to video of a 14-car crash which was the result of team mates Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann as they bumped on a “push” maneuver.

Learn more about NASCAR: NASCAR 101

News Sources: Stats.Com , FanHouse.Com

How to uninstall the Zugo Toolbar

I was reading a post on ReadWriteWeb that lists Facebook’s top advertisers in 2010.

The number 3 Facebook advertiser on the list is a company that somewhat misleads people into installing a browser toolbar that is not easy to uninstall. I will let you read more about Facebook’s 3rd Biggest Advertiser in 2010 on your own.

If you are one of those people that does not know how to uninstall the Zugo Toolbar, here is a link to the Zugo website that may solve your problem: http://www.zugo.com/uninstall/

Good luck.

Jose Jose sings “El Triste” at the Latin Music Festival II 1970

José José’s big break came on March 25, 1970, when he represented Mexico in an international song festival, the “II Festival de la Canción Latina” (Latin Song Festival II, the predecessor of the OTI Festival) with an amazing performance of the song “El Triste“. The performance of the song was so impressive that caused tears, standing ovations, expressions of amazement and cheers from Angélica María, Alberto Vázquez, Marco Antonio Muñiz, the judges and the spectators in the Teatro Ferrocarrilero in Mexico City.

The fact that José José got the third place shocked the audience.[11]

After the hit of “El Triste”, his popular romantic ballad style mixed with a unique voice made him the star of stars in Mexico. He started his first international tour through Los Angeles, Miami, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Argentina. José played the lead role in small movies like Sueño de Amor,[12] Buscando Una sonrisa[13] and La Carrera del millón.[14]

Source: WikiPedia

Nick Adenhart – Rest In Peace …

Although this is a development and technology blog, I could not help but to spend some time writing a few thoughts regarding the death of Los Angeles Angels rookie prospect pitcher, Nick Adenhart, who died at the tender age of 22 years young, hours after having pitched the best game of his brief major league career.

Nick Adenhart was a man I never met and one who’s profile and image was not readily fresh in my mind. After all, He was a rookie pitcher that attained the 3rd spot in the Angels rotation because of injuries to their top 3 pitchers. To be fair to Nick, he did have a pretty good spring training and he did come into the season as the 3rd starter.

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome ….

I decided today that I would start a blog, like many other people before me and no doubt many more after me. It shall be about my experiences as I traverse the world of Technology, bumbling and stumbling in my daily life as an Applications Developer and IT Consultant.

HLC