6th Sense

Starring: Malcolm Crowe (The Developer), Cole (The Program Manager)

"I see dead people!"

Probably one of the most famous movie lines of all time, isn't it? The movie takes one through the journey of a child psychologist Malcolm Crowe who dedicates himself to heal Cole, a young boy who sees dead people, but in the end Cole ends up healing Malcolm by making him realize that he is dead! – This is something which sets Malcolm free from all the pain he was bringing on himself. Sorry to break the plot to all those who have been living in a cave since the last 8 years and didn't get a chance to see this movie in a hot 'n' happening Caveatre(Theatre in a Cave).

You ask what on earth this movie has to do with ".NET Development + Architecture + Perspectives"? Well, it has everything to do with the all-knowing, self-acclaimed superhero we know as software engineer a.k.a Malcolm Crowe. I think the reality that sun is about to set on him is going to hit him hard, the sudden pang of realization that he wouldn't be the reigning king of Softwareopotamia will be a severe blow to his ego. But, the ultimate question is, would this realization set him free or would he imprison himself in the cage of depression? Would he able to overcome that Cole, the Program Manager, is the one who will help him bring his suffering to end?

Malcolm, who thinks that a software can’t be conceived without him (rightfully so) and he should decide the timelines of constructing one, is in for a surprise. He who elevates himself to the status of a Geek God by spending long hours at work is in for rude awakening. He who thinks that he is know-all and can help Cole is in for shock as the tables are about to be turned on him.

So, what is going to happen at climax? Well, enters 6th Sense in the next scene. Now, wait a minute, how can a movie itself enter in its own scene? Isn’t it recursive? Betcha! But, I’m not talking about the movie. Please, give me some credit, will you? I’m talking about 6th Sense, the Analytics product --

“6th Sense Analytics™ is a hosted software solution that automatically and unobtrusively collects the metrics that organizations need to understand the execution of software development projects. Whether the work is onshore, offshore, in-house or outsourced, 6th Sense Analytics brings the software development process into focus, ensuring your projects are on time, on budget, and on target with business goals.”

What does this mean for Malcolm? Short answer, this means the big brother a.k.a the Program Manager a.k.a Mr. Cole is going to be watching you!! Long answer, it means that data sensors will be installed on your machine which will monitor your favorite IDE to collect metrics about how you program, when you program, when are you best at programming a.k.a Flow Time and what is your overall velocity?

Malcolm: Say What?
Cole: Sorry, I told you that you were in for a rude awakening.

Malcolm (panting): How can they?
Cole: Well, I can understand but the fact of the matter is that it’s not your hobby project that someone is monitoring. People are investing real money for you to construct software for them.

Malcolm (furious now): Software is like an art not a science!! How do you expect me to program when someone is watching over my shoulder?
Cole: [Pause], Well, you are right! It does add some extra pressure for one to constantly produce which might affect the overall quality of the software as one might be in the race of being the most productive person. But, in the end, this is being done just to monitor the overall velocity of a developer like you. You can choose not to indulge in the rat race of producing X number lines of code per day. This product would just give you a metric of how much work can you get accomplished per day. This in turn would help you estimate future projects better. Not to mention, it provides lot of transparency to the Program Manager and the customer about all your hard work.

Malcolm: hmm….May be it is for good, I think I would have to try it for myself. So, how does this work again?
Cole: Here it is --

I'm betting that this realization would set Malcolm free and would make him an informed developer if not a better one. I think this in turn will help the entire ecosystem of software engineering companies like ours. So, all the Malcolms in Globallogic, please be ready to embrace the new productivity analytic tool as we have forged an alliance with 6th Sense analytics company to integrate this product in our home grown Velocity Platform -- http://opensource.sys-con.com/read/399503.htm

So, What is Velocity? --
"The Velocity™ Method is a blueprint of processes, artifacts and role definitions that have been refined over 1,000 product releases to quickly bring high-quality products to market."

Here is our ideal Velocity configuration --

I think this alliance would go a long way in helping us become a leader not only in the quality of Software construction but transparency as well. Now, how much impact does this "Mr. Big Brother Watching You" product has on developer's productivity is need to be seen.

Thoughts?