Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A Highlight From PMI Global Congress 2010 - North America
Attending the PMI Global Congress 2010 - North America was a great experience , just the feeling of being in a place where all the brains of the project management field are exist in the same place with you is itself a great one ..Everyone from attendees was having a great passion to talk about his experience in project management , and every one was very keen to grab whatever he can of knowledge which was lectured around simultaneously in more than 10 sessions at the same moment .
From my point of view I can see the big value of attending such event is to :
- Know where you and your company stands
- Exchange experiences with other people
- Know about the hot topics in PM world
- Meet with PM consultants and institutes
One Good News is our suffering is the same of others everywhere …there is no heaven on earth , in other word , everybody suffer from the same common issues , delayed project , low commitment from top management etc..etc...
For more information on the event , refer to the even main site at : PMI Global Congress 2010-North America
Monday, September 20, 2010
Weekly Status Report , Are You Feeling Bored ??
Well , It is very often that when you read a weekly status report for a certain project you don't feel how actual is the information which has been feeded in the report , or you may have felt a lost of intreset to read such document on a weekly basis , issues always there , always there are some risks , but you dont know actually what is the current status of the the project and what are the real show stoppers !
Hence , I have came up with a new format for the WSR where it shows in the begining the project roadmap and then it put a clear picture on the issues along with escalation name , date and level . for the coming action items I have replaced it with key milestone table with a clear countdown in term of week for the next target .
Use it for a trial , I am sure you will find a difference
Click below to download the template
.
Hence , I have came up with a new format for the WSR where it shows in the begining the project roadmap and then it put a clear picture on the issues along with escalation name , date and level . for the coming action items I have replaced it with key milestone table with a clear countdown in term of week for the next target .
Use it for a trial , I am sure you will find a difference
Click below to download the template
.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Planning vs Executing
It seems like more often than not, Project Managers are under time pressure to
start working on the project while the overall project planning is going on. This is not an optimal situation, but it is reality
start working on the project while the overall project planning is going on. This is not an optimal situation, but it is reality
Monday, March 29, 2010
Late but still ontime!!
I was analyzing one symptom I usually see on some people around me (including me some times :-) ) ,
the man who comes to work 1 hour late daily is an organized man , he just need to adjust his daily activities one hour ahead and then he will be an organized fellow .
I can see the same symptom happening with other aspects in our life and specially in our projects as well ,
team member often deliver their tasks one day or one hour late , it does not matter the number here , but I mean they always delay their tasks with same amount of time , this means again that they are organized by keeping the same constant amount of time delays in every task, what they need to do is just to get a step ahead and start their tasks with the same amount of time they usually delay .
the man who comes to work 1 hour late daily is an organized man , he just need to adjust his daily activities one hour ahead and then he will be an organized fellow .
I can see the same symptom happening with other aspects in our life and specially in our projects as well ,
team member often deliver their tasks one day or one hour late , it does not matter the number here , but I mean they always delay their tasks with same amount of time , this means again that they are organized by keeping the same constant amount of time delays in every task, what they need to do is just to get a step ahead and start their tasks with the same amount of time they usually delay .
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
MS Project 2010
Microsoft has release the bita version of MS Project 2010 , they are promissing many new features such as team planner which you can easily develope a quick schedule and comunicate it out to the tea by just a copy & past to any other MS products i.e word , excel ...
Check out the link to the beta version and enjoy the demo at :
http://www.microsoft.com/global/project/2010/en/us/RichMedia/secondary/project_overview.html
Check out the link to the beta version and enjoy the demo at :
http://www.microsoft.com/global/project/2010/en/us/RichMedia/secondary/project_overview.html
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Biggest Project Mangement event
Today , it is a question for you ..
If you have given a chance to attend an event about project management , then which one would you choose ?
If you have given a chance to attend an event about project management , then which one would you choose ?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Tip To Create Project Plan
Usually project managers meet with every stake holder separately to explain about his task to be done for the project , this parctice will end up by a project with many errors like weak buy-in , missing activity and other hidden dependencies might come up .
The best practice is to sit with the Key team leads in one meeing where every body will contribute in building the project plan "schedule" , here every stake holder will have a clear vision about what the plan is going to be at time of publishing , also since he has participated in building the project plan he will feel the resposibility to deliver his task in time .. many more advantages will be gained ..find out your self..
The best practice is to sit with the Key team leads in one meeing where every body will contribute in building the project plan "schedule" , here every stake holder will have a clear vision about what the plan is going to be at time of publishing , also since he has participated in building the project plan he will feel the resposibility to deliver his task in time .. many more advantages will be gained ..find out your self..
Monday, December 28, 2009
Finally ...WBS Moldeler for MS Visio 2007
I was always wondering what is the best tool to draw the WBS of a project , I have tried before to use the MS visio but I could not find any speical modeler for WBS so I was using the org. chart to do so .
Today I was doing a search and found out that Microsoft has release a WBS modeler Add-in tool for Visio 2007 :
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=34c28a49-e14c-4a7d-8d49-90061fe08ab4&displaylang=en
Enjoy it...
Today I was doing a search and found out that Microsoft has release a WBS modeler Add-in tool for Visio 2007 :
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=34c28a49-e14c-4a7d-8d49-90061fe08ab4&displaylang=en
Enjoy it...
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Worldwide cost of IT failure: $6.2 trillion
I have read this article and I think it is good for you also to read it :
http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=7627
http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=7627
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Principles of Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile Software Development
a Few months ago my company has started engagment with Microsoft to have our development environment running with MSF Agile method, hence I have listed down below the summary of principles for this brilliant methodology .
Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile Software Development is a scenario-driven, context-based, agile software development process for building .NET and other object-oriented applications. MSF for Agile Software Development directly incorporates practices for handling quality of service requirements such as performance and security. It is also context-based and uses a context-driven approach to determine how to operate the project. This approach helps create an adaptive process that overcomes the boundary conditions of most agile software development processes while achieving the objectives set out in the vision of the project.
Partner with Customers - The MSF team model advocates basing team decisions on a sound understanding of the customer’s business and on active customer participation in project delivery. Satisfied customers are the top priority for any great team. A customer focus throughout development means having a team commitment to understand and solve the customer’s business problem. Once this business problem is understood, customer involvement must be maximized to the degree possible to ensure that the customer's expectations are met. Transparency, active, and regular communication must be maintained throughout the project. Customer validation is often the difference between real and fictional business value.
Work Toward a Shared Vision - MSF strongly advocates the adoption of a shared vision to focus the approach of a team. Shared vision ensures that all team members agree on what they are accomplishing by building the product. A shared vision aligns the team around a common goal and sets the customer’s expectations. Collaboration is improved because decisions are not arbitrary, but rather are determined in the context of achieving the vision that everyone agreed to. Without a shared vision, team members may have competing views of the goal, making it much more difficult to deliver as a cohesive group. And if the team does deliver, members will have difficulty determining their success because it depends on which vision they measure it by. Understanding the value proposition of your solution and communicating it effectively is often a key success factor.
Deliver Incremental Value - Nothing establishes credibility like frequent delivery. Having a nearly shippable product every day is important. Responding to the needs of your customers with small, quality deliverables shows progress. Through frequent delivery, process and infrastructure are proven and improved. Risks, bugs, and missing requirements are detected early. Incremental delivery forces key decisions. Feedback can be provided when it can make a difference. Some keys to frequent delivery are keeping the scope of an activity small, working on deliverables in a "just-in-time" manner, and leaving options open by eliminating premature decisions. Plan, execute, and measure progress and team velocity based on the delivery of increasing value to the customer and rising return on investment. Minimize those activities that do not add customer value. Use iterations to maintain the cadence of work products that your customer can evaluate. Make the handoffs of work from one team member to another as efficient as possible. Developers should be constantly running the product and the company should be trialing new releases or dogfooding.
Invest in Quality - In a successful team, every member feels responsible for the quality of the product. Responsibility for quality cannot be delegated from one team member to another team member or function. Similarly, every team member must be a customer advocate, considering the eventual usability of the product throughout its development cycle. Quality has to be built into the plans and schedules. Use bug allotments, iterations devoted to fixing bugs, to bring down bug debt. This will reduce velocity which may provide enough slack in future iterations to reduce bug rates.
Empower Team Members - In an effective team, each member is empowered to deliver on their own commitments and has confidence that, where they depend on the commitments of other team members, that these will also be met. Likewise, the customer has a right to assume that the team will meet its commitments and will plan on this basis. At worst, the customer should be notified as soon as possible of any delay or change.
Establish Clear Accountability - The MSF team model is based on the premise that each role has equal weighted goals, presents a unique perspective on the project, and that no single individual can successfully represent all of the different goals. To resolve this dilemma, the team of peers needs to combine a clear line of accountability to the stakeholders with shared responsibility for overall success. Within the team, each role is accountable to the team itself (and to their own respective organizations) for achieving their role’s quality goals. In this sense, each role is accountable for a share of the quality of the eventual solution. Responsibility is shared across the team of peers (allocated in line with the team roles). It is interdependent for two reasons: first, out of necessity, since it is impossible to isolate each role's work; second, by preference, since the team is more effective if each role is aware of the full picture. This mutual dependency encourages all team members to comment and contribute outside their direct area of accountability, ensuring that the full range of the team’s knowledge, competencies, and experience can be brought to bear. All team members own the success of the project; they share in the kudos and rewards of a successful project and are expected to improve their expertise by contributing to and learning from the lessons of a less successful one.
Learn from all experiences - Since each development project, environment, and team is unique, each project and iteration within the project creates a learning opportunity. However, there can be no learning without honest feedback and reflection. Unless there is a supportive environment that fosters courage and personal safety, feedback will be limited and not placed in a light of improvement. Once these factors are in place, individuals and teams can focus on ongoing self improvement, gathering and sharing of knowledge, and beneficial lessons learned. Additionally, there will be opportunities to implement proven practices of others and to commit time in the schedule for learning. Conducting blameless buddy reviews and productive retrospectives are key components of the MSF process which help teams commit to communicating.
Foster open communications - Historically, many organizations and projects have operated purely on a need-to-know basis, which frequently leads to misunderstandings and impairs the ability of a team to deliver a successful solution. MSF proposes an open and honest approach to communications, both within the team and with key stakeholders. A free-flow of information not only reduces the chances of misunderstandings and wasted effort, but also ensures that all team members can contribute to reducing uncertainties surrounding the project.
Stay agile, adapt to change - The more an organization seeks to maximize the business impact of a technology investment, the more they venture into new territories. This new ground is inherently uncertain and subject to change as exploration and experimentation results in new needs and methods. To demand certainty in a changing environment is unrealistic and leads to unsuccessful results. MSF assumes that things are continually changing and that it is impossible to isolate a project from these changes. The MSF Team Model ensures that all core roles are available throughout a project so that they can contribute to decisions arising from these changes. As new challenges arise, the MSF Team Model fosters agility to address these issues. The contribution of all team roles to decision-making ensures that matters can be explored and reviewed from all critical perspectives.
Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile Software Development is a scenario-driven, context-based, agile software development process for building .NET and other object-oriented applications. MSF for Agile Software Development directly incorporates practices for handling quality of service requirements such as performance and security. It is also context-based and uses a context-driven approach to determine how to operate the project. This approach helps create an adaptive process that overcomes the boundary conditions of most agile software development processes while achieving the objectives set out in the vision of the project.
Partner with Customers - The MSF team model advocates basing team decisions on a sound understanding of the customer’s business and on active customer participation in project delivery. Satisfied customers are the top priority for any great team. A customer focus throughout development means having a team commitment to understand and solve the customer’s business problem. Once this business problem is understood, customer involvement must be maximized to the degree possible to ensure that the customer's expectations are met. Transparency, active, and regular communication must be maintained throughout the project. Customer validation is often the difference between real and fictional business value.
Work Toward a Shared Vision - MSF strongly advocates the adoption of a shared vision to focus the approach of a team. Shared vision ensures that all team members agree on what they are accomplishing by building the product. A shared vision aligns the team around a common goal and sets the customer’s expectations. Collaboration is improved because decisions are not arbitrary, but rather are determined in the context of achieving the vision that everyone agreed to. Without a shared vision, team members may have competing views of the goal, making it much more difficult to deliver as a cohesive group. And if the team does deliver, members will have difficulty determining their success because it depends on which vision they measure it by. Understanding the value proposition of your solution and communicating it effectively is often a key success factor.
Deliver Incremental Value - Nothing establishes credibility like frequent delivery. Having a nearly shippable product every day is important. Responding to the needs of your customers with small, quality deliverables shows progress. Through frequent delivery, process and infrastructure are proven and improved. Risks, bugs, and missing requirements are detected early. Incremental delivery forces key decisions. Feedback can be provided when it can make a difference. Some keys to frequent delivery are keeping the scope of an activity small, working on deliverables in a "just-in-time" manner, and leaving options open by eliminating premature decisions. Plan, execute, and measure progress and team velocity based on the delivery of increasing value to the customer and rising return on investment. Minimize those activities that do not add customer value. Use iterations to maintain the cadence of work products that your customer can evaluate. Make the handoffs of work from one team member to another as efficient as possible. Developers should be constantly running the product and the company should be trialing new releases or dogfooding.
Invest in Quality - In a successful team, every member feels responsible for the quality of the product. Responsibility for quality cannot be delegated from one team member to another team member or function. Similarly, every team member must be a customer advocate, considering the eventual usability of the product throughout its development cycle. Quality has to be built into the plans and schedules. Use bug allotments, iterations devoted to fixing bugs, to bring down bug debt. This will reduce velocity which may provide enough slack in future iterations to reduce bug rates.
Empower Team Members - In an effective team, each member is empowered to deliver on their own commitments and has confidence that, where they depend on the commitments of other team members, that these will also be met. Likewise, the customer has a right to assume that the team will meet its commitments and will plan on this basis. At worst, the customer should be notified as soon as possible of any delay or change.
Establish Clear Accountability - The MSF team model is based on the premise that each role has equal weighted goals, presents a unique perspective on the project, and that no single individual can successfully represent all of the different goals. To resolve this dilemma, the team of peers needs to combine a clear line of accountability to the stakeholders with shared responsibility for overall success. Within the team, each role is accountable to the team itself (and to their own respective organizations) for achieving their role’s quality goals. In this sense, each role is accountable for a share of the quality of the eventual solution. Responsibility is shared across the team of peers (allocated in line with the team roles). It is interdependent for two reasons: first, out of necessity, since it is impossible to isolate each role's work; second, by preference, since the team is more effective if each role is aware of the full picture. This mutual dependency encourages all team members to comment and contribute outside their direct area of accountability, ensuring that the full range of the team’s knowledge, competencies, and experience can be brought to bear. All team members own the success of the project; they share in the kudos and rewards of a successful project and are expected to improve their expertise by contributing to and learning from the lessons of a less successful one.
Learn from all experiences - Since each development project, environment, and team is unique, each project and iteration within the project creates a learning opportunity. However, there can be no learning without honest feedback and reflection. Unless there is a supportive environment that fosters courage and personal safety, feedback will be limited and not placed in a light of improvement. Once these factors are in place, individuals and teams can focus on ongoing self improvement, gathering and sharing of knowledge, and beneficial lessons learned. Additionally, there will be opportunities to implement proven practices of others and to commit time in the schedule for learning. Conducting blameless buddy reviews and productive retrospectives are key components of the MSF process which help teams commit to communicating.
Foster open communications - Historically, many organizations and projects have operated purely on a need-to-know basis, which frequently leads to misunderstandings and impairs the ability of a team to deliver a successful solution. MSF proposes an open and honest approach to communications, both within the team and with key stakeholders. A free-flow of information not only reduces the chances of misunderstandings and wasted effort, but also ensures that all team members can contribute to reducing uncertainties surrounding the project.
Stay agile, adapt to change - The more an organization seeks to maximize the business impact of a technology investment, the more they venture into new territories. This new ground is inherently uncertain and subject to change as exploration and experimentation results in new needs and methods. To demand certainty in a changing environment is unrealistic and leads to unsuccessful results. MSF assumes that things are continually changing and that it is impossible to isolate a project from these changes. The MSF Team Model ensures that all core roles are available throughout a project so that they can contribute to decisions arising from these changes. As new challenges arise, the MSF Team Model fosters agility to address these issues. The contribution of all team roles to decision-making ensures that matters can be explored and reviewed from all critical perspectives.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Why PPM ?
Project management is knowledge , tools and technique , where the certificate itself is a powerful evidence on knowledge .
So if we consider that the tools are the skills of managing a project and these tools can vary from soft skills to software skills , I personally find that mastering a Project Portfolio management (PPM) application is a must of a strong project manager .
Mastering PPM Is not only an additional skill that you will add to you profile rather than it is an implemented body of knowledge application will help you to manage your project in a standardized way according to many project management institutes .
Some will say that , naah I know how to create a project file in MS project or other similar application , but the reality is beyond this limit , it is as having a virtual guard on your project acting on your behalf , imagine that you have an additional task you want to inject in your project , and you have setup your project parameters and constraints very well , now if this task is having a cost would overrun your entire project budget then the virtual guard here (PPM ) will warn you about it . this is just a very simple example of how important to have a PPM experience .
Personally , I decided to have my learning track on MS project and assist my skilss with this important tool to help me out in delivering successful project .
Helpful links about PPM can be found below :
http://michaelgreer.biz/?p=147
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/4779.html
So if we consider that the tools are the skills of managing a project and these tools can vary from soft skills to software skills , I personally find that mastering a Project Portfolio management (PPM) application is a must of a strong project manager .
Mastering PPM Is not only an additional skill that you will add to you profile rather than it is an implemented body of knowledge application will help you to manage your project in a standardized way according to many project management institutes .
Some will say that , naah I know how to create a project file in MS project or other similar application , but the reality is beyond this limit , it is as having a virtual guard on your project acting on your behalf , imagine that you have an additional task you want to inject in your project , and you have setup your project parameters and constraints very well , now if this task is having a cost would overrun your entire project budget then the virtual guard here (PPM ) will warn you about it . this is just a very simple example of how important to have a PPM experience .
Personally , I decided to have my learning track on MS project and assist my skilss with this important tool to help me out in delivering successful project .
Helpful links about PPM can be found below :
http://michaelgreer.biz/?p=147
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/4779.html
Sunday, October 4, 2009
My lessons learned in getting the PMP certificate
Below are my lessons learned during the PMP certificate journey:
I have started preparing for the exam on May 2009 , Initially I have put a target on 30 June 2009 to catch up the exam on 3rdedition , after I discussed this issue with my trainer (Mr. Azam) he suggested me to spend more time on the studying in order for me to understand the PM concepts for myself benefits and not only for the sake of the certificate, for good I didn't find any available seat, so I decided to upgrade myself to 4th edition and selected 15 Aug as exam day only before 10 days of the exam.
I was studying every day around 1-2 hours, and in weekends around 5-8 hours.
I have read PMBOK guide 4th edition twice.
Rita 5th edition once.
Rita 6th edition once.
Listen to PMP prep cast for Cornelius all the time in the car (I liked his way of introducing the lessons).
Participated in Google group for PMP preparation, called: pmp-cert-online-study-group.
The PMBOK guide was my closest friend during the studying period, it was with me in the car and wherever I go and whenever I found time to read.
Also, I practiced hundreds of questions (Rita, PM Study [test1 & test2] , PMP Head).
Rita: is good source to understand tricks and to read between lines, but has so many wordy questions.
PM Study: highly recommended, very near to actual exam.
PMP Head, also excellent site to understand the exam nature.
The Google group was playing major role in keeping me motivated to submit the exam, I liked those members who were sending mails such: I did it, I cracked it... It was giving me a big motivation.
As soon as I entered the exam room I dumped all formulas and the full 40 Processes (table of processes) in a blank paper to help me visualizing the processes sequence while answering knowledge based question.
The exam looked simple and tricky in the same time, where so many small questions but having more than one very correct answers.
Remembering the ITTOs (i.e.; Inputs, Tools & Technique, Outputs) is great if you can do it, at least for the major processes.
The code and ethics chapter is primary portion of failure if you ignored it in studying, don't make this mistake by saying I am moral & honest by nature so why to study this chapter!!
Finally,
Tawwakal On Allah Almighty and set your goal, give it the highest priority & share it with your family and your friends to let them help you out are the crucial factors to succeed.
Thanks and good luck for all of you.
I have started preparing for the exam on May 2009 , Initially I have put a target on 30 June 2009 to catch up the exam on 3rdedition , after I discussed this issue with my trainer (Mr. Azam) he suggested me to spend more time on the studying in order for me to understand the PM concepts for myself benefits and not only for the sake of the certificate, for good I didn't find any available seat, so I decided to upgrade myself to 4th edition and selected 15 Aug as exam day only before 10 days of the exam.
I was studying every day around 1-2 hours, and in weekends around 5-8 hours.
I have read PMBOK guide 4th edition twice.
Rita 5th edition once.
Rita 6th edition once.
Listen to PMP prep cast for Cornelius all the time in the car (I liked his way of introducing the lessons).
Participated in Google group for PMP preparation, called: pmp-cert-online-study-group.
The PMBOK guide was my closest friend during the studying period, it was with me in the car and wherever I go and whenever I found time to read.
Also, I practiced hundreds of questions (Rita, PM Study [test1 & test2] , PMP Head).
Rita: is good source to understand tricks and to read between lines, but has so many wordy questions.
PM Study: highly recommended, very near to actual exam.
PMP Head, also excellent site to understand the exam nature.
The Google group was playing major role in keeping me motivated to submit the exam, I liked those members who were sending mails such: I did it, I cracked it... It was giving me a big motivation.
As soon as I entered the exam room I dumped all formulas and the full 40 Processes (table of processes) in a blank paper to help me visualizing the processes sequence while answering knowledge based question.
The exam looked simple and tricky in the same time, where so many small questions but having more than one very correct answers.
Remembering the ITTOs (i.e.; Inputs, Tools & Technique, Outputs) is great if you can do it, at least for the major processes.
The code and ethics chapter is primary portion of failure if you ignored it in studying, don't make this mistake by saying I am moral & honest by nature so why to study this chapter!!
Finally,
Tawwakal On Allah Almighty and set your goal, give it the highest priority & share it with your family and your friends to let them help you out are the crucial factors to succeed.
Thanks and good luck for all of you.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Buggy Softwares
In software's world , It is not always all softwares are written in a good ways , sometimes there are modules written in poor way and weak design , this is leading to cause many bugs , and those bugs never finish , I mean whenever you fix any bug , the application starts raising new bugs caused by your latest bug fixing and then you go and fix this new bug and the series will never finish and you will end up fixing bugs for the rest of your life .
Now if you had faced somthing like this before then you better take a decision from the begining by scraping the whole module and rebuilding new one with full undestanding about your needs , yes this might delay you some times in the begining but for sure this going to save very much of your time in future .
Now if you had faced somthing like this before then you better take a decision from the begining by scraping the whole module and rebuilding new one with full undestanding about your needs , yes this might delay you some times in the begining but for sure this going to save very much of your time in future .
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Tip for SQL code reviewers
One of the primary tasks for any development lead or a tech lead is it to have a code review on written code by other developers , accepting code without reviewing it , may cause a serious problems specially in environment where heavy transactions are always happening.
There are many tips and ways to do this task , but let me focus here on one part only which is SQL stored procedures , the best practices here is to test the IO reads and writes , this can be performed by Below statement:
SET STATISTICS IO ON
Exec USP_YourStoredProcedure @param1
If you set the statistics to ON this will cause SQL Server to display information regarding the amount of disk activity generated by Transact-SQL statements.
the result of the above execution will give you number of reads and writes for the written SP , now the lower of above numbers you get is the best SP you have .
The following lists describes the output items
Table : Name of the table.
Scan count :Number of index or table scans performed.
logical reads : Number of pages read from the data cache.
physical reads : Number of pages read from disk.
read-ahead reads : Number of pages placed into the cache for the query.
lob logical reads :Number of text, ntext, image, or large value type (varchar(max), nvarchar(max), varbinary(max)) pages read from the data cache.
lob physical reads : Number of text, ntext, image or large value type pages read from disk.
lob read-ahead : reads Number of text, ntext, image or large value type pages placed into the cache for the query.
We should always focus on logical read as it is the main factor to identify any serious problem , now lets say that you have executed SP with 10,0000 logical reads , then it is for sure that you have to go and rewrite some logic in the SP or to assign a proper index on columns referred in the joins or where condition .
There are many tips and ways to do this task , but let me focus here on one part only which is SQL stored procedures , the best practices here is to test the IO reads and writes , this can be performed by Below statement:
SET STATISTICS IO ON
Exec USP_YourStoredProcedure @param1
If you set the statistics to ON this will cause SQL Server to display information regarding the amount of disk activity generated by Transact-SQL statements.
the result of the above execution will give you number of reads and writes for the written SP , now the lower of above numbers you get is the best SP you have .
The following lists describes the output items
Table : Name of the table.
Scan count :Number of index or table scans performed.
logical reads : Number of pages read from the data cache.
physical reads : Number of pages read from disk.
read-ahead reads : Number of pages placed into the cache for the query.
lob logical reads :Number of text, ntext, image, or large value type (varchar(max), nvarchar(max), varbinary(max)) pages read from the data cache.
lob physical reads : Number of text, ntext, image or large value type pages read from disk.
lob read-ahead : reads Number of text, ntext, image or large value type pages placed into the cache for the query.
We should always focus on logical read as it is the main factor to identify any serious problem , now lets say that you have executed SP with 10,0000 logical reads , then it is for sure that you have to go and rewrite some logic in the SP or to assign a proper index on columns referred in the joins or where condition .
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Is your software secure enough?
A Few days ago I started up my laptop , but my windows vista didn't allow me to login as normal because I didn't purchase the original copy of vista, I have been prompt by windows vista to enter the Licence key or to startup the windows with limited access ( only Internet explorer was open with black background ) and no desktop was appearing , so I selected the second option as I was not ready to enter the licence number , the moment I entered the IE , I did few simple steps and I had my windows vista run with fully desktop functions, it was a legal cracking to windows vista by exploiting a whole in IE .
These steps were :
1- type c: in IE address bar
2- search for windows folder
3- search and run the explorer.exe command
and you will have your desktop running , actually it might be a facility from microsoft to allow people to browse their desktops event if they dont have a valid serial number , but what if it is not ment by microsoft ?
Now if you are a software developer or a an architect you have to keep in mind that always there will be some one thirsty to find any whole in your system , and once he found this wholoe he will exploit it to get in to areas where you dont hem to be there .
These steps were :
1- type c: in IE address bar
2- search for windows folder
3- search and run the explorer.exe command
and you will have your desktop running , actually it might be a facility from microsoft to allow people to browse their desktops event if they dont have a valid serial number , but what if it is not ment by microsoft ?
Now if you are a software developer or a an architect you have to keep in mind that always there will be some one thirsty to find any whole in your system , and once he found this wholoe he will exploit it to get in to areas where you dont hem to be there .
Friday, October 24, 2008
Why do we blog ?
When I was about to start my own blog , I was wondering why do I need to blog while others are doing the same ?
The answer for this question for me is : few years ago in 2003 I have published an article in code project about converting dates between Hijri calendar and Gregorian calendar and when I posted this article I was not expecting this number of viewers and repliers from the community about it , I was feeling very happy whenever any one is telling me " thanks : your code has helped a lot " , this feeling is true actor which pushed me to start my own blog and share knowledge with the community .
This is about me , so what about you ?
The answer for this question for me is : few years ago in 2003 I have published an article in code project about converting dates between Hijri calendar and Gregorian calendar and when I posted this article I was not expecting this number of viewers and repliers from the community about it , I was feeling very happy whenever any one is telling me " thanks : your code has helped a lot " , this feeling is true actor which pushed me to start my own blog and share knowledge with the community .
This is about me , so what about you ?
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