mike.mainguy

I heard an interesting statement (just minutes ago) that really struck a chord with me. agreed, we need to have a balance between proceess and flexibility which both resonated with me, but also sent a shiver up (and down) my spine. A common thread I see is that folks who like "process" tend to be "inflexible" and people who espouse "flexibility" do so at the expense of "good process". I disagree violently and think this is a false dichotomy. At the end of the day, "a crappy process" or "an ad hoc process" both still a "process", and having either of those processes is no more or less flexible than having a vigorous and dynamic process that supports what you're business objectives. The problem as I see it is that "process" has gotten a bad rap because many egghead know-nothing consultants have sold horribly convoluted and untenable processes to folks and when said customers see their effectivenes...

Having worked a number of years with connected devices, I thought I'd like to briefly share some observations and pitfalls that folks just arriving to the field should heed. The network isn't always there Many folks arriving on the scene of connected devices come from a background where their applications ran in the datacenter and connectivity was a user's problem. That is, if someone tries to use your site, can't, then tries google and it doesn't work...they assume the problem is on THIER end. While this isn't universal, it's much more likely than someone who tries to turn off the lights in their house or start their car and it doesn't work. While wireless providers do a very good job of connecting when devices are reachable, there are so many variables that impact coverage for a wireless device, it is almost impossible in most cases for a user to make a determination what is casing their "thing" to not work. This is especially aggrava...