Here's the book [1] that started me down the road to understanding
that, often, when someone says software development is nothing like
manufacturing, they probably don't know much about manufacturing.
Present company excluded, of course. ;-)

Now if I could just get our corporate PLC folks to understand and
value Throughput Accounting...

[1] Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of
Constraints for Business Results

http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Management-Software-Engineering-Constraints/dp/01314\
24602

On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 6:17 PM, Martin G Erb <martin3rb@...> wrote:
> You might want to also read
>
> 1. Critical Chain. (Eli's Project Management using Theory of
> Constraints)
>
>
http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Chain-Eliyahu-M-Goldratt/dp/0566080389/ref=pd_bbs\
_sr_1ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226952031&sr=8-1
>
>
>
> 2. Reaching the Goal. (John Ricketts (IBM) Theory of Constraints
> applied to Professional Services)
>
>
http://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Goal-Managers-Goldratts-Constraints/dp/0132333120\
/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226952940&sr=1-1
>
>
>
> Martin Erb
>
>
>
>
>
> From: erp4it@yahoogroups.com [mailto:erp4it@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> Charles T. Betz
> Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 21:02
> To: erp4it@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [erp4it] MRP for IT
>
>
>
> MRP for IT
>
> I have been posting about "ERP for IT" for some years now. While I have been
> generally familiar with the history of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
> and its origins in MRP (Materials Resource Planning), my background is in
> the social sciences and software engineering - not operations research or
> industrial engineering.
>
> The relationship of software development to industrial engineering has been
> uneasy. I believe that attempts to make software development more
> predictable through increased process rigor and measurement have been
> at best partially successful. Yes, software development can be treated as
> engineering. Is it always optimal to do so? That is the question.
>
> The fundamental difficulty for this is well stated by Fred Brooks among
> others: software development has essential complexity and is therefore not
> easily repeatable.
>
> However, this blog is not about software development per se; it is about
> large scale IT management as an industrial process.
>
> If we isolate the particular problems of software requirements, design, and
> development from the broader concerns of the IT service lifecycle, we may
> find other areas more amenable to industrial theory. In particular, in the
> large IT organization, the forecasting and provisioning of base computing
> infrastructure (space, power, cooling, cabling, network, storage, CPU, RAM,
> & the stacks of commercial software products supporting functional
> applications) is a highly complex and critical set of concerns.
>
> ITIL and ITSM have adequately stated the tactical concerns around operating
> such infrastructure. However, provisioning the IT infrastructure may consume
> tens or hundreds of mllions of dollars in capital budgets annually in the
> large IT organization. And it is my view that the acquisition and
> integration of complex hardware and software products and sub-assemblies
> into serviceable production infrastructure is directly comparable to
> manufacturing.
>
> In fact, it *is* manufacturing in every sense, except the final disposition
> of the asssembled (manufactured) product. Instead of a sales pipeline, the
> computing infrastructure is placed into service in a data cente where the
> higher order (and less deterministic) application lifecycle then comes into
> play.
>
> The question for the large scale IT shop that finds itself in the
> manufacturing business: are you ready for the challege? How are
> you approaching demand forecasting? Manufacturing constraints? Process
> engineering? Metrics? Do you have an end to end view of the production
> line?
>
> These are the questions I'm considering lately. My first pass through "ERP
> for IT" was "evocative and provocative" as I stated in my book. It's time
> for a second more detailed reading of where operations theory and industrial
> engineering intersect with the particular problems of running the largest IT
> capabilities.
>
> I have started by re-reading The Goal, and now going through core operations
> management texts, including all source material I can find on the origin of
> Materials Resource Planning.
>
> Suggestions appreciated.
>
> ctb
>
>