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Subject:Re: Lead time between code freeze and release From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 7 Dec 2000 06:17:07 -0800 (PST)
--- Cindy Hudson <chudson -at- ECS-INC -dot- com> wrote:
> This ties in somewhat with Pam's question yesterday. My group has
> been tasked with changing the way we produce documentation.
Currently,
> because of the size of the group and the size of the task, we develop
> extensive release notes with each product. Manuals are updated as
> soon after the release as possible. With 3 writers/1 manager and
> 25,000 pages of documentation on four major products, this is a big
> job.
>
> We're trying to turn this around to update all the manuals with each
> new release. Currently, our lead time from code freeze to release is
> anywhere from 4 hours to one week. (And we get that week only when
> we're lucky.)
>
> How much lead time is common for other writers on very large software
> projects?
This may seem like a trivial question, but have you developed any idea
of how much time you need between code freeze and software release? If
you're getting a week, maximum, but you need between 2 and 3 weeks
(just for example) you could present this data to management and see if
you can cooperatively work out something that meets both your needs and
the needs of the business.
It probably would be useful, if you have some data on the amount of
lead time you need, to categorize it according to the type of release
(unless, of course, they're all major). Often there will be one or two
major releases in a year, say, and one to three minor releases. The
amount of lead time probably varies significantly with the size of
release (number of modules, number of pages affected, that sort of
thing).
We try to do as much work as possible in parallel with our developers.
The idea is that we're both working from some common documentation
(requirements and design specs). Generally, we can turn out an 80/20
document before system test that we can then refine during system test
with the goal of hitting the door at the same time as the
software/feature/product. So we don't look for lead time, per se. But I
realize that not everyone can work in that fashion.
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