Guidewire ClaimCenter Development with Agile, Scrum, Maven and SOA

One of the project that I worked on was an implementation of Guidewire Software's ClaimCenter. The project went live successfully thanks to the great collaboration of the entire team. The team was small but the spirit of collaboration was great. While there will always be some pain in any development project, the project which consist of replacing a legacy insurance claim system went relatively very well.

The project implemented Agile Software Development Methodology which help in getting the business logic implemented and adjusted for change quickly when necessary. The usage of monthly sprints helped in establishing delivery priorities and help stakeholders to quickly confirm if they are getting what they expected or not. This type of quick feedbacks are crucial for the success of the project as changes can be made early enough before it gets to costly to change.

The project also uses morning Scrums. While these can be informative for stakeholder representatives, personally it can get annoying when there are those who will start to ramble about some nonsense no-one else care about, or when it get long and we get stuck in a hot, stuffy and claustrophobic room.

I would think integrating services such as Twitter to broadcast updates would be more "high tech" and efficient if the company didn't block it. I can understand that there will be those who may abuse such availability, but for the rest of us who can use such technology responsibly, it's a loss of technological opportunity. The uses of technology such as Twitter can be extended for example as: build notification, support request and transmission failure notification. While security may be an issue there are ways to code message in such a way that security need not be breach. After all, not all broadcasts have to be made public.

Our usage of "SOA wannabe" technology - a partial implementation of a full blown SOA concept help in bridging our clunker-of-technology to work with the brand-spanking-new ClaimCenter implementation. The old and the new can be made to play well with each other. The complexity of interaction between so many different subsystem can be abstracted and different technology were made to integrate seamlessly. It's just a beautiful orchestration of technologies.

One base technology which initially hit a resistance, mainly for a lack of support from Guidewire Software is using Maven2 as a build tool as oppose to Ant. The project in a some sense was "dragged kicking and screaming" to use Maven. There was initial unhappiness and resistance for the change. Now, however, after live deployment, it is proven that using Maven simplifies the process of maintaining the build process and take most of the tedious hardwork off the process. The declarative approach of Maven - compared to the task-centric approach of Ant - significantly reduces the need of maintaining build files. Just another proof that having a bit of forward vision does not always pay off initially but might pay well later on.

Java Technology Concept Map

We've all heard about looking into a map to know where you're going. For those of you who are new to Java (and still wanted to embrace it as a career path) take a look at this Java Technology Concept Map to get an overview of the Java landscape. You can then decide where your learning path is going to be and what you may need to touch to get there.

Looking at the map alone may overwhelm you, but it's much better than just being a confused wanderer. So, to my buddies out there that kept asking me to teach you Java, look at the map - then start getting into the specifics of what you need to do to move on and make sure you get your Object Oriented Analysis concepts nailed down too.

Here's the link to the Map at Sun's site (require flash): http://java.sun.com/new2java/javamap/intro.html

And here's the link to the pdf version of the map: http://java.sun.com/new2java/javamap/Java_Technology_Concept_Map.pdf

* free photos for your blog

Thoughts and Objectives on SOA

I read the following on developerWorks' SOA development and best practices website:


"Objective: Our goal is to help you understand how to be successful architecting, developing, implementing and managing an SOA."

As a software developer and enterprise solution architect cruising down the SOA highway, if I turn it around and rearrange the perspective I got my success goals defined for me.

Based on developerWorks' objectives I got the following trifecta of success in SOA defined:

• Successfully architecting an SOA
• Successfully developing/implementing the architecture
• Successfully manage the development/implementation, deployment and maintenance of the SOA

Food for technical thought. Happy Easter 2009!!

Taxes Notes April 2009

Notes collected on taxes:

• Keep donation receipts. The receipt needs the date, the amount, the name of the charity. No receipt means no deduction.
• The above holds for cash or non-cash contributions. Clothes and household goods must be in good or better condition to get the deduction.
• Starting with 2007 returns, the law has required a receipt or some sort of written confirmation for all charitable donations. Take pictures of non-cash contributions if you think necessary or you have plenty to donate as proof and records of items. You can deduct only up to 50% of your adjusted gross income. At that point the audit risk becomes very likely.
  
• Health care expenses must exceed the 7.5% income threshold to be useful for deductions. The total expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income are deductible. These can include health insurance premiums (Which usually already pre-tax for most employees).
• Investment and tax planning expenses are part of miscellaneous itemized expenses. The total must exceed 2% AGI before it can be use for tax deductions. Includes: employee business expenses, tax preparation fees, portion of legal or accounting fees relating to tax planning, annual fee paid to broker and any IRA fees paid directly, investment publications on subscription, investment newspapers bought off the newsstands, phone calls and mileage to talk/go to see brokers and investment advisors.
• Retirement tax credit, see Publication 17, page 244
• Educational deductions - The courses don't even have to be job-related, but can't be for any education involving sports, games, or hobbies. Your company can pay and deduct as much as $5,250 per year in educational assistance paid for either undergraduate or graduate courses. The assistance comes to you tax-free. (source: MSN)

What’s the difference between a tax exemption and a tax deduction?

Tax exemptions and tax deductions both reduce your taxable income. Exemptions, however, are set amounts by which you reduce your taxable income based on yourself, your spouse and your dependents. In 2008, each exemption reduces your taxable income by $3,500 ($3,650 for 2009).

Deductions, on the other hand, are actual expenses that reduce your taxable income. You can deduct expenses such as alimony, capital losses and moving expenses whether or not you itemize your deductions. You can deduct other expenses, such as medical costs, mortgage interest, and charitable contributions, only if you itemize your deductions.

Sources: MSN MoneyCentral articles.

What should be logged on a mileage log record kept for tax purposes?

If you have legitimate business expenses or investment expenses involving mileage, log the following information on your mileage log:

• Beginning and ending mileage from vehicle's odometer for each trip.
• Description of origin (From) and description of destination (To) for each trip.
• Description of business reason for the trip.

Example: