What Does the Cloud Mean for the VP of the VP of Method & and Tools?

The idea of a comprehensive software methodology has a somewhat checkered past. In the late 1990s, object-oriented software development methodologies became all the rage, with multiple competing methods emerging, until the Unified Method and the corresponding Unified Modeling Language (UML) became accepted in the software engineering community. At that time, many companies set up large enterprise architecture teams and established vice president–level roles for methodology and tools.

Just as quickly as methodology reached its peak, however, it fell out of favor. Many companies were burned by the unfulfilled promises of big-picture methodologies, making them shy of the entire idea. What replaced the one big methodology was a plethora of methodologies calling themselves Agile. As a result, the job of selecting methodologies and tools has often devolved down to a director-level role, and in many cases, that...