Now really…

That does sound a bit high doesn’t it? Maybe not when you look at the basis of the numbers.
“95 per cent of information technology groups “are not delivering some number of projects on time or to the full satisfaction of the business executive.””

Now that makes more sense. 95% aren’t delivery ALL of their products on time. And why?
1. Incomplete requirements
2. Unrealistic delivery dates
3. Promises made to clients that are not yet part of the product

I see this all the time. Forget Quality Control, Documentation or even Process Control. Lets talk about reality. Coders get work done while under stress – a lot of it. They get better work done when given more time. This time may be spent on testing or processes not related directly to the production of the product but it equates to better code when it is used efficiently.

“A pet peeve expressed at the meeting was that many IT companies overstate their products’ capabilities. In some instances, it was reckoned that an overzealous salesperson sold a bill of goods that fell well short of what a CIO may have thought was being purchased.”

Oh Really? I can’t imagine! Of course they do. Everyone does it, it doesn’t make it right, but lets talk about what it causes. Lets say a salesperson overstates their products capabilities. Not a single salesperson at my company does this, but lets say. Now we have already talked about a delivery time or perhaps the sales guys have been told it takes 30 days to fully migrate a client. Well you take the 30 days to migrate a client, add in the new requirements that sales is going to tell you about AFTER the contract is signed and you get:

1. More work than usual
2. The same amount of time
3. Not enough money to pay for development
4. Income statement with more parenthesis that you would like to see normally or at least in the wrong places

Solutions? Well let’s better educate everyone in the organization on what the specific capabilities are. I mean I am sure salespeople don’t want to sell their product for a loss or to a client that won’t be happy. They are probably placed in situations where they aren’t sure if the product can jump through the flaming hoop and well they should ask, but they don’t. Egos I guess. If they knew the product better and this isn’t something that means they need practice – they usually need help. Better training and documentation. Better resources to ask when appropriate. If they are going to ask or look for assistance in a non ego-bruising manner they will want it to be quick.

So I guess what I am saying is you need a confessional with the application expert in the place of the pastor and the salesperson where the parishioner should be. That way the salesperson can ask questions anonymously. Or use email.

http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050331.wmclean31/BNStory/Technology/

No Comments
Uncategorized