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Software Development Balancing Act
Why do people build ineffective software? It can not be intentional.
Four balanced forces work to shape the success of software development projects. A project is destined for failure if the controlling group applies rigid thresholds for all four factors. Conversely, a project will never conclude if all the factors are allowed to extend uncontrolled.
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Optimally, a workable balance can be attained by fixing some factors and adjusting others to satisfy the project requirements.
Shaping successful software projects:
Cost
Cost is the great equalizer and a factor in every project. Cost refers to human energy as well as currency. Our projects incorporate thorough discovery and comparative solution analysis to justify the outlay of resources before approval and commencement. One rule is always true, it pays to attack a project with sufficient resources and energy. Built-in quality and performance will always outperform later attempts to revamp shortcomings!
Quality
Like beauty, quality is in the eye of the beholder. Quality impacts the major issue with creating successful software solutions: adoption. A software solution can fail for many reasons but quality is crucial and trumps all other factors. A high quality software solution with an abbreviated feature list will still gain a strong following. One that is great but late will garner bittersweet accollades. An over-budget project that does a terrific job may increase pressure on Return On Investment (ROI) but make a deserving user group happy. Quality is crucial and should be defined in detail before any code is written. Quality is king, never compromise on quality!
Features
Everyone loves them, many can't get enough! In fact, an initial software project feature list usually looks considerably different from the final list. That is the nature of software development and the way it should be. "On time" and "On budget" are great virtues but rarely realistic in this everchanging software world. A clear need and a fully defined purpose are much more important than a fixed list of features. A consistent focus on the need is what guides a successful software solution.
Commercial software vendors often add features to gain competitive advantage as they chase market share. The competitive nature of software breeds new innovation. Occasionally, some groups will copy features from competing products and call it innovation.
A project has to truly solve a business problem to be worthy of the tremendous effort and resources required for success. What seems like a novel idea, without a clear drive and committed "owner," may suffer one of two fates; delivery without adoption or cancellation without support. This is one reason many projects fail. Software doesn't need features, users do!
Time
In many respects, time is cost. Too much time results in over-budget labor, lost opportunity, etc. Time is a constant pressure; it is always marching on. There are few software projects that are delivered "on time" for a multitude of reasons; scope expansion, budget cuts, project collision, etc. A project schedule can be expedited by adjusting any of the other forces at work but one that should never be adjusted is quality. A solid software application finished late is superior to a shoddy application delivered on schedule. Late and great is better than on par and bizarre!
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