>> Just because something got done eventually at a great cost doesn't make it successful
> Are you arguing that success is in the eye of the stakeholder? Sounded to me like it was a success.
I think a lot of these stories make sense if you replace software re-write with a home construction project gone overbudget, one where the overage comes out of your pocket.
I'd say that something that gets done eventually at a great cost is not successful if the case made for doing the project was an overly rosy story of how easy/inexpensive it would be to do. It really hurts when you pay for it, and that is the perspective to take.
As for success being in the eye of the stakeholder, sort of -- in my analogy, the construction company might consider it a success all the way to the bank. That project owner may consider it a success to save face. The project sponsor would likely not.
Then I think the good criteria to apply here is: what was the goal of the project?
If it was a quick cash-grab then obviously a long and expensive rewrite is deemed unsuccessful. If you go for the long haul and want to bring real value to your customers and the rewrite helped you do that, then it was a success.
Nothing is ever cheap in IT in my opinion. I found that being very upfront with the people with the money landed me more projects than trying to lie about it and reveal the extra expenses one by one over a course of a year.
"No, that's gonna be very far from 50k euros. Be prepared to pay 300k and it's not gonna be a year. Optimisically, two, realistically, two and half to three."
It works surprisingly well with experienced businessmen. They applaud the honesty and we move directly to the next point -- what are the tradeoffs and compromises.
TuringNYC|7 years ago
> Are you arguing that success is in the eye of the stakeholder? Sounded to me like it was a success.
I think a lot of these stories make sense if you replace software re-write with a home construction project gone overbudget, one where the overage comes out of your pocket.
I'd say that something that gets done eventually at a great cost is not successful if the case made for doing the project was an overly rosy story of how easy/inexpensive it would be to do. It really hurts when you pay for it, and that is the perspective to take.
As for success being in the eye of the stakeholder, sort of -- in my analogy, the construction company might consider it a success all the way to the bank. That project owner may consider it a success to save face. The project sponsor would likely not.
pdimitar|7 years ago
If it was a quick cash-grab then obviously a long and expensive rewrite is deemed unsuccessful. If you go for the long haul and want to bring real value to your customers and the rewrite helped you do that, then it was a success.
Nothing is ever cheap in IT in my opinion. I found that being very upfront with the people with the money landed me more projects than trying to lie about it and reveal the extra expenses one by one over a course of a year.
"No, that's gonna be very far from 50k euros. Be prepared to pay 300k and it's not gonna be a year. Optimisically, two, realistically, two and half to three."
It works surprisingly well with experienced businessmen. They applaud the honesty and we move directly to the next point -- what are the tradeoffs and compromises.