So many times we hear about how bad someone’s IT staff is or we hear from IT people that they can’t possibly support the unreasonable users. Also, I will hear about how the business isn’t willing to spend the money necessary. I would say that like most things each of the complaints comes with a seed of truth.
Terrible IT Staff
Most companies that I have worked with through my career have complained about the ability of their IT staff to get work accomplished. Many of them have said that they try to explain the issues that they have and what they need and they end up getting something that is late, over budget, and/or doesn’t meet their needs. This leads to the complaint that the company spends way too much money on the IT budget.
There is some level of truth to this complaint. Because many IT staffs are forced to spend significant effort in CYA mode they put in place large amounts of bureaucracy (policies and procedures) that are designed to increase quality. Many times this bureaucracy doesn’t achieve the intended result because it disconnects the resources from the project. By placing additional levels in between the user and the actual development team it can turn into a game of “Telephone”.
So basically it takes months for the development team to get the project documentation from the layers in front of them. Then they are required to read and interpret from those documents and build the system. Many times this is without the ability to ask questions of the actual person(s) that requested the system. So many times they are limited to the viewpoint of the previous layers.
Unwilling/unreasonable users
Because the business users are not trained in system development or project management many IT resources can view them as unreasonable or unwilling to help. In most cases the business users need someone who can guide them through the process to create specifications/requirements and then can ask the necessary qualification questions. Unfortunately many businesses don’t have this person in place. This responsibility requires a high level of understanding of the business and the technology and this can be very hard to achieve.
Spending the $$$
I remember a Dilbert cartoon that outlines this problem and goes something like this:
Pointy Haired Boss: “What can you do if I cut your budget in half?”
Dilbert: “Fail”
Pointy Haired Boss: “When can you start?”
Dilbert: “I think we just did”
There are times where the business wants a moonshot but only wants to spend for the Estes rocket. In many cases the business is not well-informed as to what the requested project will require either through resources or capital expenses. This is a place where a project management resource is so important. The resource needs to be able to speak freely and understand the project process and what the other resources are telling them. In this way that project management resource has the ability to discuss actual costs before the project gets to the point of failure.
Explanation
In order for a project to succeed the most important item is COMMUNICATION. The business users have to communicate with the project staff. The project staff has communicate with the business users until the are comfortable with the needs. The project staff has to communicate what the project will take with the business users and managers who control the finances. The managers need to communicate with both the business users and the project team to let them know what the finances will allow. If all of the communication happens, the project can succeed.
This is where a project management/system architect/solution provider is so important. With the right person in place the communication is simplified. That person knows how to explain the solution to other resources and how to keep everyone in the loop. They have experience in creating solutions and keeping the teams together.
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