The Truth About IT Consultants04/21/2008 09:15:19 AMLocation : Cleveland, OH
Regardless of whether you love him or hate him, I always find time to read Bob Cringely. This week's post, The Truth About IT Consultants, should spark some interesting comments.
A key part of [Christine Comaford-Lynch's] success was her requirements gathering process. She turned it into a very effective collaboration effort involving the key people who would use the software. The requirements would be tight, the project would be highly focused, and there would be little or no scope creep. When it came time to implement the project her project managers didn't have to be Attila's -- there was cooperation and enthusiasm. The training and start up of the application was quicker and easier. There were few surprises that needed to be fixed.
I cannot stress enough, the requirements phase of any project. As Cringely points out, the most effective Project Manager or consultant will spend more time on this so that the client is not subjected to "scope creep," which increases cost and also the chance that the project will fail.
Link: Bob Cringely: The Truth About IT Consultants
Comments
Comment posted by Charles Robinson04/21/2008 11:05:47 AM
I'm with you on the requirements phase, but I would say that it has to include both the users and the developer. In my case I'm dealing with a situation where all the requirements gathering happened at a level above me, without me being involved. I took the information I was given by my boss, turned it into an application per his instructions, and it turns out it's nothing at all like what the users need.
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