By Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 12/4/2008 12:08:25 PM
Something I recommend in my white paper Selecting a Programmer is to find someone who has built something like your application before. In a way, this can be more complicated than it appears. After all, the reason why you are building custom software is because there isn’t any software like yours anywhere (at least not that you have access to).
But it is important here to understand the real point. Let’s say my project is a YouTube clone for uploading and playing video. There are unique challenges associated with dealing with video and larger files. So if I had trouble ...
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Publication Date: 12/1/2008 8:24:02 PM
The last few weeks I've been setting up some third party software in a test environment so that I can do some development work on it. The software is an enterprise CRM, with a myriad of features and options.
One feature of the software is its complex security model. Permissions can be set at a very detailed level: on each table, report, query, etc. Permissions are tied to groups, and users can be associated with multiple groups. Also, permissions are identified by different connection types (for instance: a LAN connection vs. a web connection.)
The end result of these options ...
Publication Date: 11/25/2008 9:00:09 AM
There isn’t anything more frustrating than feeling like you have no choice. That’s one of the benefits of competition. But with technology, customers are often afraid of making a switch to a different vendor. If the current vendor is being difficult, a customer may worry that the vendor has programmed a technical "bomb" that will damage their system or reputation if they decide to switch vendors. Here are some ideas for customers to help protect their interests when working with a custom programmer:
Deal with professionals You paid your girlfriend's cousin's high school acquaintance to build this awesome web ...
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Publication Date: 11/16/2008 8:37:09 PM
“We’ve decided to let Steve go,” my customer informed me. “He just isn’t listening. And we don’t have any more time to waste on him raising the same concerns.”
Steve was a programming contractor who took his job seriously. Some programmers just did whatever they were told. Not Steve. Steve would raise concerns when he didn’t agree with the technical decisions that were made. If the customer didn’t agree, they would explain their position, and Steve would nod and seem to assent. Then, the next day, he would bring up the same issue again.
Steve probably thought he was doing ...
Publication Date: 11/12/2008 4:13:38 PM
In part 1, I described some of the causes of software development scope creep.
So now the $64,000 question is: what can we do to prevent scope creep?
Unfortunately, there is no bulletproof, 100% guaranteed method of eliminating scope creep for your software project. That doesn’t mean that the requirements will definitely change, but it does mean that no one can promise you it won’t happen. (If they are promising that, they are selling you a bill of goods.) However, there are some things you can do to decrease the likelihood that creep will derail your project.
Document requirements (and periodically ...
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Avonelle is an incredibly talented software developer. She works fast, is economical, and offers great insights into the project at hand. She is also not afraid to speak up when she has concerns about a decision or approach. We’ve utilized her talents on many of our software development projects over the years.
Carrie Rocha, Chief Operating Officer @ HousingLink
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