Outsourcing software development –a bad idea? (continued)

A few more things to do before making the outsourcing decision:

3. Create a Request for Proposal (RFP) that describes, in great detail, the software you want a supplier to create (the software requirements), anything else you want them to deliver (documentation, testing results), the testing they must do, the processes and tools you expect them to have and use, and all of the project management reporting you expect of them so that you will have insight into their progress and their evolving product. Include your deadline for completion, and if the delivery is to be phased, describe the phasing. (more…)

Outsourcing Software Development - a bad idea?

A company that has its own software development capability is driven to outsource software development in an attempt to save money or reduce costs. The company’s management may say they’re doing it because they can’t find enough qualified staff locally (or quickly), or so they won’t have to build up an additional development facility, or that they are taking advantage of a particular skill that a supplier says it has. But these are all variants on the theme of saving money or reducing costs. And I submit that when the outsourcing is offshore, it’s always to save money. (more…)

Science and Art of Project Management?

I was recently showing this blog site to a friend. As he looked through it, he nodded and mumbled some (did it just seem to me a bit reluctant and slightly envious?) approvals. Then, he looked up and blurted, “Hey, what’s this art thing?” He was talking about the tag line: “The Art of Project Management”

For me, it is completely on-point. For him, it was misleading. Can we be looking at the same profession? (more…)

Cost - do we focus on it too much?

I’m looking for some insight from all of you on a point that’s been bothering me lately. On many recent projects, “time to market” has been defined, and rightly so, as the top priority (I still use the triple constraints as a key organizing/prioritization guide). Given the competitive pressures and the related shortened product life, it makes sense that bringing a product or service to market early (or at least not late) equals big money — not only as a direct incremental contribution, but also enhancing the firm’s competitive situation in general (e.g. Apple obsoleted its own iPod Mini with the Nano even though the Mini was its best unit seller, setting the bar higher for its competition).

So far, it makes sense. Naturally, if one constraint is set to the highest priority, it follows that others will be lower. Going back to the triple constraint framework, what should be next in priority - resource (cost/budget/people) or scope (deliverables/features/quality)? If time to market really is #1, then when “push comes to shove,” either we’re choosing to have more flexibility in increasing our resources, and/or decreasing the scope. (more…)

Can We Teach Someone to Become a Good PM?

In the grand tradition of analytical thinking, the answer I start with is, “Maybe yes, maybe no.”

On the Yes side, there are a lot of “things” a good project manager needs to know and know how to do. There are the technical skills that can be taught - what might be referred to as “hard” skills. “Soft” skills, too, can be taught. Communication techniques, conflict management, and other people-related processes, though perhaps somewhat less deterministic than some hard skills, seem to be teachable.

On the other hand, can you think of some project managers that had been taught those skills and were not particularly good? I know I have. Knowing how to do something does not automatically lead to doing it appropriately (or even at all).

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