cazh1: on Business, Information, and Technology

Crazy busy but I gotta post something

I've had these two articles / subjects earmarked in my Bloglines lists to comment against, gotta do some catching up here ...

1. Blown Away: an interesting post from Loosely Coupled, for a couple of reasons ...
   • The first bullet - contrasting custom and packaged software - really speaks to the concept that most companies developing software are not software development companies. We're in the water treatment / distribution / service business, not the software development business.
   • The architectural ideas about web-based and SOA are interesting, but I still think the biggest advantage of the thin-client architecture is the ease of client maintenance - no software installations to manage on the remote system, yada yada. Those distribution, version checking, tech handholding / troubleshooting / end-user support calls are like death by a thousand cuts.
   • The general concept of change in an organization is of paramount importance to me lately. We look to changes in the future, originating from new ownership / new strategic directions ... but we must do so with a realistic appraisal of the bigger challenges in current implementation projects. People's acceptance of change, and readiness to embrace the changes that new systems / new architectures / new approaches represent is always a significant factor in acceptance / success of new processes / systems.
2. I'm confident everyone and their uncle has commented on Top 20 IT Mistakes, so might as well join in ...
   • A few bullet items restate some of the above - #8 speaks of configuration change management, and unfortunately that's what most people think of when the subject comes up. But it's the business process and people change management issues that are often more significant factors in the success or failure of a project.
   • #9-11 are development centric, and #11 (developing for IE) is one of the biggest reasons why manufacturing companies should not be in the software development business.
   • #13 ... network management - we handled this one quite nicely over the past year - gonna have to blog about that soon ...
   • #16 - on prior solutions - is a powerful force against change in many organizations. There is a certain amount of confidence (bordering on hubris) required to suggest a solution for a thorny problem, with minimum requirements and limited resources. It also takes the correct amount of humility to acknowledge when small and large improvements are suggested.
3. A note to some folks who may be concerned reading these notes - am I anti-development? Do I think the only solution is to buy everything and change the business to fit the software? No, of course not - it's quite difficult to find a pre-built solution for a process that is fundamental to a company's unique value prop. The key is to focus on the stuff that is available nowhere else - commoditize and standardize everything else.
   • Let's you focus on the stuff that is truly unique to your business
   • Makes it easier to find resources that may have experience with your system(s)

posted by James P. MacLennan at 1:52 PM | Permalink | 0 Comments