Organizations small and large move forward at an increasing pace. That makes it easy for things to be lost in the activity required to maintain our focus. These lesser tasks often include important deliverables that we say we will “get done later.” That is also known as technical debt. Put simply; these are the items left to do if we were to complete a project. When they are left undone, we are not able to claim a project or task …
One of the worst kept secrets in the world is that software is expensive to create. Thus, software on a budget seems to be an impossible goal. There are low-cost solutions here and there. However, most software solutions require a lot of hours of work from experienced (expensive) resources. Even a solution that looks like it might be a good deal is often far from what you expected once it is complete. We see this in budget over-runs and a …
I am not a fan of fixed bid projects in general. That distaste is such that I have turned some down in the past. However, sometimes we need to step into one of these arrangements. It is worth considering the actions we need to take to keep such projects fair to all parties. Here are some lessons I have learned from personal experience and from others that have entered into these agreements. The successes and failures are excellent teachers for …
