This category focuses on software support, collaboration issues, and strategies for effective teamwork in software development.
"Bob died." Three decades in this business and that's still the call we get most often from companies whose entire operation runs on one developer's laptop. The single point of failure most CEOs never see coming.
Hiring a consultant is easy. Getting your money's worth out of one is the hard part. Five concrete moves that turn a billable-hour line item into measurable business outcomes - without the suits-and-briefcases stereotype.
No NBA team wins a title with one star and four warm bodies. So why do so many companies staff a critical software project with one developer and a hopeful prayer? The six positions every winning build needs filled.
The cheapest software vendor is rarely the cheapest software project. Six questions that separate partners who'll deliver from vendors who'll disappear - asked before you sign, not after the deadline slips.
You wouldn't ask your CFO to also run sales, marketing, and HR. So why is the most common custom-software staffing plan still "hire one programmer and hope"? The six distinct roles every real project requires.
If your software support team feels like aliens who've never run your business, you're not crazy and you're not stuck. Three responses you should never accept from a support partner - and what to demand instead.
Most software vendors disappear at go-live. The good ones treat go-live as the start of the relationship, not the end. What to expect - and demand - from the final-changes, installation, and long-tail support phases of a custom build.
Bugs caught in module testing cost minutes. Bugs caught after launch cost customers, contracts, and credibility. The five layers of testing that keep the second category from ever reaching your inbox.