IT is an industry of creation. Constantly changing, always moving, new things everyday. A corporation can be like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the latest and greatest, pulled into the amazing window display, awed by the display at the technological advances at the World Fair, and completely sold by a wonderful speaker at a conference that the future is now.
They fall victim to Brochure Buzzwords.
The company throws money at a project to put it on the fast track. The teams give a time line. The time lines pass, budgets are way over and there is nothing to show for it. Why? There was no strategy around the decision. A project was spun up, money wasted, just for the sake of doing the project because it sounded like a game changing solution at the time. Without a business strategy built around it how can you deliver a solution? How can you answer a problem if you don't know what the question is?
Any project, big or small should have a purpose beyond a simple, "We need it". Take mobility as an example. Mobility is the next big thing and companies are devouring resources and spending money left and right to get mobility in their portfolios. Why? Because everyone else is doing it and you have to have one? Are you a competing company with a strategy or a 10 year old on the playground?
Too many times things get built without any great detail on the 'How' question. How will this be used, how does this change the way we do business, how does this change the way our customers do business with us? There is so much push sometimes to get it done the reasons behind why are lost. With mobility, companies all over that I talk to, have exposure to, are either building mobile apps like wildfire or are building a few just to have them. Two things happen, you either over burden yourself with a mess of apps or you release apps without a proper user strategy or direction on exactly what you want these apps to do. The side effect is you get angry users, regardless if they are employees or customers, worse is you will create something so unusable that the users will go back to doing what they were before and not bother with the mobile app. Releasing these products can actually cause more harm than not releasing them if they are not ready. Working for a solution not a release date.
It's just not mobility it's any big project you want to take on. Make sure you have a reason and a strategy around it that is actually actionable in a reasonable amount of time and money. If you ask for the world don't set an expectation you can have it in 6 months. Ensure that you are putting in multi-colored, SMS enabled, photo verification user self service that talks to you is meeting a security or business need. Don't build things just because the company down the street does it, they may have a reason, you may not.
However, if you are in a situation where you can waste money then all the power to you.
End of Line.
Posted in: Technology
0 comments:
Post a Comment