I've been working on IT professionally since 1997. Since then, I've been involved with lots of projects, many successful, some failures.
The reason behind any IT project failure has been always the same: A disconnect between the user/owner's expectations and the understanding of the application's developers.
Like I said, I've been doing it for quite some time now, and I've seen all kind of situations, many of them funny, others, sadly disappointing. Not all the projects I've been involved in have been web-based. In fact, my first projects were done using Informix 4GL running on HP-UX. And I certainly hope you have no clue what I am talking about. If you do then you are a techie, just like me, and this article is not for you, you already know what I am talking about.
OK, back to the problem...
If you want a website done to either complement your B&M business, or as the main reason of your company (i.e. your website Is the company), you will probably approach the problem in a simple way. "I need a website."
Problem is, this does not mean anything to the developers. To any developer.
Like I said in other thread, the typical conversation goes like this:
Business Owner (B.O.): I need a website
Developer (D): Sure, I can do that for you
B.O.: Great, here is my budget, $5,000 and I need it by the end of the month
D: Well, it will cost exactly that, and it will be ready then. I need $2,500 now to get started, the rest when done
B.O.: Great. Talk to you then
D: Great.
If you ever talk to a developer and the conversation goes like that, please do yourself a favor and run away from that transaction as fast as you can. Oh, and trust me, this conversation happens more often than you'd believe. Six months later nothing is complete, and if it is then there will be a dispute about what "done" means. The customer will not be satisfied, and the developer will think you are trying to get more done for the same amount.
The problem there is that there has not been any definition of what the business owner/customer needs and wants.
You as the business owner need to be aware of a few things that are technical in nature (after all, you are having somebody else building a technical solution for you). There have been a few threads here already where this is discussed... PHP or .Net? IIS or Apache? Linux or Windows? MySQL or SQL Server?
Please do a search here and find those threads, my goal is not to duplicate information.
So, the problem is clear now, the lack of understanding between the parties. Let me give you another example so you actually understand the problem better:
When the B.O says: I want a forum
The Developer thinks: "install VBulletin, skin it, done"
When the B.O says: I want a blog
The Developer thinks: "easy, deploy wordpress"
When the B.O says: I want a shopping cart/online store
The Developer thinks: "oh, oscommerce or ZenCart"
What's wrong with this?
Well, to start, the business owner already stated what s/he wanted. So the developer goes right away to answer that question in his mind. Solution to this issue: Ask better questions. Talk to the developer about your business needs. You will know right away if the developer "got it".
Some more examples:
When the B.O says: I want free shipping for my customers if they buy more than $25
The Developer thinks: "If (order.TotalValue > 25) Then order.shipping = 0"
Problem here: We haven't defined what happens when the order is less than 25? Charge them by weight? flat rate? by distance?
Another one...
When the B.O says: When I send the lead to the customer I want to charge them $5 right away
The Developer thinks:
lead.value = $5;
customer.bill = customer.bill + lead.value;
call chargecustomer();
Problems here: How will you handle disputes when the vendors don't want to pay for Mickey Mouse as a lead?
I guess you get the idea.
So, I just stated the problem... how to make sure this does not affect my project?
That's what I will be writing about in the next section.
The reason behind any IT project failure has been always the same: A disconnect between the user/owner's expectations and the understanding of the application's developers.
Like I said, I've been doing it for quite some time now, and I've seen all kind of situations, many of them funny, others, sadly disappointing. Not all the projects I've been involved in have been web-based. In fact, my first projects were done using Informix 4GL running on HP-UX. And I certainly hope you have no clue what I am talking about. If you do then you are a techie, just like me, and this article is not for you, you already know what I am talking about.
OK, back to the problem...
If you want a website done to either complement your B&M business, or as the main reason of your company (i.e. your website Is the company), you will probably approach the problem in a simple way. "I need a website."
Problem is, this does not mean anything to the developers. To any developer.
Like I said in other thread, the typical conversation goes like this:
Business Owner (B.O.): I need a website
Developer (D): Sure, I can do that for you
B.O.: Great, here is my budget, $5,000 and I need it by the end of the month
D: Well, it will cost exactly that, and it will be ready then. I need $2,500 now to get started, the rest when done
B.O.: Great. Talk to you then
D: Great.
If you ever talk to a developer and the conversation goes like that, please do yourself a favor and run away from that transaction as fast as you can. Oh, and trust me, this conversation happens more often than you'd believe. Six months later nothing is complete, and if it is then there will be a dispute about what "done" means. The customer will not be satisfied, and the developer will think you are trying to get more done for the same amount.
The problem there is that there has not been any definition of what the business owner/customer needs and wants.
You as the business owner need to be aware of a few things that are technical in nature (after all, you are having somebody else building a technical solution for you). There have been a few threads here already where this is discussed... PHP or .Net? IIS or Apache? Linux or Windows? MySQL or SQL Server?
Please do a search here and find those threads, my goal is not to duplicate information.
So, the problem is clear now, the lack of understanding between the parties. Let me give you another example so you actually understand the problem better:
When the B.O says: I want a forum
The Developer thinks: "install VBulletin, skin it, done"
When the B.O says: I want a blog
The Developer thinks: "easy, deploy wordpress"
When the B.O says: I want a shopping cart/online store
The Developer thinks: "oh, oscommerce or ZenCart"
What's wrong with this?
Well, to start, the business owner already stated what s/he wanted. So the developer goes right away to answer that question in his mind. Solution to this issue: Ask better questions. Talk to the developer about your business needs. You will know right away if the developer "got it".
Some more examples:
When the B.O says: I want free shipping for my customers if they buy more than $25
The Developer thinks: "If (order.TotalValue > 25) Then order.shipping = 0"
Problem here: We haven't defined what happens when the order is less than 25? Charge them by weight? flat rate? by distance?
Another one...
When the B.O says: When I send the lead to the customer I want to charge them $5 right away
The Developer thinks:
lead.value = $5;
customer.bill = customer.bill + lead.value;
call chargecustomer();
Problems here: How will you handle disputes when the vendors don't want to pay for Mickey Mouse as a lead?
I guess you get the idea.
So, I just stated the problem... how to make sure this does not affect my project?
That's what I will be writing about in the next section.
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