How a Digital Project is like a Construction Project

It is easy to understand why, for the non-digital or non-technical person, the process of website, software, application or system development can feel frustrating. Development can take significantly longer than estimated, go far beyond the estimated budget and appear to hit constant and continual snags.

This is because the actual reality of a digital process is far less simple than is often appreciated.

It isn’t like walking into a showroom, pointing at the car you want, selecting the trim you’d like and having it delivered to you with an exact, to the penny, price.

It’s much more like getting a house (or if it’s a big project, a skyscraper) built.

Planning comes first

Let us imagine that you are going to get an office block built. Assuming you have the land and planning permission already in place, the first thing you have to do is employ an architect to design the building.

This process involves far more than just sketching an image of the outside, as I am sure you can appreciate. The architect has to plan the layout, size, profile, height, footprint, aesthetics, entrances, exits and so on – and that’s just for the outside.

The inside also has to be considered. The number of rooms, the layout of these, what their purpose will be, where electrics, plumbing, windows, doors, corridors, stairs, lifts and so much more all has to be decided, drawn up and agreed before a builder is even contacted to provide an estimate.

The same is true in any digital project, the more complex it is, the more important and more in-depth this planning process has to be.

Materials

Once you’ve decided how your building will look from the outside, how it will lay out and what the proposed inside is going to be like, now you have to decide on the materials to use.

Are you going to have it built out of brick? Reinforced concrete? Will it be steel framed? Cladded? Have a glass-fronted atrium? What kind of glass are you going to use? Are you going to have the inside walls stud walls or solid brick? Will there be a need for interior design? Are you going to have a beautiful marble reception area? All neds to be decided on before you can go and get costings.

The same is true for a digital project.

The language the code will be written in, the functionality of the different aspects of the website/app/system etc will all need to be decided on and planned for ahead of the build starting.

Utilities

Then you have to arrange your utilities into the building. Connection to the power grid, road access, plumbing, sewer connections, gas mans, water mains, internet and telecoms connections and so on.

You HAVE to do these things; they can’t just be sorted out once you’re done.

This is your IT, the underlaying stuff beneath that makes sure it all works correctly when you open the doors on day one.

This isn’t something most developers will get directly involved with, but most digital agencies or digital planners will, at the very least, be able to link you with someone who can help.

 Building

Only after all of the above has been decided on can you then have a builder come along to quote for it and provide a completion date. That quote and completion date will always be an estimate.

Have you ever heard of a construction project landing exactly on time and exactly to the penny of the estimate?

Of course not.

There are always numerous unforeseen issues that arise throughout the build that need to be addressed. Such occurrences often delay the project, increase costs or require work to be undone and redone differently. All of which pushes the project over budget and beyond the target date.

Furthermore, if you decide mid-way through that you want to build a new wing onto the building, this can’t just be thrown in. You’ll need to go back to your architect first and run through the process again.

The same principle applies for digital projects.

The developer is working on a complex, ground-up, project. They are selecting materials, building things (often things that they have never built before) and working out how to do it as they go. In many cases, they are doing this alone, there is no vast crew of differently skilled technicians around them to help out.

If you ask for something new or different in the middle of the project, this will invariably increase the cost.

Snags will be hit, bugs will occur in the code, making things work correctly is not ever straightforward.

Do not despair! There is hope!

You could be forgiven for reading the above and believing that any digital project you ever take on in the future will be endlessly costly and long-running.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Yes, it is true that there can never be a nailed-on price and to-the-day delivery date given to you at the start of a project. Especially a complex one.

That being said, the more meticulous you are with planning and more skilled your digital agency, project managers, digital planners or architects are the simpler and smoother your project will become.

Before you embark on your next digital project come and talk to us so we can help you avoid the pitfalls, money pits and endless project overruns.

Call us on 0203 1502 162 or email [email protected]

https://www.dragonfiremarketing.com/contact/