Why should I start a software project the way they say I should?

AlphaCRM’s professional services team were recently engaged to help a client resolve issues in an ongoing greenfield development being undertaken by a third-party supplier.

We naturally listened and assisted the client as requested delivering some recommendations and some changes to the specification and the contract.

What are some things we can help you learn from this experience? Here we list a few key things experienced in a range of projects over recent time.

1 - Start a project with absolute requirements - one project we were involved with was initially specified in relation to some well know websites “it will be the same as mythical-xyz.co.uk”. This request ensures the deliverables can’t be well tested since the reference point can’t be compared if it changes between specification and delivery. Also both the supplier and the client need the same detailed reverse-engineering knowledge of the reference sites in order to know that the new system is the same as the references.

2 - Start a project with agreed reviews and meetings - another project had no agreed plan and allowed the supplier to simply deliver at the end. This meant the client had no means of providing additional steer during development, for example when a requirement was not well understood.

3 - Start a project knowing who owns what - for some projects the contract allows the supplier to own all the IPR and copyright on work delivered. This meant the client had no actual assets should they want to sell the business.

4 - Start a project knowing the acceptance criteria - one project some time ago had delivered a phase one which was not functional and so had triggered the client to review requirements with the supplier. Although this may be an extreme case, it highlights the need for both supplier and client to agree stages of delivery and expected quality of each deliverable with an agreed process to record and review issues found.

These things alone can’t guarantee the success of a new or ongoing project, but they at least put in place a framework that allows the right conversations to be held between the supplier and the client.

Alongside all other factors, the quality of the relationship between supplier and client is important so that each party trusts the other. This is invaluable in case things do go wrong but ideally prevents them from going wrong in the first place.

If any of this strikes a chord and reflects your own concerns for a live or prospective project, please contact us to talk it through - we’ll see if we can help. Contact us on 01489 290020 or via [email protected] .