Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
version), functional PC specifications, budget flexibility (including allocation for possible
hardware and software upgrades), and the question of was there more than one person with
the ability to respond to queries. The other issue here was a complete understanding of the
processes taking place. As a consultant, the author was not an expert in the relevant
industries, and therefore, time was needed to understand the activities being conducted by
the business before the systems analysis could take place. When these issues were not
resolved early in the project, it caused problems throughout the information-gathering and
design stages of the application.
Time Management and Information Gathering
Many clashes were experienced in the information-gathering phase due to the large
number of company personnel who wished to have input into the development of the
application. Many projects involved discussions with primary user(s), departmental manag-
ers, senior management, and business partners. There would regularly be more than 10 staff
members involved in the project, most with differing requirements and knowledge of the
current system. As a commercial consultant, it was extremely important to adhere to project
deadlines, however, this was often impossible due to the personnel rosters used. For example,
in the mining industry, contact staff members were regularly offsite when information was
required, and delays of up to 10 days could be experienced.
No detailed project schedule was prepared by either body, and this led to frustration
caused by these delays. This led the author to move to the design phase prior to sourcing
all of the relevant information, causing time delays on the project, as incomplete or inaccurate
information was included in the logical design and not discovered until well into the
implementation phase. Most of these problems were encountered due to the large distance
between the organization and the consultant (sometimes over 3000 km), leading to most of
the information gathering and consultation being undertaken via telephone meetings and
email discussions. Closer proximity to the organization or regular on-site meetings may have
alleviated some of these problems.
Alterations to Specifications
Changing specifications is the most frustrating problem that a developer has to deal
with. Due to the number of people involved from the organization, there were regular in-house
arguments that needed to be resolved, and often, the resolutions were not achieved prior to
implementation. The project team regularly made major changes to what exactly was to be
included in the application, leading to increased development time being required by the
consultant.
Software Issues
Software limitations are often the hardest constraint to overcome. The organization's
project team needed a particular task performed that was physically unachievable using the
software available within the company. The time taken to describe the software features
available or possible alternative methods of achieving the organization's requests also
tended to lead to problems in achieving the deadlines of the project.
