The three choices - Pick two

[26.2]

This is from the Grok newsletter. I couldn't have said it better. This is for Waiting who never revealed himself (big surprise!).

 

My suggestion is take a moment to read this article and then thank those who make it possible for you to use osCommerce.

 

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http://www.grokdotcom.com/onpurpose.htm

 

Only the Good (and Fast and Cheap) Die Young

 

My bud John Quarto-vonTivadar tells me there?s an old adage among

software developers: ?You can have it Fast, you can have it Good,

or you can have it Cheap. Pick Two.? In short, you can?t have

it all. Try to have it all and you set yourself up for Failure

and a Dead Project.

 

Funny how we come to accept this as a perfectly valid philosophy

when it comes to our development projects. Especially funny when

the fortunes of our online businesses are on the line.

 

Given the high project failure rate in our industry ? by some

estimates, over 70 percent ? I wonder if this Pick Two Philosophy

is nothing more than a crutch ? a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot way

to shift the blame when things go up the Swanee.

 

Know what I think? It?s time for a Pick Three Philosophy!

 

What idiot?s going to ask the customer ? the dude or dudette for

whom you are developing a project ? which of these three options

he or she can forego?

 

Of course the customer wants it Fast. Like, how often do you

hear, ?Sally, I see the ACME project ? on which the future of

this company depends ? is 7 months overdue, but don?t worry.

Just finish it off whenever you get around to it??

 

Of course the customer wants it Good. ?Hey, our people are

certified with so many acronyms they can?t possible design poorly

or write bad code.?

 

Of course the customer wants it Cheap. Whoever heard of wanting

it Expensive?

 

And of course, no developer wants to end up with egg on his face

when he?s linked to the option that was sacrificed.

 

But why is it that the customer is all too often excluded from

the development equation? The clients for whom folks develop

projects make decisions every day about balancing resources with

needs ? can we possibly think they simply won?t be able to get

it?

 

When all is said and done, the Pick Two Philosophy is little more

than a handy way to blame a 7 in 10 failure rate on having

over-extended the reach by hoping to attain the elusive ?Pick

Three?.

 

To add insult to injury, did you know that of the 30 percent of

projects considered ?successful,? more than 80 percent of their

total project costs come ? in the form of troubleshooting and

maintenance ? after the initial release? Which is to say, if you

are successful, then your final project cost 5 times whatever you

spent on it during development.

 

Shiver me timbers, mateys. This is madness!

 

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There was more, but it doesn't apply to an open source project.

 

This project costs us nothing but our time. I am glad this project is here and I have finished the design and modification of my first site. There will be change orders by the client, and I may try out a few other ideas. But, I could not have done this project nearly as well without the support of osCommerce and the osCommerce community.

 

Thanks everyone! Remember to pick three: Fast, good and cheap!

 

aj

 

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