A couple weeks ago, I attended a webinar[1] by Steve McConnell, CEO of Construx. Steve is a top author and speaker on software development practices.
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As evidence of the first point, Steve presented SD process improvement ROI results from many organizations and summarized them in this slide:
Steve's presentation went on to stress how building staff capability is critical to implementing improved software processes. This fact is known by anyone who has worked with SD teams for a while: the people and how they work together matters – a lot. Ultimately, process improvements require people to correctly and consistently use new skills in doing their work. While new tools and technologies facilitate advanced SD processes, the ability of people to use those new tools and technologies is essential.
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So, in summary, if you are struggling to make a compelling business case for a large scale software upgrade project, consider repositioning the upgrade as part of a more comprehensive SD uplift including staff training and process improvements. The improved productivity can be the "carrot" to go along with this "stick" business case outlined here.
I trust a lot of readers out there will read this and say: Really? It's hard enough to make the case for these type of things by themselves; there is no way I can make the case for both at once. I admit, this is a valid objection, I have been there and I know we both appreciate that making process changes in the development organization is hard and getting funds to pay for changes in the development organization is really hard. I am not saying it will be easy; but I am saying it will be easier if you can offer increased productivity and quicker delivery as part of the answer to the question "What's in it for me?"
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