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• Too much flexibility can be dangerous

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 3/15/2012 6:40:24 AM

  One of my customers LOVES to ask for configuration options. Often when I ask “do you want that implemented as “a” or “b” he will reply “can you make it something we can change later?” It isn’t that he wants to make my job harder (although sometimes it feels that way.) The problem is that he understands their environment, and he knows change is likely.

  But making everything “flexible” adds cost, not only in initial development, but also in testing and maintenance. It can even be dangerous. When options are infrequently used, it is easy to forget how they work. This ...

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• The secret to buying custom software for less

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 7/31/2009 11:18:03 AM

  It is true: custom software can be expensive. The problem isn’t overpriced programmers (usually). The problem is that custom software takes time to build. And effort, lots of effort. (And no one knows what they want, and keep changing their mind, but that’s a separate story.)

  Still, it is possible to get custom software for less money than you were quoted. The answer is simple: cut features.

  My smartest customers know this. If I provide a bid that is outside their budget, they’ll ask this brilliant question:

  “Here’s what we are trying to achieve. Is there a way we ...

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