By Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 1/25/2009 11:57:04 PM
Before you select a vendor to provide on-going support for your custom software, consider these items:
Availability. Many customers only require support during regular business hours, but some require more robust support. If your business needs to provide services outside a traditional 9 -to-5 workday, then make sure that your vendor will provide the same level of support.
Response time. How quickly will the vendor respond to requests (especially emergency requests)? No vendor can guarantee with 100% certainty that they will provide a fix or solution within a small timeframe, but they can guarantee that they will start investigating the ...
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Publication Date: 1/19/2009 11:40:57 PM
Recently a prospective client contacted me about upgrading her e-commerce site. She had been researching e-commerce options and had found one that she thought was a good fit. Unfortunately she was having trouble finding a local vendor who supported it because there are lots and lots of e-commerce choices and everyone has picked something different to support.
My suggestion: stop focusing on the shopping cart or technology choice, and instead focus on the features that are important for the business. It is likely that there are many different choices that will meet her needs, and by settling on one without ...
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Publication Date: 1/19/2009 12:00:18 AM
One of my customers has a web application that uses the out-of-the-box exception handling instead of a custom error page. So every time a user encounters an error, they see information that is useful to the developer, but isn't understandable by the end-user. There are several reasons why this is a bad practice:
Publication Date: 1/6/2009 8:18:01 AM
I recently delivered some software to a customer that took more than double the time of my original estimate. Since my bids are typically at a fixed rate it didn't affect my customer's costs. However it could have affected their planning timeline for implementation.
Here are some things you should keep in mind about software development estimates:
An estimate is called an estimate because we don't really know for sure how long it will take. If we knew for sure, we'd call it something else. The only way to know exactly how long something ...
Publication Date: 12/10/2008 11:36:44 AM
Frank Kelly has published some good ideas about how to motivate developers. If you manage programmers, you will find it valuable.
I think one of the things vastly overlooked in some large, complex corporate environments is the drag that non-programming activities can have on productivity. In my experience, the more busy work to be done (meetings, status reports, team-building exercises, etc.), the more productivity can take a major hit.
What many don't realize is that it isn't just the time these activities take that suck the productivity from the programmer. It is also the illogical aspects of some of ...
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Avonelle is a rare IT professional who can communicate with business users on a level they can understand, and who can recommend creative technical solutions that are in line with the business goals and the business budget. Avonelle is conscientious not only about meeting deadlines, but also exceeding her customers expectations around quality software while providing superior customer service. Avonelle is an inspiration to me.
Valerie Vogt, Director of IT Advisory Services @ Inetium
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