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The Non-IT Executive
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Working Successfully with IT
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Software development is not intuitive. That is, the final software product to be
used and appreciated by an end-user is not a simple combination of the
components comprising the final deliverable. Two factors add complexity and bulk to the software
development process. In addition, typical interactions from executive sponsors and
subject matter experts, if not executed properly, can wreak havoc on the development
process. The well-intending hard working development team, if not trained to collaborate
effectively with other stakeholders, soon suffer from fatigue, confidence issues,
frustration, and burnout. As a non-IT executive working with a development group,
it's important to understand the destructive and productive patterns with which
you may be unknowingly affecting your teams productivity and schedule.
Download our white-paper describing a proper software development overview and compare
the patterns presented with the patterns in your organization. Be sure your development
team is in prime condition and consider our range of seminar topics if your team
is under-performing.
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Some Things to Understand About the Software Development Industry |
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From the outside, software development is typically an expensive, time-consuming,
and sometimes frustrating endeavour. In our experience, most non-seasoned software
development project stakeholders imagine software as the already-completed, off-the-shelf,
debugged products they are used to. Somehow, the idea that software must start 100%
broken and be “hardened” into a state of near 0% broken is a difficult new idea.
Compounding the problem, software estimation, if not performed correctly and at
the correct times, is alarmingly error-prone and unreliable.
One
study
shows that business software development in the U.S. has a 68% failure rate. With
the software industry churning about $220B annually, this represents a $150B problem.
How does your team performance compare with these figures? Reducing your failure
rate makes your company more profitable.
The most consistent cause of under-performing software projects has been attributed
to a lack of requirement development skills. In addition, by nature of software
development career progression, most software development managers, directors, VP's
etc. proceed from a hard-core development background, but have little or no formal
management training or best practices training. Sixty eight percent of them are
simply doing what has been done in the past.
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People: Your Most Important Investment |
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If you are a leader in a position to invest in your organization's hardware platform,
development tools, staff, security components, etc., realize that the most important
investment your organization can make to get high-performance out of these assets
is to invest in improving the daily skills of your employees. Red Rock Research
offers a full range of excellent workshop-based training seminars in a fun and exciting
environment to instill high-performance, best practice skills in your most valuable
assets--your people.
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