Death, Taxes, and Delays: The Unnecessary Inevitability of Schedule Overruns

If you’ve ever had a release come in off-schedule or over-budget (who hasn’t?), chances are it had its fair share of delays.  In our upcoming webinar, we’ll delve into why projects so frequently experience these, and what you can do to beat them.

If you’re involved with software development projects in any way at all delays aren’t just a constant migraine, they can seem almost inevitable—the only uncertainty is how much damage they’ll cause.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that we’ve written at length about the 3 Perils of Software DevelopmentTM.  In fact, by this point you probably think that Defects, Delays, and Dollars aren’t just the primary causes of software; they’re the root cause of all evil in this world!

Well, as much as I’d like that to be true, the 3 Perils aren’t quite that bad.  (Unless your job security is currently hinging on a software project that’s on the rocks…and if that’s the case, stop reading this and drop us a line!)  But nonetheless, if you’re involved with software development projects in any way at all delays aren’t just a constant migraine, they can seem almost inevitable—the only uncertainty is how much damage they’ll cause.

And none of the 3 Perils better illustrate this than the second one—Delays.

Where the impact of Defects (the First Peril) and Dollars (the third) can be abstract or cumulative, respectively, Delays are felt immediately by all parties.  From cubicles to boardrooms, no one likes going off schedule.  No matter the cause, they almost always mean one of three things: lost revenue, a delayed release, or sacrificed testing as compromises down the road to get the schedule back on track.

If this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone.  In fact, if your software projects are going perfectly, you’re in extremely rare company.  Of all major software projects, only a mere six percent will release on time and on budget!

And if you’re part of the other 94 percent, then our next webinar might be of particular interest.

We’re about to premiere our newest webinar, “Keep Your Projects ‘Off the Rocks’ – Overcoming the 3 Perils of Software Development: Part 2, Delays”.  The second of a two-part webinar series on preventing software failure, the free webinar will delve deep into everything you need to know about delays: where they come from, the havoc they can wreak, and what you can do to prevent them.

Even if you missed Part 1 (an excellent breakdown of the First Peril, Defects), this is well worth checking out.  Besides, we’re even going to recap of first part—so you’ve got nothing to worry about if you’re concerned about feeling left behind.

So if you have 50 minutes to an hour to spare, why not join us for a lunch and learn?  The lunch part is on you—but we’re confident the “learn” part will be well worth your time!

Cheers,

Mike Hodge
Lighthouse Technologies, Inc
Software Testing | Quality Assurance Consulting | Oracle EBS Consulting

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