The goal of software projects is to complete them on time and on budget. There can somewhat be an added challenge, when part of the project is also to create specifications for hardware and software acquisitions that are needed to deploy a solution.  In the myriad of possible configurations and architectures that advances in Information Technology have created, there can sometime be no clear path as to what should be budgeted, and if the budget is even adequate.

Licensing can a large obstacle to having a successful software project.  How third-party software can be used and deployed (for example: the number of connections or users allowed by license cost) is just one example of the difficulty in obtaining proper budget projections.  Add to this the complexity of the type of hardware needed and the specifications of that hardware.  Not only do companies have to spec hardware for their own internal development practices (if they do not have the resources beforehand), clients will also put into a statement-of-work (SOW), that the vendor create the correct specifications to deploy the software on site or in the cloud or both.

Information technology needs to become a project planning process rather than an line item on a project Gantt chart.  Creating a road map where IT can become a process that has a business component at every step, will create significant predictability in software projects with less risk.  Strategies such as IT Governance, Unified Modeling, hardware sizing, use-case analysis and economic cost analysis are essentially putting pen and paper together to plan all aspects of IT prior to planning any budget or acquiring any product.

If you’d like more information or to ask questions on how create IT Business Strategies, please feel free to contact me.