Keeping things managable: 3 Tips
Tip 1. Keep Scope under review.
What is "Scope"?
Keeping things managable means scoping things out, and keeping to the scope.
e.g. if you go out to buy a car, extending the scope to require to buy the showroom would be a major change in scope. You would not expect to get the entire showroom full of cars for the same price as one of the cars.! It's the same with websites and software.
Tip 2. Give a business requirement - not a product design spec.
Draft your business requirement in high-level terms, and let Asperto.net come up with a proposal for an implementation.
e.g. A business requirement would be: "Each customer must be able to request information on the new product"
Not: "The website will allow customers to print-off a new-product request form, fill it in, photo-copy it and fax it to our office". (obviously there are better ways to implement that business requirement). So, best to specify the "What" and leave the designers and developer to come up with the how to do it in the best way to achieve that requirement.
Tip 3. Decide on business-benefit and value first, then ask the cost.
Typical conversation that focuses on cost.
Buyer "How much would an e-commerce website for the organisation cost?"
Salesman "Oh, without going into the detail of the specification, ballpark figures and don't quote me but probably between £25,000 and £75,000"
Buyer "Right, we'll need to forget it. I'd never get that number past the board"
Better value-considered conversation
e.g.1 Doing more with less
This system if it can deliver those business benefits, will allow our staff to communicate with 25% more customers. That will earn us 12% more profit. We can afford to spend up to 5% of our annual profit on the new system.
We can set up a completely new on-line service-desk that steers the ticket-jobs to the best qualified support-staff no matter where they are.
e.g.2 Doing it a new way
This system will allow us to focus on Women's footwear and apparel in the retail outlets and transfer the men's sales on - line. This will allow completely new lines of business with 30% new business.
e.g.3 Doing things that couldn't previously be done
This system will allow us to do things we could never do before. It will allow us to expand the membership from 50 members (the most one membership administrator can cope with) - to 50,000 self-registering members.
People can log-in from any Internet point and add content, or pick up tasks, or field service-requests.
e.g.4 New ways of doing the business - with much higher perception of service and quality
We will be able to communicate one-to-one rather than broadcast.
We will be able to recognise who are members and who are not. So no more surveys that begin "If you are a member, please write your membership number here". The system already recognises individuals when they log-in.
e.g. 5 Cost savings because the content and systems are centralised
No Designer software and hardware costs. Savings of £1000 sotware and £2000 hardware per designer.
Postage costs cut by 70%
e.g.6 This will make our company able to meet our environmental carbon targets.
12% of the staff need not come in to the office more than twice a week.. They can service their local area and do the admin on-line.