Developing software is hard—really hard. Even more so when you think about the fact that as an industry we do not typically examine software development in a holistic approach. That is, we don’t ask ourselves questions such as “What are the business drivers for this project?” “What benefits will this project provide us?” and “How do we determine if the project is s- cessful?” In many cases, the software development industry is concerned with simply developing the software. Software failures cost companies billions (yes, that’s not a typo—billions with a b) of dollars every year. Organizations can no longer afford to ignore these failures. They have to understand how software helps them reach their goals and how to prioritize investments in software. Organizations must also understand the difference between software that provides value and successful software projects (which may not be the same thing). Unfortunately, this has been a difficult transition. I have worked with numerous customers who do not know the benefit of building a particular piece of software. Likewise, I have worked with numerous developers who did not understand the importance of the software they were building. Situations like these are unacceptable in the current marketplace. Everyone must understand the context in which applications are being built and the fact that the context can change during the development process. Companies that cannot respond to change effectively are no longer in business.weiterlesen