What We Have Here Is...Failure to Gather Requirements

Tom's latest eBook has been released on Amazon: "The 7 Myths of IT Integrations". Tom is also a Program Director for a large Midwest corporation and has been an adjunct faculty member at Walsh College. He has managed global web initiatives, data center moves and large multi-million dollar programs.

  Quality   Requirements Management   Risk Management   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

In 2005, free and unlimited wireless internet access was promised to the WiFi-thirsty residents of the county in which I lived. That is when the first pilot segments were to be turned up for what was promoted as being one of the leading edge technological advances in the entire country. The initiative was going to blanket the tree-lined county’s entire 867-square-mile area with absolutely free and plentiful wireless internet service.

Working in the IT field, I admit that my vision was heavily clouded by what I knew my teams had experienced just getting a consistently strong signal throughout a single office complex, let alone throughout an entire county. To say I was interested is an understatement.

I won’t reveal that actual county involved--let’s just call the project “Springfield Wireless”, which looked to be an impressive use of technology on such a broad scale. The project management aspects of a project like this were intriguing; I was curious what methods someone would use to attempt it.

Upfront Planning
I began my search by putting a call into the county chief technology officer (CTO). She was unaware of the specifics of the project and referred me to the project website. Eventually I was able to locate the manager to whom the entire project had been outsourced.  (The website, by the way, indicated the project was …

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