The silver bullet scenario.

Mike,

Although I agree with Keith and Kiron, if there is no formal or enforceable “software procurement policy,” or if this department head knows the corporate political ways around the policy, then there are times when you need to take a lesson from the proverbial old west.

Hence, when a procurement policy can’t hold its ground, it’s often best to immediately “jump into the fray” and do a quick evaluation using your best “technical – shoot it down” architect, who can get a demonstration of the product with all parties involved and in real-time ask thirty or so relevant business and technical questions that will put your user and their proposed vendor into a tailspin.

After they recover from the impact, the business users typically fall into alignment as they finally and truly understand your IT or project organization’s value. After which, you can execute appropriate due diligence without undue pressures, and who knows, everything may happen in the time frame the user desired, possibly under a different vendor or no vendor, but at least the opportunity to do what is best for the business can occur.

George

Interesting answer, George. I suppose there are many organizations where such a knee-jerk request would not be caught until it reached the Procurement Department. In our organization, we hope to funnel all software requests through a process we call RGI (Really Good Idea). Some RGIs are truly good ideas, others are "shoot from the hip" requests that require due diligence. In my answer below, I describe this as making sure there is a need, doing a business case, fitting the project in with all the others in the queue, defining requirements properly, ensuring there is an architectural fit, looking to see what is available, choosing the best product that meets the established budget, then planning for implementation. Of course there are many detailed steps along the way in this process that come into play to ensure a successful choice and a successful implementaiton, not the least of which is solid project and change management.

If we don't follow these processes, we risk creating expensive "shelfware" that meets few requirements and in the end is discarded. I have seen this so many times in my career that it I keep a close eye out for it now.

So... I am not sure if I need a revolver or not. Last time I tried to spin one around like the do in the wild west movies, I shot myself in the foot. ;)

(BTW - I like the tailspin approach to vetting a product. I would also throw a few other experts into the fray to make sure all the right questions are in the hopper.)

Mike,

Excellent points, as always!

I’ve used the tailspin approach primarily to create a “challenge-based atmosphere” during the product selection process and to create a better stance for negotiations if they occur. But I agree, you normally need a few more experts in the room.

Regarding expensive shelfware, I have the following saying:
- A project void of “open challenge” finds its product destined for the shelf.

George