[consulting] Why fixed rate "budgets" are a waste of time for everyone (was REVISED RFP FOR DRUPAL DEVELOPER)

[Victor Kane]

Excellent discussion!

Fixed rate budgets are a waste of time for everyone first and foremost
because they posit the waterfall approach to software development; the
requirements are thought of as a fixed abstract continent, and the analysis
of those requirements are supposed to be done on the quick (and for free) by
the candidate consultant. When the truth of the matter is:

* Requirements will change at a minimum of 40% during the development of the
web app, as complexities emerge and are dealt with and what is built firms
up how to implement the business model.
* The adquisition of knowledge of estimatation in best done in the analysis
and design phase, which in turn is best done in an agile, user story (bit
sized self-contained) iterative and incremental manner; so it is revealed
bit by bit. However, total accountancy and transparency is provided by the
client participating in this process by writing acceptance tests for a
single user story as the analysis and design and implementation goes
forward.
* Analysis and design of ALL the project is ridiculous because of the 40%
reqs chagne and because the proof is in the pudding (delivery) not in
anyone's head.
* As more and more of the backlog is delivered and is staged, the candidate
architecture firms up, risks are dealt with up front, change requests form
part of the backlog, and the client learns more and more about what she or
he really wants.

If the client is misled towards thinking that developers "who really know
what they are doing" can give a "good estimate" then they are at best
exaggerating the power of an RFP... it cannot, in the Chomskian sense, be
explicit. It cannot be an explicit description of the project. The only
explicit description of the project is the series of acceptance tests which
are passed as part of the incremental and iterative development and
continuouos build. The economist.com process (thin slices continuously
built), recently presented at some conference or other, I think is the best
exemplification of what can really work. Well.

Then, the team with time (if it is not ridiculously and continously broken
up just when it's getting good) can cultivate a productivity with their
synergy, and estimates begin to make more and more sense.

Hope that helps towards what you were asking,

Victor Kane
http://awebfactory.com.ar

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 6:13 PM, John Saward <john at also.com.au> wrote:

> Victor,
>
> Can you elaborate? Why are fixed rate budgets a waste of time for everyone?
>
> (I agree with you and I try to explain this also, and have yet to find an
> explanation-formulation I am happy with; especially from the client's
> point-of-view - they all want to know in advance how much their project will
> cost them, and that is a reasonable expectation, I guess)
>
> Thanks
>
> John
>
>
> On 12/11/2010, at 7:45 AM, Victor Kane wrote:
>
> Both Joel and Christopher were dialoging and what's more, they were right.
> And what's more, they were helpful, on both sides. Went from 12 to 18 in ten
> minutes. And with the acknowledgement that custom dev would be more, and
> with the acknowledgement that it depends also on the real requirements (word
> conversion? yes? no?).
>
> Now that's a consultants forum!
>
> I've been tiredly explaining to people all week why fixed rate "budgets"
> are a waste of time for everyone, this really brought it home.
>
> Victor Kane
> http://awebfactory.com.ar
>
>
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