[lug] software engineering

[Nate Duehr]

David Morris wrote:

> It could be the Systems Analyst positions provide this role
> on a project, but I would argue a "consulting expert"
> filling the role is the worst possible route to filling the
> need.  A consultant is, by definition, around for only a
> short time. 

Hate to say it, 'cause I know there's a lot of consultants on the list, 
but I have to agree here.

Trusting systems that are critical to the business to consultants always 
results in disaster, eventually.  Usually long after the consultants are 
gone, so most consultants will argue that they don't know what you're 
talking about if you debate the topic later.

:-)

Having consultants work with someone who's RESPONSIBLE for the system, 
both from a management perspective and a technical one; the "one throat 
to choke" mentality, sometimes works.  Sometimes the consultants 
railroad the person and then they just quit after deployment... usually 
right before the problems really start showing up, so they can claim a 
"successful multi-million-dollar deployment of X" on their resume' as 
they're running out the door.

I swear this is how half the SAP systems got installed, world-wide. 
Company looking for "talented SAP engineer" grabbed the people right off 
the last failed project before anyone noticed it had failed, and started 
the next one.

I have a family member who specializes now in being the analyst who has 
seen previous SAP messes created and knows how to avoid them, in a very 
specific business in the energy sector.  She got there by watching a 
very large oil company's pipeline "back-end" systems get completely 
screwed up by a bad SAP deployment by consultants who railroaded the IT 
staff... or simply lied about the software's capabilities.  Once a huge 
contract like installing something like SAP comes in the door, no matter 
if someone finds out it won't do the job later -- the project's going 
forward... into the morass of "CRM" systems hell.

Once you've "been there, done that" you become more valuable in those 
"do everything" system deployments... but ironically it has to almost 
kill the first place you watch it happen to get that experience.

My employer just did a world-wide Siebel deployment.  I found myself in 
the database yesterday listed as a customer in Kansas City.

This "do everything" integrated so-called "Enterprise" software would 
sure be nice if there were better ways to handle inputting and 
validating data in them!  "Enterprise" usually just means it's so big 
and costly that it'll never go away, and the database is such a mess 
that everyone develops mental work-arounds to be able to use it at all, 
let alone effectively.  :-)

Nate