A debate with arguments on the motion:

Monday 8 April, 11:45--13:00

think tank -    75 minutes

Bruce Anderson
Paul Dyson

Abstract

Not so long ago at a naval architect's office in Portsmouth …

Paul: We’ve got a new client and they need a boat to go to New York … or maybe Miami … and possibly Abidjan.

Bruce: Excellent, business has been a bit slow lately, what kind of thing are they after?

Paul: Not sure really, they don't know how many people are going, and could pick up a few on the way.

Bruce: Did you show them our range?

Paul: Yes … that’s the problem really. None of the boats I showed them really fit their needs. They’re too big, or too small, too unpredictable, too slow or too expensive.

Bruce: Aha, a custom job perhaps - more revenue!

Paul: Yes, I suggested that… and they want us to build it for them.

Bruce: Excellent! Let me see … we can probably do most things from a light ocean racer to a tough cruiser in eighteen months, a year at a push - three months for design, eight months to build, a month for trials say … do you think they’ll go for that?

Paul: No way, I'm afraid. They need to be in wherever they’re going in seven weeks and want to be underway tomorrow.

Bruce: Ah. Looks like we may need to employ a bit of eXtreme carPentry then. Right, grab the client, two tonnes of timber, five kilos of nails, a large roll of sail cloth, your swimming trunks, and an industrial-sized tub of goose fat, and meet me by the docks in an hour. We'll leave at high water.

Paul: How about my drawing table and calculator?

Bruce: Good question!

Session outline

We believe that there really is a difference between building – for want of better terms – 'e-commerce sites' and 'traditional systems'. In the former so many things are both changing and uncertain that current development and delivery practices cannot cope with the pressure to deliver business benefit in the timescales required. Moreover we believe that the organisations who have played central roles in defining the widely accepted development and delivery practices of today will themselves be unable to adapt to the client expectations of tomorrow. A new breed of methodology and IT organisation is required.

This think tank will examine a number of the questions alluded to above. Are the practices and organisations of today capable of delivering the business needs of tomorrow? Are the business expectations of tomorrow just unrealistic – fuelled by requirements that have a firmer grounding in hype than real business need? Are the organisations grounded in ‘heavyweight’ methodologies for internet-technology projects unable to free themselves from a familiar but wholly outmoded style of working? Are those that promote agile practices simply using ‘flexibility in the face of constant change’ as a diversion to disguise their inability to plan, design and control client expectations properly?

The session will consist of a series of intensive activities leading to a debate with arguments on the motion:

"This house believes that successful IT organisations of the 20th century cannot deliver software projects for the successful business organisations of the 21st century"

Anyone who is at all moved by this proposition should attend, whether they agree with it, disagree, or are not sure but feel strongly that it is important.

Audience

Benefits

Materials

Bruce Anderson

He specialises in working with customer organisations to create powerful component- and service-based solutions, and in helping individuals to develop their knowledge and understanding. Typically Mr Anderson leads planning and defining work, mentoring a programme leader, project manager or architect into their role.

Paul Dyson