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| IT Versus the Users* | ||
| I
recently read an article about the frustration inherent in asking users
who have never used a LIMS before for their requirements. I agree wholeheartedly! Still, this is part of working with users. As any good IT person or user can tell you, this is not just the case in LIMS, either. This is the challenge facing every IT project. This is what separates the good from the bad and the ugly. Keep in mind that it’s just as frustrating for the users to work with the IT folks. The most successful LIMS projects that I have worked on have been those that recognized that the larger the project, the more important it is to encompass all elements of the project. This means that all parts of the organization related to the project must be included in the project at a reasonable time. Users cannot be ignored. They are the ones that understand the business process. IT must be included. They are the ones that usually have the best handle on how to manage the technical portions of the system. Why IT is Afraid of Their Users If the IT group sometimes seems to be afraid of giving users too much project control, it’s partially because of these factors: • IT thinks that users will ask for every feature under the sun and the project will never be finished. • IT thinks that users will throw all sorts of things into the system in an uncontrolled manner and that the final system will be a huge mishmash of “stuff,” rather than a controlled and reproducible environment. Why the Users Are Afraid of IT If the users sometimes seem to be afraid of giving IT too much project control, it’s partially because of these factors: • Users are afraid IT will make the process of finishing the project so cumbersome that the project will never be finished. • Users think that IT will force them to take functionality that IT thinks is “good for you” rather than the functionality that is really needed. True or Not? These are just a few of the issues that can arise when different parts of an organization try to work together on a project. In some companies, other issues add to the mix; in other companies, these issues never come up at all. Here are several factors that truly are essential in all our projects: • Trust • Software Project Skills • Process Knowledge • Technical Knowledge (hardware, database, etc.) If the project team members can’t trust each other and work together to come up with the best solution and do not have the skills or mindset to work together to ensure that both process and technical issues can be addressed within the project, then they will probably not be able to work together to make the project a success. Project management skills become paramount as a project becomes larger and/or more strategic to a company or division. Additionally, you must include both people who know how to set up all the technical aspects of the software as well as people who know how to use it for the project to be a success. Once all the resources are included, if various groups come into the project with a hostile attitude toward each other, and this issue cannot be resolved, the project can do no better than limp along. Remember the fact that so many software projects fail. Many projects that fail begin with stellar resources and excellent project management. Even with those factors in place, a number of problems can occur. If a project team conveys the attitude that other groups involved are going to cause the project to fail, then the project is already on the road toward meeting that expectation. According to theory, you can’t get any better than what you expect to get out of a project. A Bad Track Record If your company already has a bad track record regarding IT and users working together, if one side, the other, or both have consistently failed to learn to work with the other groups involved, then it’s likely that any new project is just another opportunity to waste a large amount of money either through a unnecessarily lengthier process or by total failure. Rather than throwing that money away, consider beginning a corporate project to create better teams before starting the next project. It’s not only doable, but a better long-term investment, if you’re willing to take the time to do the math behind it. * I originally wrote this article in 2000 when, three days before I would have sent it out, the article “The Cold War: IS vs. the Users” showed up in the October 2000 issue of Scientific Computing & Instrumentation. I have held my article back for the past five years wondering whether to publish it and finally decided to do so. I know that some of you will remember the similarly titled article, but please note that it is a coincidence and an indication of a timely subject on many of our minds. |
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