On Sun, 2005-07-03 at 13:20 -0700, Gregory Woodhouse wrote: > Have you ever considered what would happen if you tried to put a > dollar figure on the amount of effort that is expended right here on > this list in trying to make Vista work in a non-VA setting? That > effort is not free, and any effort to evaluate the cost > effectiveness of Vista as a solution needs to take that into account. > Note that I am NOT saying that Vista isn't a cost effective > alternative, only that we have a tendency to (sometimes considerably) > underestimate how much it costs to implement Vista in a new environment. > === > Gregory Woodhouse > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > "Design quality doesn't ensure success, but design failure can ensure > failure." > > --Kent Beck
Yes, absolutely it is not free. But it is a one-time sunk cost. Well, in theory. There appears to be three types of work in making VistA work in a non-VA setting. #1) Writing code to remove certain VA assumptions that are not as needed outside of the VA, like Agent Orange stuff, changing from using SSN as a MRN to a more realistic MRN. #2) Writing code to interface with existing systems that you see in a real 'in-the-wild' system. #3) Writing code to provide functionality that is not as important in the VA systems, like pediatrics, etc. All 3 of those are one-time costs, absolutely #1 and #3. #2 is interesting, because it is a lot of different sunk costs, as you have to interface with nearly limit-less potential number and combination of systems. However, this can be solved on a system by system basis. Not attempting to marginalize the effort, just making sure it is stated that these are things that have to be done regardless, and once finished, benefit everyone multiple times. --Todd ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is sponsored by: Discover Easy Linux Migration Strategies from IBM. Find simple to follow Roadmaps, straightforward articles, informative Webcasts and more! Get everything you need to get up to speed, fast. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=7477&alloc_id=16492&op=click _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
