edja...@phoenixsoftware.com (Edward Jaffe) writes: > It's hard for me to understand how any serious development projects > can be done by temps. Software development is not a math problem. You > can't just throw "bodies" at it to get things done more quickly. You > need a smallish group of highly skilled people--the kind that usually > have permanent "gigs"--and time for them to learn the infrastructure > and architecture before they can be truly useful. Also, as with any > complex subject, the learning curves can be fairly steep. > > OTOH, perhaps the "projects" they're envisioning don't involve actual > development. Maybe they involve customization of OTS packages?
re: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#74 IBM Doing Some Restructuring The cp40 paper makes references that small group of skilled experienced people are much more effective (which would also be cost effective) to large hords at the science center we would make references to heads rolled uphill for failed projects and/or piling bodies to try and save failing projects ... was attactive to executives since they tended to be compensated proportional to bodies in the executives organizations. Problems were frequently proportional to lack of skill/experience ... but then they would attempt to reframe lack of skill/experience as some innate difficulty of the task (as opposed to lack of skills/experience) ... requiring large hordes, much larger organization, etc. this shows up in spades in the Future System failure ... some past posts http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys also referenced in this recent (Greater IBM) post http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#104 Can a business be democratic? Tom Watson Sr. thought so a smaller scale comparison was the System/R effort ... some past posts http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#systemr that initially got out as SQL/DS ... being below the corporate radar as all focus was on the massive EAGLE effort ... then when EAGLE failed ... there was request how fast could there be a port of System/R - SQL/DS to MVS ... for what becomes DB2. There is also large intersection with the growing "Success of Failure" culture ... mentioned in this article http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0407/040407mm.htm but has been around in quite some time in many industries. A possible short-term window is that there may be a pocket of high-skilled/experienced people that have been laid off in various employment actions ... which could be available as temporary workers. This would tend to be a temporary anomoly in a culture transitioning from long-term, high-skilled workers to lots of focus on 3month horizon. This is also reflected in statistics of private-equity LBOs where the focus on short-term payback is eliminating lots of of R&D (that tends to have payback long after the private-equity event). in another recent (Greater IBM) posts http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#4 The Myth of Work-Life Balance http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#57 The Myth of Work-Life Balance also discussed in these posts http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#45 You may ask yourself, how did I get here? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#54 Report: Fed Officials Joke About Housing Crisis http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#47 Where are all the old tech workers? past references to growing "Success of Failure" culture http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#25 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook' http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#41 U.S. house decommissions its last mainframe, saves $730,000 http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010b.html#19 STEM crisis http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010b.html#26 Happy DEC-10 Day http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#38 F.B.I. Faces New Setback in Computer Overhaul http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010k.html#18 taking down the machine - z9 series http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010p.html#78 TCM's Moguls documentary series http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010q.html#5 Off-topic? When governments ask computers for an answer http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010q.html#69 No command, and control http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#0 America's Defense Meltdown http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#45 If IBM Hadn't Bet the Company http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#32 Congratulations, where was my invite? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#34 Congratulations, where was my invite? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#72 77,000 federal workers paid more than governors http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#36 Having left IBM, seem to be reminded that IBM is not the same IBM I had joined http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#79 Innovation and iconoclasm http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011j.html#33 China Builds Fleet of Small Warships While U.S. Drifts http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#41 Rafael Team with Raytheon to Offer Iron Dome in the U.S http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#48 50th anniversary of BASIC, COBOL? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#0 Justifying application of Boyd to a project manager http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#8 The True Cost of 9/11 -- Includes 18 Veteran Suicides a Day http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#17 Washington's Cult of Continuous Failure http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#25 computer bootlaces http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#30 computer bootlaces http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#34 Scotland, was Re: Solving the Floating-Point Goldilocks Problem! http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#39 Beyond Patriot? The Multinational MEADS Air Defense Program http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#7 John R. Opel, RIP http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#66 Civilization, doomed? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#34 21st Century Management approach? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#63 21st Century Management approach? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#142 We are on the brink of a historic decision [referring to defence cuts] http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#145 What's Wrong With the US Defense R&D Budget? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#14 The PC industry is heading for collapse http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#15 The PC industry is heading for collapse http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#39 PC industry is heading for more change http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#42 Strategy subsumes culture -- virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
