Rick, > >> Lo and behold, the politicians from the partner company, who I was > required to work with, claimed that, as you describe, *we* (meaning > *they*) has a need to analyze the requirements and choose the > best tool for the job.<< > > Politics is just another requirement from my perspective.
Aye, but when it involves the boss, it's not just politics, it's his/her world. > I do not see this as classroom theory. In my experience this is > reality. As you note, politics has an unfortunate impact of > bogging the process down, but in my opinion, it is better to > make mistakes as early in the process as possible. This is > the cheapest place to make them. Sometimes politics makes it > impossible to make the best decision from your perspective, > but in reality the management feels they are making the best > decision and they are paying the bills. Hopefully the > decisions work out, or alternatively the management learns > from the mistake. I have seen it go both ways. My point is that a question such as which development languages a company will use to create products and sometimes even run the business is too strategic to be decided by consultants or committees. The classroom role of the consultant in this process includes informing and advising mgmt, and indeed they will do that, but in the better companies, the ones founded and guided by 'visionary types', the 'guiding lights' for these companies already know which languages and tools the company is going to use. If they don't, they're incompetent and don't belong leading the company. In actual practice, the consultant is just as often chosen to beef up and sell the bosses pre-determined point of view. And then, if the recommendations should ultimately fail, take the blame (with a golden parachute, of course). In between are all the politics and negotiations with people that will use or be affected by the system. So the consultant does play a role, but necessarily in harmony with the bosses direction. Put it this way: I bet my company on my decisions, and there is no way whatsoever that I would call upon a consultant or committee to help me decide which languages to create products with. It wouldn't - and couldn't - work that way. > >> Perhaps what is really being asked is "what is the best general > >> purpose database product for future investment?"<< > > Totally different question for a totally different perspective. But it is high on the list of considerations with something as important as a language decision, where hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars are involved. Bill > Rick > White Light Computing, Inc. > _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
