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Posts Tagged ‘humor’

What to do when your CVS stops working

September 30th, 2008

Take it to the CVS Pharmacy of course!!!

They stock everything you need to get the CVS back on track

They stock everything you need to get the CVS back on track

CVS = Concurrent Versions System - it’s the platform that we manage our core developement on ;)

General Intranet Posts , , ,

Sometime it’s too cheap, sometime it’s too expensive

September 3rd, 2008
Car

Car

A software solution can cost from virtually free to millions of pounds. How do you find the right product with this immense price-range?

Let’s use an example other than software… say a car. These days you can buy a second hand car from £50 or a Bugatti Veyron for £1million.

A friend of mine asked if I could recommend him a car. Applying a typical IT consultancy to car selling, I asked him if he has budget in mind and what he is going to use it for.

He came up with these two simple requirements:

“Weekly shopping, travel to work, As cheapest possible!”

“Oh well, on that case £50 car will do just fine mate! I can find a good £50 car that does the job”,

After a few days, he said to me, “it’s noisy and uncomfortable”. Bottom line he doesn’t like it at all. Using typical IT consultant defence I said, “Well you didn’t say that before, it wasn’t on the specification.”

He asked me to get him a better car and it has to be quiet and comfortable.

I came up with another second hand car with £800 price-tag which isn’t too bad in my opinion.

A few weeks had gone past with no complain, but then he said to me “it’s ok, but it’s ugly, and it has no AC”.

“I have a new girlfriend and I want a nice looking car”.

“How about this cool looking second hand 4×4 at £5000”

“I take it!”

He is happy for a while now but after a few months he is start complaining “It’s cost a fortune on petrol and I hate taking it for MOT!” can you find me a brand new one?

“OK on that case, How about this, a brand new car for £10,000? It’s quiet, economical, comfortable, stylish and you don’t have to worry about MOT for 3 years!”.

He is thinking for a while and said this to me.

“Every time I am complaining, you always came up with a better car with higher price. Can you just get me the most expensive car I can possibly get? My dad said money is no object and he will buy me any car! I am sick and tired of this process.”

OK here it is a £1million car!

You know what, the car is noisy, uncomfortable and cost a fortune on petrol, but he is never complaining to me. He doesn’t even want to discuss it with anyone knowing he had spent lots of money on it. When people ask how’s the car? He always said “It is the best car in the world!”.

Does it sound familiar?

Software alone cheap or expensive is not going to solve the problem; It never be a simple formula, you need the right software, for the right problem, with the right people behind it.

“It’s not about the car or software, it’s about intricate network of people with talent and skills that matter.”

General Intranet Posts, People and Cultural Issues , ,