Location: Nationwide
Industry: Software

Scenario:

This case study involved 100 users working with a system that had been in development over a 10 year period. The task of the development team was to rewrite the old system with a new compiler and new user interface. Existing specifications were impressive, but were for some reason changed on a weekly basis, which ultimately downgraded the value of the software.

Problem:

The project managers refused to throw away inadequate and outdated source code because the expense of creating new code was too high. Office politics combined with other conflicts within the team had caused the project to be 6 months late, over budget and at a standstill. The contractor was on the verge of losing their customers.

Solution:

Within one year, I helped to push out two releases, got multiple budget increases and had every unrealistic deadline removed.

Result:

Two years later, the contractor is still earning a profit on the software and has a staff of five working on implementation of the software’s new features.

Tags: budget increases case study combined with other conflicts development team new features office politics on the verge project managers rewrite software problem software scenario source code two years later user interface