A few weeks ago I had lunch with a chap who's doing the same MBA I did a earlier this century. He does software PM work for a company which produces electricity. He told me about a project which they'd shipped a few months earlier. The project took about 3 months to deliver and cost around £30,000. Two hours after installing the software, one of the business' decision makers ran some numbers using the new software, scratched his head a couple of times, then opened up another bit of software and changed a number. Two hours later the software project broke even. Two hours after that it broke even again. Two hours later ... and so on.
Now, imagine if that project had finished in 1 month, rather than 3.
I shouldn't be, but I am constantly surprised when I see just how much money software projects make when finished.
I'm also constantly surprised how few IT folk understand how much money a weeks delay costs their customers. My lunch mate was a refreshing exception (and very entertaining too).
How much does a 1 week delay cost your current project?
