blueberries | blueberry

If your business depends on technological systems for its survival, the last thing you should be doing is suspending crucial development work that could give you the competitive edge. Or if you’re a newbie with a bright idea, holding fire on your dreams could mean someone else beats you to the punch by the time you decide to act. This article examines how business survival depends on evolution and those that decide to wait out the credit crunch could find themselves obsolete.

So your turnover is down, and your customers seem to be window-shopping rather than buying.

What can you do? Batten down the hatches and wait for the economic storm to pass? That might be your natural instinct, but the chances are that by the time you re-appear from your self-imposed exile, your competitive edge may have gone, and rather than re-emerging into a post credit-crunch world where economic recovery offers you fresh opportunities for business prosperity, you could find yourself obsolete.

Survival depends on evolution. Hold still and the world will pass you by.

That’s why if your business depends on technological systems for its survival, the last thing you should be doing is suspending crucial development work that could give you the competitive edge. Or if you’re a newbie with a bright idea, holding fire on your dreams could mean someone else beats you to the punch by the time you decide to act.

So how do you steer your company through an uncertain economic market to the safe shores of a brighter tomorrow?

Firstly, bear in mind that a tough economic market doesn’t stop innovation – on the contrary, history informs us that adversity fuels innovation.

If you’re an innovator, the chances are that the factors that came together to spark your bright idea in the first place may be there for others to draw the same conclusions from. Innovation very rarely happens in a vacuum and, referring to history again, it’s the first person to capitalise on an idea that wins (take, for example, the invention of the light bulb – Thomas Edison succeeded in making the first practical prototype, but he wasn’t the first, or the only person working on the light bulb).

However, without cash flow to grow your idea into something tangible, an idea is all it will remain.

With banks and lending institutions making it very difficult for companies to raise the capital necessary to undertake large custom software projects, it is perhaps understandable that some businesses may be tempted to put their software projects on hold until the market recovers – or to settle for an off-the-shelf substitute that ‘makes-do’ for now. As attractive as this may seem, the risk is that an off-the-shelf solution could ultimately hamper your business objectives if the system isn’t right for you, which could result in having to make business sacrifices later on.

It’s also worth remembering that a tough market can give customers a better hand than in times of plenty. As a potential client, you can negotiate more ‘bang for your buck’, so offsetting the cost of undertaking the project.

And if you do decide to go ahead, it’s important to keep control of your software development project. To do that, the solution is to outsource the work to a reliable software house with a good track record – but you need to be careful and do your research.

Big software houses can be expensive, as well as impersonal. Small software houses can lack resources or developer expertise. Look for a consultancy somewhere in the middle. Look at their website for contact information. Chances are that if the phone number is difficult to find, they’re not the best communicators, which could spell trouble ahead.

Spend some time getting your idea right. Make sure you know what you want your idea to do and what you expect from a software developer. If you’re clear on how you want the software to function, chances are so will the software developer.

Remember also that if you’re serious about developing your idea, it’s always a good idea to run it past a software consultancy before you embark on spending serious amounts of cash. A consultancy can assess the technical feasibility of your plans and provide that extra, independent analysis of the business risks associated with your idea, so that you can move forward with confidence. Some developers will provide free initial advice, so you can see what’s involved. You’d be surprised at how many ideas fall at this crucial first hurdle.

Choosing a custom software company

Before approaching a software development company, work out your exact requirements in the form of a basic analysis. This includes the requirements from an end user point of view and a rough design specification. Here’s what UK-based custom software company, Blueberry Consultants (http://www.bbconsult.co.uk) advises:

• Research the Web for custom software development companies that have undertaken similar projects.
• Check the consultancy’s technology expertise
• Ask for client testimonials.
• See if the software consultancy gives a free detailed quote based on the best spec you have.
• Assess the costs involved and whether you can afford it.
• Check that the project can be completed in the timeframe you want.
• Make sure you get on with the people who will directly work on your project and that they have the necessary expertise to get the job done. This is easiest to assure in a medium-sized company that isn’t too large to be impersonal or too small to lack resources.

Top ten questions to ask your developer:

1. What is your policy on copyright?

Good Answer: The customer owns all copyright once the project is paid for. If the developer uses internal libraries, a royalty-free, perpetual, transferable licence is granted.

Bad Answer: The developer retains copyright and provides the customer with a licence to use the system.

Blueberry advises: If you are paying to have software written, the developer should hand over (assign) all copyrights in the system at the end of the project. A few disreputable companies try to get customers to sign a contract where they only pass over a licence to use the software. The developer is then legally entitled to ask for further fees in the future, even though the customer has paid for the development.

1. Will your system be built on top of any other platform or system?

Good Answer: No, the system will be all new code built with standard tools and libraries.

Bad Answer: The system will be built on top of our fantastic XYZ platform.

Blueberry advises: Some developers try to reduce costs by building systems on top of third-party or in-house ‘platforms’. The problem with such an approach is that it leads to problems with maintenance and licensing. The developer is unlikely to release source code to his wonderful platform, so if there is a serious problem it is difficult to get another company to take over. You should ensure that all source code to the whole system is available.

1. Will your system use or depend on third-party libraries or systems?

Good Answer: Yes, but we will ensure that you can buy licences to such systems, and these costs are clear.

Bad Answer: I’m not sure… maybe.

Blueberry advises: There are many powerful libraries available to developers, and these do save a lot of time. However, such libraries may be licensed to the developer, not to the end customer, and this either presents a future additional cost, or a maintenance issue. Similarly, the system may be designed to work with external systems like MS SQL Server, which have associated costs. The developer should make sure the customer understands all such costs.

1. Do you have source code control?

Good Answer: Yes. All code written by our developers is placed into a central source code control system, which is backed up off-site nightly.

Bad Answer: What is source code control?

Blueberry advises: When software is being written by a team, the team members need to share code between each other. A source-code control system makes this easy, and is a very standard tool. All professional developers should use source-code control. There is a possible argument that source code control is not required if the project only has one developer, but we would still recommend it be used, because it ensures that code is backed up to a central location. The source code should be backed up nightly to another location, otherwise there is always a risk that it might be lost.

1. Who collects requirements from the customer? Do they have development experience?

Good Answer: A senior manager with development expertise talks to the customer to understand their requirements.

Less Good Answer: Our salesperson talks to the customer first, and then brings in the development expert later.

Blueberry advises: Obtaining the correct requirements from the customer is absolutely crucial to the success of any project. Whilst the best salesperson may be trained to do this, our experience is that using a person with development expertise makes this process more reliable and far quicker, because it eliminates communication errors. Of course, the development expert must have the business and communication skills to build a rapport with the customer.

1. Do you have people who can help with System Deployment and Firewall Configuration?

Good Answer: Yes, we have an in-house systems administrator, who can help with any necessary firewall or other systems configuration.

Less Good Answer: Your IT department should do this, or we can maybe recommend someone.

Blueberry advises: The IT department in most companies usually has very competent people, but they are often extremely busy, which can result in unnecessary delays during deployment. The skills required to install a new system can involve multiple people within the IT department,  e.g. one person to configure the firewall, another to work with the database. If the development company has in-house people to do this, it can save quite a lot of time.

1. How long have you been in business?

Good Answer: Ideally, at least three years. More is better, but are they up to date with new technologies?

Blueberry advises: Obviously, a company that has been in business longer is likely to be more stable than a new start-up. The first three years of any business are the toughest, so look more carefully at companies younger than this. However, there are disadvantages to older businesses, particularly in technology, as they might not be up to date.

1. How many developers do you have?

Good Answer: Ideally, at least 6, but not more than 30.

Blueberry advises: A company with less than 6 developers is likely to have tighter resource constraints than a larger firm. Development projects are often extended beyond their original deadline, and with a smaller company this can often mean that new projects cannot start on time. A smaller firm will also have less people to draw on to solve technical problems.

1. What languages do you use for programming?

Good Answer: C#, .NET, VB.NET, C++

Bad Answer: Visual Basic 6, Microsoft Access, Delphi

Blueberry advises: The right language for a project depends on the project requirements. However, Visual Basic 6 is no longer supported by Microsoft, and absolutely should not be used for new projects. Microsoft Access is very popular for workgroup systems, and is effective at this level, but it is not suited for larger projects. Code Gear’s Delphi – which was Borland Delphi – is a very strong tool, but it’s difficult to find people to update the code.

1. Do you use any form of logging in your software?

Good Answer: Yes, our software writes detailed logs.

Bad Answer: No, we rely on debugging the program before we give it to you.

Blueberry advises: All programs will have bugs – this is unfortunate, but true. Programmers have very powerful tools to help remove bugs, but these tools generally only work on the programmers own computer. This is unfortunately no help in solving bugs that happen on the customers’ computer. The best solution to this problem is to add code to the software so that it writes detailed logs on exactly what happens. When a problem occurs at the customers’ site, the program should send the log to the development team, who can then fix it. Unfortunately, writing logs takes extra effort, and many programmers don’t do this routinely.

Watch the video related to blueberry

Help answer the question about blueberry

About Author

Blueberry Consultants Ltd
http://www.bbconsult.co.uk
Unit T1, The Arch
48-52 Floodgate Street
Birmingham B5 5SL
United Kingdom

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 8:12 pm and is filed under blueberry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.