It has been suggested that delivering value is a critical success factor for software projects. It is unlikely anyone in their right mind would disagree with that premise.
The next suggestion is that delivering value is part of a new paradigm. Those making this sugestion seemed to have missed the value delivery as strategy part of Business Management 101 running in the business schools and industry for a few decades. One of my favorite introductions to value delivery management in IT can be found in the IT Governance domain. The CEO's Guide to IT Value is a nice starting point.
There are five basic value delivery points of view.
- Is a strategic initiative supported by this project?
- Can the promised benefits be delivered?
- Can the resources be managed to assure delivery of the benefits?
- Is there a sufficient risk management process in place and used to manage the project?
- Are there performance monitoring processes in place and operational?
This approach to value delivery is one of many. A simple Google search will turn up many more. Looking through the processes for delivering value from IT projects it will become clear that this is a generic business problem, whose paradigm shift has been in place for years. Manufacturing firms did this 25 or so years ago when e-purchasing was introduced at Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton in the AH-64 helicopter. The IT systems used to connect partners in the design and manufacturing processes started with the value proposition point of view and only then moved to the technology point of view.
The supposed new paradigm of:
- Flow through the value chain
- Theory of variation
- Systems thinking
- Process control and continuous improvement
- Empowerment and service
can be found in many industries over the past 30 years. Maybe not the current software development industry, which may be the source of the newness of the paradigm. Or maybe we in the agile software development business need to get out more, look around at how other industries do their work and ask why we don't adopt their processes as our own?
