Text preview for : M355 How DP Management Can Work More Productively With End Users; Abrams.pdf part of
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SESSION REPORT ~SHARE~ - 2 -
How DP Management Can Work More
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61 M355 340
Productively wjth End Users
SHARE NO. SESSION NO. SESSION TITLE ATTENDANCE I am convinced, on the basis of many years' experience with end users
and dp professionals, that the dynamics described here are behind some
Training and Education William N. Abrams RCH_ __ of the most important criticisms of dp commonly held today by users and
PROJECT SESSION CHAIRMAN INST. CODE dp professionals alike; first, we in dp are able to implement only a
RCA, Rt. 38, Cherry Hill, NJ 08358 609-338-4218 small fraction of the aplications users want, and, second, when the
aplications are implemented, they frequently do not meet users' needs,
SESSION CHAIRMA.N'S COMPANY, ADDRESS, and PHONE NUMBER
necessitating a great deal of rework and upheaval to the business while
Not too long ago, my wife and I decided to remodel the kitchen in our the reworking is being done and the resulting bugs are straightened
home and went to a firm specializing in this work. The salesman there out. The shortage of dp professionals is serious and is expected to
is paid when he has made a sale, not for any suggested plans he draws remain so for years to come. This is a compelling reason to improve
up. So, after many months - my wife and I do not make remodeling the quality of applications development so that end-user projects do
decisions easily - he gave up on us. not have to be redone, and dp time is used at maximum productivity
levels.
We started with another salesman, and it was 15 months before we
indicated we were satisfied with his final proposal. He drew a final One IBM study suggests that improved dp and end user interaction can
"picture" of the proposed job, a detailed schematic, added two straight boost dp productivity by as much as 400%, getting the application up
lines under these drawings, and asked both my wife and me to sign, with and running to the end user's specifications that much faster. So,
these words: "That's exactly what you're going to get, for the cost while we are unquestionably dealing with a shortage of trained people,
we've agreed on, and the time of completion. If you want to make any it is equally evident that narrowing the communications gap between dp
changes, they will affect the cost and the time of completion." professional and end user can go far toward easing current backlogs.
He made it clear that if we failed to sign, there would be no DP A MYSTERY TO USERS
agreement. In short, he was prepared to see 15 months' effort go down
the drain - because he knew from experience that if he did not get our Basically, this communications gap goes back to the earliest days of
signed agreement, the potential problems could outweigh any benefits the computer. Unfortunately, dp has been seen by end users as a
the job would bring. forbidding mass of difficult-to-understand technology, which could be
~ made to serve their business needs solely through the efforts of a "new
e.." There is an analogy here to a dp professional, representing his breed" of person, the dp professional, who was somehow magically embued
~ with all the requisite knowledge. Equally unfortunate, dp
department on an application development project, and an end user. The
dp professional is the salesperson and the end user the customer. professionals themselves tended to believe this image. From one point
Note, however, what usually happens when the "salesman" asks the of view, therefore, it might be said we're just dealing with the same
"customer" to sign on the dotted line; the end user refuses, for any old problem, but that would be a dangerous simplification - dangerous
number of reasons, including the simple faqt that the end user sees no in tht it could keep dp and end user management from appreciating the
purpose to it and refuses to be tied down. true dimensions of the current problem, and the steps that must be
taken to solve it.
The result is predictable. System designers need quantities of
information that appear endless to the end user, who doesn't understand In the typical commercial establishment of 25 years ago, the person in
why such detail is required. Without advance agreement on the level of charge of the computer operation was the financial officer, perhaps the
detail needed, dp people do not get the information they need; without controller. The dp manager reported to the controller. Whatever their
such detail, the designer's system does not work as it should and the backgrounds, they could achieve a meeting of minds without too much
end user is dissatisfied. His propensity to make changes after a basic difficulty. The dp manager was running a set of well-defined
design is agreed on, without understanding why the changes should applications, narrow in scope, applied to a narrow segment of the
create any great difficulties, increases the potential for business. The company's customer, whether another business oganization
complications. or a consumer, had superficial contact with the new technology, perhaps
only through an invoice or an accounts receivable statement. When
A "signed and sealed" agreement could prevent much of this, but the dp something went wrong, however embarrassing it may have been, it was
representative finds it difficult to convince the user that such an easily resolved.
agreement (and the considerable work for the user that it implies) is
necessary; and that it is reasonable for the dp professional to expect Today, we are dealing with end users who rely on terminals to interact
to have one. directly with customers; with end users who rely on the system to
assure that their customers' requirements can be met; in short, end
users rely on systems to support people on the "firing line,