[Sigia-l] Extranet software

[Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com]

"Tim Salam" wrote:
> Build-from-scratch is inherently wasteful...

"Ziya" wrote:
> There's nothing "inherently" right or wrong about any app 
development, it
> depends on the circumstances of a given project and available 
resources.


Something is "right" if it efficiently meets or exceeds customer and/or 
business needs.  If your needs are unique, then you need a unique 
solution.  If the "application" domain is unique, then you need a 
unique solution.  Packages are inherently 'un-unique' -- at least to 
some extent. (okay 'un-unique' ain't a reel wurd, eh.)   

E.g. How might you customize a 'package' solution to build a space 
shuttle for transporting mice to the moon (it's made of cheese, ya 
know)?  Constraint: can't afford anything NASA can sell you.  Fact is 
some situations call only be solved best by custom dev.  Some can be 
better solved by packages (e.g. let's build our own word processor!).  
There's a whole lot of middle ground.

Some 'packages' aren't - they're really toolkits for custom dev. 


Theoretical stat of the day:
Packages exist for only 20% of the application domains that exist in 
business today.

Buy vs. Build is almost a religious debate.  Personally, I'd rather 
talk about which OS is better: Windows, OS X, Linux, or DOS -- we'll 
get to a consensus much faster in that debate.


Moderation in excess - that's my motto.

Hey, how's about we talk about IA?  Okay, lets...

Regards,

Lyle Kantrovich
User Experience Architect
Cargill 
http://www.cargill.com 

Croc O' Lyle: a boat-load of babbling about usability, IA, and web 
design
http://crocolyle.blogspot.com