[Sigia-l] FW: Understanding Business Impacts of Web SystemsPrototypes

[Derek R]

Eric wrote:
	 
>| but have we talked about using prototypes 
>| as a means of testing how the business 
>| processes or business models will be impacted?


Like Ziya, I have to indicate that one communication (i.e. one
prototype) for every person involved in a project just won't do. People
have different mind-sets. The developer's mind-set is about parts,
components, construction and the like, where someone like the CEO, for
instance, sees accomplishment, satisfaction, bottom-line stuff and the
like, whereas the marketing department sees brand-making, bright-lights,
hysteria, etc. And still there are the clients, sponsors, even (gasp)
the users.

What I think business still needs is someone (an actual person) who
knows-it-all to stand in there and champion business processes so that
everybody understands. (This isn't about living on the bridge, but
walking over it.) You need a coordinator for projects -- an actual
living person who can respond and relate to changes. 

Unlike modeling languages or processes (UML, RUP) or
deliverables/prototypes which rely on *reference* (language, process,
proto -- although these things all have their places), you need someone
who can *present* (responsiveness) and is able to deal with, and handle,
whatever communication needs to be made, or not made (clarity), and can
pull things generally together. 

The CEO-of-old used to do this I think. Then they got too board-room to
deal with the vernacular. Then the Director was supposed to take care of
this, but then they got too fixated on the executive-track to deal with
the vernacular, so things today, I think, have ended up somewhat
splintered, so that groups of Manager-level people are supposed to
handle coordination but there are so may people at the Manager-level
that no clear direction, or communication, can be made (no authority).

Now you want to 'automate' control of the business process and/or
outsource to third parties or third-party software. So nowadays there is
no responsibility -- you just ditch-n-switch when things go bad and
spend you days running from one lousy vendor to another while
upper-management dusts their trophy-case and no one is
minding-the-store.

Throw in today's economy and nobody wants to do anything, let alone
breathe, because I think everyone's forgotten how to do business in the
first place. The contemporary feeling is to just do nothing and hope you
get 'acquired' by the big-boys (MS, Google, etc.) for your remaining
assets before you finally go under for the last time.

[Throws hands up in despair]