254 Part III: Executing Your Software Project Plan (Starting a web site)
254 Part III: Executing Your Software Project Plan can afford to drop the price of the software and not take as much of a loss as if time is added to the warranty or support hours are extended. Negotiate! That s an order! You can get a better deal than the original proposal, and you can be assured that the vendor expects to have to negotiate the price. Ample margin was built into the pricing to give you a discount on the price and still hit his profit targets. Pretend this software is a brand-new car, and that the vendor is a cheesy salesperson at the dealership. Considering time, cost, and quality issues When negotiating your contract, don t focus solely on pricing. You have to consider the rest of the Iron Triangle. You have targets to meet for your main project, and whatever application solutions you choose must be able to fit in with your project timelines, budget, and quality requirements. Your chosen vendor must be able to provide a timely installation of the contracted, properly working application when you need it. For example, if you use a vendor to create your testing application, and the time comes when you re ready to test your software, but oops the testing application isn t ready, you might as well not have any testing ability at all. You ve paid for something that isn t available, and the delay in testing your product will cost money in lost time and lost productivity for your development team. If the timeline slips significantly, it may also cost you your career. Here s what you need to negotiate as far as the Iron Triangle is concerned: Be sure that your agreement with the software vendor includes timelines and benchmarks that are realistic regarding your needs. Include penalties for not meeting targets. Don t jeopardize your project by allowing the vendor to provide a product at a time that is clearly out of touch with your reality. Factor in all the costs when purchasing your application. Be sure you know what is covered under your warranty and what services you might be paying for in areas where the warranty doesn t apply. Spell out how much support in manpower and equipment you need to assure a smooth implementation. Make sure that other resources with costs are accounted for in writing, including such items as room space for testing, extra computer servers, additional power capabilities, and cabling for the testing equipment.
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