Excellence and luxury
September 13th, 2011 | Published in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Enterprise software isn’t usually very glamorous, but it should be excellent.
This is not the same as saying it should be luxurious. A balanced, sharpened knife with a plain wood handle exemplifies excellence more than a poorly balanced, dull knife with an ivory-inlade, jewel-encrusted hilt. Craftsmanship, precision, and suitability for purpose are the marks of excellence. An excellent product may cost more up front, but can save money in the long run by lasting longer and allowing more efficient operation.
Excellent enterprise software is easy to maintain, and minimizes the work of the human beings who have to use it.
Excellent products arise from a culture that values excellence. What can we include in the Administrative Master Plan that will help us build such a culture?
September 13th, 2011 at 8:40 am (#)
I think IT cultures tend to reflect the business cultures they are responsible to. So the easiest way to have a culture that values excellence might be to have a business culture that does the same. Of course, that’s a chicken/egg problem.
The other way I can think of is to have strong IT leadership that values excellence and serves as its advocate. But strong IT leadership is harder in a decentralized environment. Committees don’t usually provide strong leadership.
All I can think of that you could put in a plan is an aspirational vision, and while I think that could be helpful, it’s going to take more than that.