I have been in the computer software industry for almost 20 years and I have seen a lot of bad software. When I say bad software, I mean real bad! There have been many times when I would meet with a client ask them to show me the software they are currently using. Then after a few minutes into the demo, my jaw has dropped at my disbelief as I witness what the client has been dealing with.
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This bad software can be categorized into two groups:
- Good software, but the wrong software to meet the business needs – Suppose a customer has a need for a specific type of software, so they shop around. They find a great software product: the user interface is beautiful, the screens are quick and responsive, and the list of features spans several pages. The customer buys the software, pays to have it deployed, and begins to use it. The only problem is, this software doesn’t fit what the business actually needs! Now the customer is forced to use workarounds and manual steps in order to utilize the software, which defeats the point of having the software in the first place.
- The right software to meet the business needs, but poor quality – Another scenario is when the customer has purchased or built the right software: it meets every use case and functional requirement demanded from it. However, the software itself (or its implementation) is terrible. It runs slow, crashes, doesn’t save changes. Users avoid using it at great lengths.
- Lost Revenue
- Missed Opportunity
- Frustrated Users
- Vendor Lock-In
- Corrupted Data
- System Downtime
- Wasted Time
- High Overhead Costs